START // 11.21.02

THE LAST LIVING AMERICAN TO READ HARRY POTTER
by Dave Potter

That would be me. And this past weekend, I finally picked up the first volume of the Harry Potter series and cracked it open for the first time. Its not like I was dragged kicking and screaming or was put off by the hype-I had just never gotten around to reading the books until now, for a variety of reasons. But my finally sitting down to become enthralled with the tales of Hogwarts students reminded me of my encounters with Potter-mania a scant year ago.

Last year, after the terrorist attacks in September, I happened to hit the busiest work travel period of my professional life. From October through to the week before Christmas, every other week I was flying to one of our many offices around the country.

I remember this period for two reasons. First, because of the dramatic drop off in airline ticket sales (because of the terrorist hijackings), airlines were offering double miles to frequent fliers. I racked up enough miles in that three month period because of the bonus to get a free ticket to Australia.

The other reason was the new security procedures. Among them, you had to show identification everywhere-the ticket counter, to get to the screening area, to get on the plane, and then again to get on a plane if you caught a connection. So I'm constantly flipping out my driver's license so people can match my name and picture to the plane ticket, and I kept hearing the same remark.

"Potter, eh? Not any relation to Harry Potter, are you?"

And then the person would laugh like they were the first person in the history of the world to ever say that to me.

Four times per flight, two flights per trip, eight trips in three months.

The dull repetitiveness of an obvious joke told at every opportunity in every corner of the country aside, it drove home the awareness of Harry Potter as a product being pushed on the public, and also heightened the sense I had that I was the only person in America who had not yet read the damn books.

Last year around this time was the height of Potter-mania, with the recent release of the fourth book in the series and (of course) the first movie hitting theaters. But the wave of Potter's popularity wasn't just a media driven hype fest in overdrive. If that was all it took, Hollywood films would regularly open on top and stay on top for months on end, spawning best selling books that top the charts for months on end, and so on and so on down the product tie-in line.

Thing is, that DOESN'T happen very often. It's the exception, not the rule. I've become increasingly convinced that the reason is while a sucker is born every minute and the American public will cheerfully let itself get sucked into anything resembling a clever marketing campaign…quality does still count.

I don't look at how well a movie opens anymore. Any crack monkey with a decent budget and clips from a competent cinematographer can design a campaign to open a movie well. Second week receipts tell the story of what people think. Steep drop-offs are the norm anymore, while films and books that last are the exception.

More importantly, quality is also a salve on our desperate need to fit in. Part of the reason kids don't read books is that there's a lot of competition from easier and more entertaining mediums, sure; but the other part is that there's a lot of peer pressure that isn't "cool" to read. And its not just a kid thing, either. I don't know if we collectively get scarred over feelings of being an outcast and not fitting in as a child that once we reach adulthood and discover its all a load of bunk and we fit in just fine (did all along, actually), that we STILL CARE and are influenced in what we'll publicly say we like by whether or not others like it as well. This, sadly, creates a discussion where negativity dominates and crushes honest opinion..

Quality glazes right over that. Makes it go away. Harry Potter has been the enduring success that it is, with kids and adults alike, because it's a damn fun read. I'm sure there are people out there who didn't like it, that's fine. Not everything is for everyone-doesn't make you a freak nor does it make everyone else brainwashed slaves of corporate marketing masters. Trust me, for a series of books to do this well, its inherently good.

But it makes me sad that something that blows through people's preconceptions and concern about appearance comes along so infrequently. I see this happening among the comics community far too often. If a person doesn't like something, they decry it, its creators, the readers, and the reader's parents and upbringing.

We've created a culture where its much easier and much more accepted to slag off on work than it is admit that we like it, let alone hold it up and praise it.

I've written in the past how frustrated I've been over the years at the perception of comics as a ghetto medium, and how we oftentimes encourage that perception by not letting on that we read and enjoy comics. I know a lot of you reading are thinking that you don't act this way, and that's great; sadly, I've met many that do. And I understand why the concern at confronting a "civilian" with being a comics fan can sometimes be daunting. Like I said, it's still a stigma, but I get a sense its not as much of a stigma that it was, say, ten or even five years ago.

But among ourselves, being in a position where we're uncomfortable to admit that we enjoy something? Why on earth would we ever do that to ourselves?

Its far too easy to stay quiet on enjoying a book and why we enjoy a book. No one, anywhere, should be able to take legitimate issue with you legitimately enjoying a book, whether that book is ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN or FABLES or VOGELIN. As we often talk about in SAVANT, one of the biggest problems confronting us is habitual buying of something you don't enjoy anymore. It can cut the other way too, to someone who keeps buying important non-superhero books out of a sense of obligation to the medium when really, they don't enjoy what it is they are buying.

So let's keep it simple: Buy and read what you like, and for the love of God, don't be embarrassed about it.

Because looking around, quality of books is at a high water mark across the board. There's no trouble in finding something you like. And then, tell someone about it.

Its activism at its most fundamental level. Recommending a book you enjoy to someone you think will enjoy it. That's all it takes to make a difference. So simple, if we let go of the idea that it matters that someone may judge us on what we like and dislike. Screw them and the horse they rode in on if they do that; it just means they've got their own problems.

Take pride in what you read and don't be ashamed. Because sensations like Harry Potter don't come along every day, and if you're waiting for it…you're probably going to be here a long time.