I liked Sina Semsar’s take on the remix project and the fanfiction he created. I think I liked it because I appreciate the type of humor he had and the way he worked it into the fan fiction. It wasn’t the kind of thing that has you on the floor rolling but it was just there enough so it made you half laugh. I just appreciated the change of pace with the fan fic, a majority of them were very serious, dramatic, or sad, it was nice hearing something comical and mischievous. Sina’s presence and presentation of his work was fantastic. He seemed confident and he spoke clearly and audibly. All around it was one of the projects that stood out the most to me simply because of his creativity, content, and the way he presented his project.

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I am writing my review about Sina’s remix. I truly found it hilarious andentertaining. I always wondered what would have happened if Slughorn told Tom fake information about Horocruxes and what the outcome would be. Ithought his remix was thoroughly thought through and the storyline was there.I looked at it again on his blog and read it again. It was a fun read and therewas humor all through its a non-English major, I wish he would have added characters names to help a reader through and to keep the correct lines to each character. I kept forgetting which character was speaking at certain times. However, it was a fun read and had an interesting take on it. I do believe this can turn into a short story and SIna can go into more detail and a deeper plot line.

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While everyone has done a wonderful job presenting their projects, one that stood out to me was Sina’s. His project was so clever and funny that it made me want to hear more. He managed to tell a story in only a few pages. He covered so much ground in just those few pages that I can’t imagine what a few more pages would do.

He is always so quiet in class so I never really know who he is as a person. After listening to him read his project, I now know that he is hilarious. He mixed vampires and wizards, I think he referenced Twilight to Harry Potter. The way he did it was seamless too. He really touched on both plot lines and managed to have them flow together as if it was already an existing story.

His writing was very good and not only did it grab everyone’s attention, we all laughed too. Unlike others, he incorporated humor into his story and made it witty. It wasn’t just your average remix idea, he really took charge and created something great.

Many people claim that the Harry Potter books are very sexist, mainly due to the fact that the story is about a boy who has to defeat an evil man and is guided by an elderly wise professor who is also male. Sarah Zettel wrote the essay “Hermione Granger and the Charge of Sexism”, an essay that responds to the fact that though the books do focus on male characters mainly. However, Hermione Granger and a few other of the female characters are very prominent and important factors in the book that prove that the books are not sexist nor are they feminist texts.

In her essay, Zettel writes about three different essays that make similar claims against the Harry Potter series. The three essays in question claim that the boks all make it seem that the
females in the book are less appealing than the male characters, that they are less likeable, and that Hermione Granger specifically is weaker, is not as self-possessed and much less adventurous than her male friends. However, Hermione Granger is often known referred to as one of the smartest students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Zettel proposes “All three essays also share a primary weakness: They make their charges with no consideration to larger context (Page 2).” Hermione may not be athletically inclined, but she is exceedingly smart and extremely brave. At only eleven years old she chooses to go with Harry and fight evil with him, at twelve she brews an illegal and difficult potion in order to turn into another person, at thirteen she helps a convicted felon escape, and the list goes on. She continues to prove that she is extremely smart and that Harry Potter would never have been able complete his mission of defeating the dark lord without Hermione.

Another observation that Zettel makes is: “It is Schoefer, however, who makes the clearest misinterpretation by removing quotes from context. In her essay, she makes great objection to the assessment of Ginny in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Page 3).” The essays that Zettel is reviewing are obviously very biased against the Harry Potter books but cannot back up their accusations with any proof from the books. They refuse to look at the books and take much of the information out of context.

Finally, Zettel claims: “It’s not that Hermione doesn’t care what Ron and Harry think of her, it’s that she doesn’t let their opinions get in the way of doing what she knows to be right (page 13).” Hermione Granger is a feminist and the Harry Potter series are not sexist. Despite the books having a strong male presence, they do a good job of showing the female characters as strong individuals who know they are valuable. Despite the fact that the female characters are not the main characters, they are influential, smart and strong women who make sure that the books are not sexist.

For this journal, I read: “Harry Potter and the Witch Hunters: A Social Context for the Attacks on Harry Potter” by Amanda Cockrell. An article that makes it a point that this reaction, to “…indoctrinate our children in witchcraft and Satanism…” (Cockrell, page 24) is one that is only found in the incredibly religious American audience. It’s a very interesting phenomenon, as such an absurd reaction is scarcely shared anywhere else in the world, even in other English speaking countries, such as it’s country of origin, England, and in other religious countries, even the ones that share America’s most popular belief, Christianity.

