How Harry Potter Fans Cause Press

Do film/TV adaptations cause press? Why do social media discourses and viral moments even happen?

Photo by Rithika Gopal on Unsplash

Disclaimer: This was an essay I submitted for a scholarship contest that ends in a few days. Here’s hoping I get it!

The hype around modern film/TV adaptations is exciting and encouraging. Newer generations are being exposed to classic literature through a new lens or way of storytelling that previous generations had yet to imagine. And with the technology of today, the general public is obsessed with adding to social media discourse and viral moments all fueled by press coverage.

These classic adaptations inspire such cultural “events” because people are experiencing emotions and have a need to communicate them. With this in mind, these cultural “events” lead us to believe that marketing trends in entertainment today are fueled by emotions, mainly nostalgia and sentiment from the prior classic, and an improvement in technology. We’ll consider these theses with the Harry Potter franchise.

Beginning in the early 2000’s, the Harry Potter franchise stars a rising star in the wizarding world, Harry Potter, who’s destined to defeat the wizarding world’s most nefarious villain: He Who Shall Not Be Named, otherwise known as Voldemort. The movie series was adapted from seven books into eight movies, and was highly successful.

From inspired Quidditch teams, to wizard-themed conventions, the fanbase has taken the world by storm. Newer generations to the fandom now contribute to the fanbase through new technologies, adding viral moments from the movies to forums and creating laughable memes to share. With the continued excitement of Harry Potter, the makers of the franchise has elected to create a reboot of the entire movie series into a TV series. The press exploded; fans are more than happy. Viral moments have been posted all over social media with inklings of what is to come. One such inkling refers to how the general fandom sees the new version of Snape will play out.

In the original movies, Snape, the Potions teacher of Hogwarts, was played by Alan Rickman, who is white. In the newer remake of the series, Snape will be played by Paapa Essiedu, who is British-Ghanaian and of darker complexion.

This was a rather important change culturally for the character Snape, as it added a hint of potential racism to Harry’s character.

Influencers have signed onto this viral trend of showing Harry as telling Ron that Snape is up to no good, with Ron asking if it’s because Snape is black. Repeated iterations of this meme, along with fans recreating Snape if he had more stereotypically black tendencies, have circled the internet for months.

Photo by Tuyen Vo on Unsplash

To be clear, this highlighting of Snape’s new race is not in opposition to the change in race; fans are more than happy with Paapa Essiedu in the role. What fans are portraying in these viral clips is how their very beloved movie franchise is going to change. They are celebrating the past while showing excitement for the future. They honor the original character of Snape and his role in the Harry Potter universe while showing how his character may cause a minor difference in timeline events as a result of the change.

Subtle racism may add to the concept of Harry misunderstanding Snape, leading to a deeper reveal later on when Snape shows the viewers which side he’s really fighting for.

Overall, the nostalgia fans are experiencing accompanied by the excitement of a new, more inclusive cast is causing these viral trends that highlight race. Emotions are positive, thus giving the new TV series positive press even before the series launch.

Photo by Angel Sanchez on Unsplash

Marketing teams have caught on to this same nostalgia mixed with excitement and use it hand in hand with Harry Potter fans to promote the new series. The actors from the old movies have been seen in public with the stars of the new TV show, cementing the handoff of the old to the new. Cast member pictures of the original movie are put side by the side with the cast of the TV series to show their similarities in dress, aura, and overall appearance. Many of the cast members look eerily similar to the old versions of their character, with only the race of Snape being the only noticeable change.

The idea that the TV adaptation is going to be the same but slightly different gives sentimental fans hope that the core values of the franchise will not change, but also excitement over some of the minor changes. Press coverage only leads to more social media discourse and more viral moments; Reddit forums have exploded with questions like “why keep the same wizarding school?” or “why do some people hate the new remake?”, flooding user inboxes with even more opinions to consider.

Press coverage and marketing trends only fuel the fire for the fans over nostalgia and excitement, leading to more press coverage of the fan culture and the franchise overall.

This human need to communicate our thoughts and feelings is ingrained in us, especially when discussing our likes and dislikes. Anyone can have an opinion in today’s world and express it with platforms like social media. Fans can find like-minded people who support their views, or new enemies who oppose them. Communities grow over words typed into a keyboard, and overnight, small-time opinions become fan-held beliefs.

Overall, fans of the Harry Potter seem to be excited over the new TV series and the change in Snape’s race, but there is some division.

Another faction in the fandom believes the new series is politically pleasing leftists who “insert race where it doesn’t need to be changed”. These people would prefer Snape to remain white. Another group loathes the new TV series, wishing it didn’t exist altogether. They are purists, looking to leave the originals intact and alone in all its sanctity. Of course, these groups will communicate with each other; human beings want to feel seen and heard for their beliefs. They want others to validate their opinions and to join their cause. Snape’s change in race can lead to new friends or new enemies, but all the same, it generates emotions over the new TV series.

Marketing and the press push forward ideas, people react and bond over the messages. That’s just the way the entertainment world works. Social media discourse and viral moments are the lifeblood of any film/TV adaptation. They generate fun and fanfare leading up to the premiere, and cast final critiques post-release.

These cultural “events” exist because humans need to communicate.

They need to spread the word on what they believe is right or wrong, with both trivial and important pursuits. Harry Potter is just one franchise that perfectly encapsulates this.

Due to its popularity, this fandom will never stop creating viral content on social media, perpetuating the franchise into the years to come for all generations to experience.

With the rise of new technologies, viral moments and cultural “events” will spawn in new ways that we can’t even imagine in this day and age. Press coverage will continue to fuel the fandom, and vice versa, into eternity with novel additions to the franchise lighting the way.

The entertainment industry feeds off of the emotions of fans in order to keep this cycle going. In other words, many jobs in entertainment are secure due to the excitement and extravagance of the Harry Potter franchise’s fans.

Due to the fans’ overwhelming excitement, marketing trends will continue to develop to better suit their needs, leading to many more hungry and excited fans.

In sum, modern film/TV adaptations depend on their fans for success, fed by the never-ending media and press coverage that coincidentally depends on the perspective and enjoyment of the fans.