The idea of a Hero
exists across many different cultures, past and present and is often
represented through writings, art, and other forms of communication. In our time this depiction is readily
available through the media. In any
representation, heroes and their actions often embody or express the highest
ideals of the representative culture (Franklin University, 2012). This can be shown as individual greatness in physical
and/or mental attributes such as strength, bravery, intelligence, and
leadership to name a few. Additionally a
hero will usually have some type of weakness or personal flaw; this may be
expressed through a physical weakness such as Superman’s weakness to kryptonite
or a mental/emotional weakness such as Bruce Wayne who is traumatized after witnessing
the murder of his parents by a mugger when he is a child (Franklin University,
2012).
In the Harry
Potter series, Harry is shown to possess these qualities although he does not
automatically have all of them from the start but rather progresses to having
these heroic traits with each book/film.
Harry does not have extraordinary strength or intelligence, but rather
is helped by those how may possess these traits such as his friends or
professors. Harry does however have a
strong moral code that he stands by which is demonstrated in situations where
he could take the easy way out but chooses not to because it is morally
wrong. He becomes a leader among his
friends in his quest against Voldemort throughout the series.
Like most hero’s,
he does endure his weakness/personal flaw by not having his parents with him
growing up. Similar to the Batman story,
Harry’s parents are both murdered in front of him but he is only a baby when it
happens unlike Batman who was a child.
Throughout the story, other characters remind him of this loss both
literally and figuratively and I think his loss at not having an immediate
family would be considered a weakness or flaw in regards to a hero archetype.
The cult of Celebrity
Unlike a hero, a
Celebrity may not necessarily possess heroic traits but may be considered a
hero (to an individual) nonetheless because of the degree of public interest and
appeal among the people and popular culture.
Most of the time, it is the prominence in a particular field or the
actions or events that a person does or undergoes that makes a celebrity
recognized to stand out among their own peers.
There are many examples of this in the sports and entertainment field
where specific individuals rise to prominence in their own respective fields
such as well known athletes, actors, and singers (Brockes, 2010).
In
the Harry Potter series, Harry is also considered a type of celebrity among his
peers. Throughout the book, we learn
that Harry is known to be the only person to survive a spell that normally
kills a person, the same spell that killed his parents and left Harry unharmed
as a baby. Like the common celebrity,
Harry attains a degree of public interest among the people who know of him and
his fellow students and professors once they hear of his name. They even give him a title because of this
circumstance “The boy who lived”, and although Harry had no control over the
events that occurred when he was a baby, he is stuck with a form of celebrity
status (to a degree) in the books among the other characters in the series.
References
Brockes,
Emma (April 17, 2010). "I
want to be famous". London: Celebbuzz. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/17/i-want-to-be-famous. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
Franklin University (2010). Module 4: Heroes and the Cult of Celebrity.
Popular Culture. Retrieved from https://my.franklin.edu/myfranklin/GetCourseView.do?sectionId=31900
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