Thursday, January 23, 2020

Harry Potter Books

Originally published in Medium, by Amy Welborn:

Internet memes and catchphrases come and go. Some strike us as cute or even surprisingly and succinctly descriptive when they first pop up, but then most of them wear out their welcome within days — hours, now, it seems.
Things. Like. This. Worst. Ever.
Well, one that I encounter on Twitter now and then that I’m not tired of yet is this and variations:
#ReadaDifferentBook
(Variations: Read Another Book. Watch A Different Movie)
The inspiration?
It’s the tic, among those who observe and comment on Life and Events — which is everyone now — to filter everything through one of a very few pop culture filters. Usually:
The Hunger Games
Game of Thrones
Harry Potter.
Maybe, once in a while Star Wars.
But seriously: every battle, political and otherwise, is made to reflect off The Hunger Games, every power struggle is Game of Thrones and every bad guy is Voldemort.
Read A Different Book.

The point is about cultural narrowness and ignorance, but it’s about more.


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