The notion that the Harry Potter series spreads the ideas of genuine witchcraft and that infects the youth with Satanism is one that only seems to exist in the country that takes Christianity seriously, the one that has some of its population under the spell that every word in their book is fact, fundamentalist Christians seem to be the only group of people who have actually managed to fool themselves into believing it could possibly be real, likely because they have not read or paid any attention to it, going off what they want to believe is in it, which strikes me as being painfully ironic. As stated: “This is more or less the image that many fundamentalist Christians also have of witchcraft that, like angels or the voice of Satan, it is out there, unseen but ready to swallow up the hapless child who can be turned toward its seductive allure, and that it actually works.” (Cockrell, page 26)

These American fundamentalist Christians don’t like the threat of them or their children believing in, or really even hearing of, any other popular form of reality than the one they’ve chosen to force upon themselves as the correct one. They have chosen to be closed-minded and take a great deal of personal offence when any other imaginary idea rivals their own, because to them it’s all real, if anything this effect makes an incredible thing to study, as it shows how resilient people are to creativity, especially in the written word, when it challenges their own, it’s a literal battle of imaginary friends where they believe both is real, it’s a remarkable achievement. The even more remarkable aspect is that it only happens when something is popular enough to become a threat, not only that, but when much like with their own beliefs, it starts off with a semi reasonable start that crumbles away from plausibility the moment it goes into detail. By this, of course I mean that they take place on the planet Earth. “Harry lives in our world, making him more of a threat. Rowling has abandoned the realm of high fantasy and laid her story in contemporary England, rather than in the imaginary and medievally flavored otherworld.” (Cockrell, page 25)

I’m astonished that such a reaction to the series could possibly exist in the 21^st or even 20^th century, or to be honest even the 17^th, but I don’t doubt for a single second that if such a thing were to genuinely exist it would only effect the one group that it did, I can’t say I’m surprised, but I do feel genuinely sorry for them, not because they won’t be able to enjoy such a great book series, but that they can’t see anything they don’t want to, that’s magic more dark than Voldemort could ever achieve.

Many people have crushes, admire a certain character, music artist, celebrity or real life person, but those people being “crushed” on don’t always know that is happening. “…parasocial relationships (PSRs) are more or less stable, long-term construals media users hold and can access both during and between exposure to messages featuring a media character…”(Schmid 254). These relationships are common with fictional characters, and famous artists and actors. There is a debate between what it means to admire someone versus obsessing over them, many times the line between two can be blurred. It is important to know when a parasocial relationship becomes unhealthy.
When people hear the name Harry Potter you almost always get a reaction, they either love the book series and the character himself, or they hate him. For those who love him, that could be taken quite literally sometimes. The way Rowling wrote the series allowed for readers to grow with Harry and his friends as the books continued and that in itself establishes a strong relationship, whether Harry knows it or not. This connection formed between these characters and the reader have resonated with people long after they have read the books and watched the movies. I would say that I have a strong relationship with Harry Potter and I admire him as a character and I believe he, and the series as a whole influenced me heavily and shaped my own reality. While I feel strongly about this, I admire him as a character and I admire the moral fiber of the books and what they teach. I do not find myself trying to become this character or live as if I were stuck inside the book. As the article states, “…Besides the attractiveness of a character, the development of a parasocial relationship may depend on the perceived commonalities between viewers or readers and a media protagonist… (Schmid 255). This is a good way to describe how I find myself connected to Harry Potter. I find common things in common with the character and the story and that is how I became attached to the character and the story. There are some who may identify a great deal with this story and it may cause a stronger connection, or obsession to form. Some people like the idea of not having any limits within a relationship like this where they are entirely in control of the outcome and the benefits because it is in their own head.
The benefit to fictional PSRs is that there are multiple people who feel the same way and identify with a character and a community forms based around common interest, this is homophily. The article defines homophily as, “homophily…implies a sense of closeness to and familiarity with the character, a relationship characteristic that facilitates uncertainty reduction and positive experiences of shared group membership between viewers/readers and character. This is where things like fandoms are bred from. People find common ground within a fictional world or with a specific character and people discuss this and they form different scenarios that fit their reality or may be more of how they see it in their heads. This could be a great way to form real life connections and relationships, unless those involved in the community see the fictional story as their own reality. That could be seen as an obsessive behavior and it can be more hurtful than it seems.
Parasocial relationships and homophily that are formed between a fictional character or a celebrity/artist can be positive or they could be negative and unhealthy. Some of the benefits are that people can bond with one another over a relatable character, or they can be sucked into the fictional world they have become so fond of to the point where they believe it is reality for themselves.