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Bored Panda reached out to Andy McCray, the founder and editor at the website Harry Potter Fan Zone, to find out what it is about the Harry Potter series that clicks with so many people still today. The project was launched back in 2003 when Andy was a 14-year-old student from Canberra, Australia. It is now one of the largest Wizarding World sources on the internet.
Andy explained that Harry Potter has such a passionate and enthusiastic following because it embedded itself in the zeitgeist of the 2000s. “An entire generation grew up reading the books and watching the films, and the characters and stories have transcended the page to became part of popular culture."
”Moreover, there’s this entertainment and nostalgia factor to it. “The HP movies deal with themes — love and hate, good versus evil, overcoming adversity and standing up against injustice, finding inner strength — which are particularly relevant in the modern world,” Andy said.
For the millennial generation who grew up reading books, the Harry Potter world serves as a form of fantasy escapism in this increasingly hectic world.
Andy finds it absolutely natural that people would continue to make Harry Potter references online. “It’s loved by such a huge number of people that the characters, situations, jokes and references are immediately understood by a wide audience.”
Having said that, memes are also a vital part of 21st century popular culture. And “what better than pairing that with one of the biggest popular culture phenomenons of our time,” concluded Andy.
