Heroes by the Dozen

Dark, ominous clouds hover over six terrified teenagers. A brutal wind whips against the three foremost heroes, pushing their hair and robes into unlikely shapes. The brave, selfless heroes stand on a rock face. A dense white fog swirls around their feet. Despite the unspeakable horrors that they will endure, these six are ready to tackle the unknown and emerge victorious. Each character stares out into the unknown, afraid, but ready to prove his or her self-worth. Harry Potter is the head of the triangle of six heroes. He is clad in a sporty, yet classy black robe with two yellow stripes down the sides, arms, and collar. A magenta sweater peeks out from within the folds of the robe, and dark sweat pants with white athletic stripes down the sides can just be seen from under the robe. At his left, a step behind him, but pressed against him nonetheless, stands Hermione. The look in her eyes speaks of unfathomable terror. Her black cloak fades into the fog that swirls all around the characters. Somehow, the fog covers very little of the button-down violet shirt and the tight, dark sweat pants with two white athletic stripes running down the sides. At Harry's right stands Ron, looking a bit frightened, but determined to protect Harry to the end. He is clad in a short, dark cloak, dark slacks, and a grey sweater. To Ron's right stands French Fleur Delacour, one of the four competitors in the Triwizard Tournament. She stands with her shoulders thrown back, and is dressed in a green shirt, silver cloak, and dark pants. Her ponytail is being blown back so that it sticks straight out of the side of her head. Interestingly, it is swept in the opposite direction in which Hermione's hair is swept. On the other side of the image, on Hermione's left, stands Cedric Diggory, Harry's peer, but elder, who is slouching sexily and wearing matching sweats. To Diggory's left stands Viktor Krum, a world-famous sports hero. He is standing in a ridiculously rigid pose, and looks moody. Neither wind nor fog affects him in the slightest.

This image is an icon for one of world's most popular modern fairy tales: Harry Potter. Life becomes bearable with just a flick of a magic wand. The things that this magic wand can do go far and beyond the powers of Cinderella's fairy godmother. The godmother needed mice and a pumpkin; witches and wizards within Harry Potter's world only need their wands. Pimples are gone with a pop, and brooms are used for only one thing-quidditch, the wizarding sport played on brooms, where the aim is to shoot large, red balls through hoops and to catch the walnut-sized, golden flying ball. Life within this imaginary world is comparable, but at the same time very different, from the world today. School still exists, but the subjects are a trifle different from common subjects in the real world. Teenagers are more presentable, perhaps, but still carry the same insecurities and worries as all teens do everywhere.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione are the peers of all teenagers across the globe. These three literary idols are quite similar, and yet also incredibly different from us. They, too, go to schools, but they study Potions and Arithmancy rather than Math and Science. Their beauty creams and cheating techniques are far superior to our own. With a flick of their wands, Harry, Hermione, and Ron can have all they wish - or so it seems. What make these three so lovable, however, are their imperfections. Harry, Ron, and Hermione started off as social misfits in book one of Harry's adventures. Ron came from a poor family, and has many siblings. Thus, he is sometimes teased about his second-hand clothing and parentage. Hermione's parents are both muggles, which means that they cannot perform magic. Indeed, they did not know of the existence of magic prior to Hermione's acceptance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Once at school, however, Hermione amazed all with her proficiency in magical studies of all varieties. Jealousy made her the scapegoat and victim of many insults about her parentage, and particularly, her bloodline. The fact that both of her parents were not members of the magical society created a gap between her and other students. Harry Potter was also a misfit. His parents were killed when he was just one year old. He lived with his aunt, uncle, and cousin for twelve terrible years. His aunt and uncle made him sleep under the staircase with the spiders. They essentially treated him like a slave. He never felt welcome, nor was he particularly well-cared for. It was at twelve years of age that he was told that he was a wizard, and that he was responsible for the fall of Voldermort, a mass-murderer and leader of a massive cult. Once he arrived at school, he was hailed as hero by all for this act, though he could not even remember committing it. Davis and Herrington from The Memphis Flyer noted that "Harry is a talented boy destined for great things who only wants to be a touch more normal"(52). It is precisely because the three main characters in Harry Potter's world are imperfect that children, teens, and adults the world over are buying up anything to do with Harry Potter. The Harry Potter books have been translated into 62 languages, and more than 265 million copies have been sold in 200 countries (Bentley, L1). The errors and worries of Harry and his friends make them seem normal, and thus relative and appealing to the masses. As Cosmo Landesman of the Sunday Times in London notes, "Once again, Harry has to face a familiar foe: celebrity. 'I don't want eternal glory,' he [Harry] says. But eternal glory wants Harry, and it nearly costs him his friendship with Ron, and his life". However, the media feels the need to sugar-coat an already thriving and successful industry, Harry Potter's world, by making the characters appear perfect.

