Harry Potter's worldbuilding makes absolutely no sense.
Why are they giving 11-year-olds weapons that can do anything from light stray fires to instantly kill people? Wouldn't that be considered highly illegal in a place like England, a country with pretty strict gun control?
Why doesn't Hogwarts help the outside world?
Why do they use one of the slowest birds to transport their mail?
Why are they giving 11-year-olds weapons that can do anything from light stray fires to instantly kill people? Wouldn't that be considered highly illegal in a place like England, a country with pretty strict gun control?
These kinds of simple questions tear down the worldbuilding and reveal it as the charlatan act that it is, right? The worldbuilding doesn't make logical sense, so it's objectively bad, right? Right?
No.
(You already knew the answer to that question, you read the title)
If you're reading this, I'll assume that you've already read the Harry Potter books, because they're the Harry Potter books. If you haven't, even better! Let's run with that latter assumption. You may have never read the books, or watched the movies, but you've still almost certainly heard of Harry Potter. It's just one of those things that's penetrated the mass cultural bubble (in the West at least) and seeps into our consciousnesses.
It is my belief that this mass popularity is not a result of the narrative or the characterization- rather, it's a result of the worldbuilding (and you should have known that this was my belief; once again, I'm pretty sure you've read the title). Even though Harry Potter's worldbuilding makes absolutely no sense, it's got a sense of magical whimsy that projects a base appeal that much more sensible worlds lack. Do you know your Hogwarts house? Perhaps your patronus? Maybe you, reader, don't, but be assured at least 2 of your friends do.
It's this kind of ability to sink its claws into the pop cultural sphere and stick there for decades that makes me believe that the Harry Potter books have the best worldbuilding ever.
-Marco
Nice post! I liked how you structured this post in a way that didn't spoil anything, but still presented your opinion well. I agree with you on the worldbuilding, it's a little confusing at first but really sucks you in once you sort through it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I agree with what you said about how the worldbuilding can be bewildering (but interesting simultaneously), and liked how you did not mention any spoilers. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteI agree. A specific part of the world building to me was that it was very relatable. Since the age group of the students at Hogwarts is generally the teen area, it was very interesting to think about the possibility of me maybe learning magic. Although the Harry Potter world may lack realism, it definitely has the ability to reach into the minds of kids and teenagers.
ReplyDeleteThis post brings up questions I hadn't considered before. Why exactly is Harry Potter so popular? What makes it so good? It's kind of crazy to think of how embedded in our culture the series now is, with movies, merchandise, and even whole theme parks dedicated to it. It's the one series that almost everyone has read (or as you said, everyone knows someone that read it).
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. Like some people have said, I never really thought about how much Harry Potter has been ingrained into pop culture. However, I feel that it is not exactly world building, but more of the curiosity that arises when the question of what type of person you are arises, and I honestly think that you gave some pretty good examples of why Harry Potter DOESN'T have good world building.
ReplyDeleteHey, looks like our blog post topics are going down related paths again, huh? In all seriousness, though, I really enjoyed reading this - your analysis of HP's worldbuilding and how it appeals to its readers despite its flaws is keen and thoughtful, and as always, your usage of figurative language is delightfully witty. In addition to the points you have made, I would also like to add that HP has a world structure that allows for reader self-projection and insertion - like Taehan mentioned above, it's quite easy for one to imagine themselves at Hogwarts as the basic underlying concept - that of a British boarding school - is so fundamentally rooted in the familiar and the mundane, providing a solid foundation for the more fantastical elements of the world.
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