Culture Cults

This week we were discussing fandom and how it relates back to the artist and the culture. Now obviously the largest cult of fandom is the Harry Potter fans. This discussion brought back what it was like when the books and movies were still coming out. I recall people dressing up and getting in line at Barnes and noble as well as the movies. For the last Harry Potter premiere everyone got together purchase or made a wand a dressed and like one of the character. I went online like we did on class and started to look at the sites dedicated to this book series and movies I noticed that’s were more sophisticated than other fan sites. This brought on the question of how do these sites reflect the fans; do more complex sites mean more committed fans? I also noticed that the series also gets a lot more positive feed back than other pop culture cults. This made me think about how much Harry Potter has been integrated into the culture so much that it is no longer considered a fandom but natural. I was not surprised when I saw hundreds of people in robes and scars at the final movie premiere, discussing how they might represent the 7^th book in the movie, but instead surprised by the people that didn’t.