The look on Harry's face is ideal for his position within the image. In real life, though, it must have taken poor Daniel Radcliffe a good twenty tries to perfect such a look. It simply does not ring true. Harry is staring directly at the viewer, but his eyes seem a bit out of focus. His stance appears grounded, yet he also looks as if he is about to leap up or start running. He is calm and composed, but the pose, stance, and expression on his face do not match the manner in which a true teenager would be standing. He looks stiff, composed, and unnatural. Hermione's and Ron's hair should not be in such odd positions. It is true that the wind can do interesting things with both hair and clothing. However, their hair looks fake. It does not look as if a fan were facing them and making their hair blow back during the shoot, but rather that their hair was gelled into ridiculous positions before the shoot. Interestingly, the "wind" does not affect the three less-important characters that complete the triangular formation in the back of the picture except for the girl, whose ponytail is swirling in the opposite direction of Hermione's. The clouds look incredibly overdone, and the fog does little to make the scene look more realistic. In real life, the weather does not often mix rain clouds with fog that is only knee-deep. It is through artificiality and sugar-coating that all advertisements are made today. This idea of selling the masses "perfection" is one of the real flaws in society in this day and age.

Because one of the main goals of advertising is to convince the consumer that he is flawed, only by purchasing the item will the person be cured of his flaws. Can't find a girlfriend? Use this mouthwash daily, and you will be able to find the woman of your dreams, marry her, and live happily after. Are you too fat? Take our pills to look like the movie star of your dreams! Imperfect nails and hair? Come to our salon! Do you have children? Buy the perfect car for your family- dent-proof doors, fifty air bags, and child locks on the doors and the windows! Be perfect, buy our products!

"Harry Potter" is being treated as just another product to be crammed down the throats of consumers because of its perfection. Stanislav Ianevski, the actor who played Victor Krum in The Goblet of Fire remarks that, "It's weird seeing them. They are the most famous kids, I kept calling them famous. They're on their way to becoming icons."(15) Originality is no longer "in". This is so because there is the risk of being imperfect. Imperfection is bad, despite the fact that advertising is the reason why people are feeling imperfect in the first place! However, it isn't perfection that attracts so many people; it is normality. At long last, here is a character that is not perfect. He may not gargle every day, and does not have universal admiration. Yet it is Harry, this imperfect teenager, who is the hero, and somehow pulls through each of the challenges thrown his way. He is a real person as a result of his mistakes, and thus readers and viewers can feel proud or sympathetic when Harry overcomes a hurdle or says something he shouldn't have to a friend. As Gabrielle Wiegand, a writer for The Journal wisely notes, "The Harry Potter books are filled with characters you can love and empathize with". Harry is not original; he is just like one of us. That is why he has so many fans.

The Harry Potter world is a literary treasure. It molds reality and "what if" into an original masterpiece of teen angst, power, and all sorts of relationships. However, through advertising, this world and its characters have been reduced to a symbol. Harry is now just some toy, some movie character, some little boy. Harry Potter is NOT Daniel Radcliffe. He is not the look on Radcliffe's face in the image, nor is he the culmination of the character that Radcliffe was acting in the movies. Discussing, analyzing, and critiquing the texts are excellent ways of approaching the Harry Potter works. However, monopolizing people's minds concerning what defines character and "perfection" is not.

Works Cited

Pratt, S. (2005). The Object of Harry's Desire. The Northern Echo 14-15.

Davis, C, & Herrington, C. (2001). Murder and Magic: Reviewing The Man Who Wasn't There and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Memphis Flyer 666, 52.

Bentley, R. (2005). The ABC's of Harry Potter; Need a remedial course for muggles on all things magical? Fresno Bee L1.

Landesman, C. (2005). Finally wild about Harry. Sunday Times 11.

Wiegand, G. (2005). Harry Potter captures world-wide attention. The Journal via U-Wire.