Media Globalization

The Harry Potter series is a great example for media globalization, given to us in not one popular form of media but two. Not only has the world become completely obsessed with J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series – always counting down the days till the next book’s release – but everyone has also fallen in love with the films made from the books. It is interesting to ask how people feel about Harry Potter because so many may see the story differently depending upon whether they are fans of the books or the movies. I know many fans who, like myself, have read the books and seen the movies, loving both. Others though have only read the books or seen the movies, which shows how different types of media are more popular to some than others. There will always be the classic arguments that reading the books will always be better vs. the view of I will just wait until the book is made into a movie. On top of all of the hype about the books and the films, the world has also gone crazy for Harry Potter products, showing how the media affects what people buy. Every kind of Harry Potter toy imaginable can be found, from board games to Legos. Clothing with the characters’ images can be found from both the books and the films. Even as a fantasy, the experiences of the characters are not that different from our own. Only magic divides their world from ours, which is why the series is so popular worldwide. No matter where someone is from, they can always enjoy the story of an amazing adventure. Harry Potter is a name known all over the world; it is almost like he is a celebrity even though he is not a real person. Because of his character, children all over the world have started up their own "fantasy worlds". Many people have made up their own stories using the Harry Potter universe as the setting. A problem that has come from some people writing their own fantasy is that they have used the Harry Potter characters in their stories and then tried to illegally publish them in their country with the characters being of their culture, not British. This shows the impact that the Harry Potter series has had on the global media.