When I think of a die hard Harry Potter fan, what I think is a normie. a vapid tasteless normie who doesn't know anything about the greater science fiction or fantasy genre who's immature desire for wish fulfillment and simplistic characters keeps them from seeking out greater authors. If they ever attempted the works by Ursula K. Le Guin or Terry Pratchett they would have either put aside Rowling, or more likely, quickly loose interest and revert back to simple pleasures.

Of course, this is a completely unrealistic perspective. It is unnecessarily elitist and patronizing. Nonetheless, it's still persistent. So I'd be really interested to hear the perspective of super fans of the series like that actually have a wide-ranging experience with different fantasy genres as a comparison point, what they think of those authors people often hold up as superior to Rowling, and why they find Harry Potter so special.

[–] Salah@hexbear.net 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

HP fans usually don’t claim that the books are high quality literature, they just fell in love with the story as a kid and like to reminisce in it. The fact that it became so popular allowed people to share their love for the story with their peers and play pretend as magicians as kids. It’s not that deep.

I find that super fans of anything frequently have some form of trauma or emotional harm they are trying to heal through channeling the joy they felt when first getting in contact with the subject of their obsession. I think that’s fine, we all use different ways to cope. They might say that HP is high quality literature to explain to themselves why they like it so much.

[–] BanMeFromPosting@hexbear.net 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Most HP fans I meet do claim it to be high literature.

[–] Salah@hexbear.net 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Really? I know many (ex) HP fans and none of them take it super seriously

[–] BanMeFromPosting@hexbear.net 4 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

No I mean current fans, not ex fans. ex fans don't, but the people I've met that self-describe as a "fan" of Harry Potter does seem to think highly of it

[–] Salah@hexbear.net 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

I meant to say both, I know current and ex fans who all would speak highly of the story but who don’t pretend like it’s high literature. I think those are very different things. Most people don’t care if what they’re reading is the best written book or whatever. If the story speaks to them then that’s enough to love it and become a fan.

[–] BanMeFromPosting@hexbear.net 2 points 5 hours ago

I meant speak highly as in speak of it as high literature. It's all anecdotal I guess, but I can tell you those people are out there and they're not uncommon in my experience

[–] Damarcusart@hexbear.net 15 points 15 hours ago

The only person I know (mid 30s) who never really outgrew Harry Potter is also probably the most basic "normie" person I know. And the only person I know who could possibly watch this new HBO series.

[–] TreadOnMe@hexbear.net 20 points 16 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours ago)

Real superfans don't read anything else, just write endless (and sometimes better than the og) fanfiction. Harry Potter isn't special, per se, it is just the first vehicle for them to explore their own creativity, with a large enough community that can share in that larger universe.

It is much the same for Tolkien fans, but Tolkien's sins are a bit more forgivable, as he was literally helping generate an entire genre.

[–] HamManBad@hexbear.net 13 points 16 hours ago

Harry Potter is great when you're seven and just starting to read longer novels. It helped grow my literacy immensely at that age. I haven't read them since the seventh book came out though, so I guess that doesn't make me a die hard fan like you're describing