Some of us are bookworms, while some of us are film fanatics. Many of us have jumped on the Harry Potter or Twilight bandwagons, while some of us just don’t care for them. Either way, these titles have become a staple of todays’ pop-culture scene. Regardless of whether or not we approve of them, we should acknowledge them and their roots. (Granted, there are countless other popular books that have been turned into movies. But since Breaking Dawn and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. II were recently released, we’ll focus solely on those)
Many Harry Potter fans were there from the very beginning, which means they were there when only the books existed. While the same can be applied to the Twilight Saga, it’s safe to say that the Harry Potter series’ fame was more promising from the time the books were published than the Twilight Saga’s. This is probably because people of all ages found Harry Potter accessible, while Twilight seemed to be more geared towards the teen/young adult audience. Regardless, once these series were brought to life through the big screen, the fan bases grew instantly.
We now have things like Team Edward, Team Gryffindor, Team Jacob, and Team Slytherin. If you think about it, these novelty slogans may not have even existed had it not been for the movies. They truly allowed fans to visualize elements from the books. Those that only support the books and are against the very existence of the movies will argue that the movies ruin the real story. But if you think about it, it really is a win-win situation – the existence of both the books and movies is somewhat of a mutual relationship. They only enhance one another. If you’ve read the books first, you now get to see your favorite characters live in action and if you see the movies first, you now get to go back and fill in the gaps.
So whether you’re a fan because you read the books or because you’ve seen the movies, it shouldn’t really matter. What counts is how much you like the stories. While it’s suggested that the books be read before seeing the movies, you may be content with only seeing the movies. If that’s what floats your boat, so be it. And while the Harry Potter movie phenomenon has wrapped itself up, we’ve still got Breaking Dawn Part II to look forward to!