Why ‘Harry Potter’ Is This Generation’s ‘Star Wars’

Spoiler Alert: If you aren’t familiar with the end of the Harry Potter series, stop reading this and go see it (or read the books).

I am a huge Star Wars fan. Unfortunately, I had the rotten luck of being born in 1985, too late to see any of the original films in the theater. Everyone tells me how awesome it was — how people were hooting and hollering when Luke blew up the Death Star, the collective gasp when Vader revealed he was Luke’s father, watching Han Solo get frozen in carbonite. And yeah, I saw all the “special editions” in the theater when they were released in 1997, but the enthusiasm (from what I’ve been told, anyway) didn’t come close to what it was decades earlier.

I was always annoyed that I missed out on those initial Jedi antics on the big screen. What’s great, though, is that it doesn’t matter anymore. Why? Because my generation has its own billion-dollar franchise to fawn over. When ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2’ leaves theaters for good, I will finally have my own set of films to brag about. It’s too bad for anyone who will be born at the end of 2011 or later: You have no idea what you missed! It was awesome! You weren’t there, you wouldn’t understand!

The movie theater lobby at the midnight showing of ‘Deathly Hallows, Part 2′ was buzzing. People of all ages were dressed in Gryffindor scarves, wizards’ robes and even fake Hagrid beards. There were drawn-on lightning scars, magic wands and broken eyeglasses.

It was looking out at this crowd of super-excited Harry Potter fanatics when it dawned on me: This franchise means so much to so many people. Millions of children, teens and adults will forever be affected by the wizarding world J.K. Rowling created.

In a way, it’s sad. I woke up this morning and realized that (more than likely) there will never be another Harry Potter book or movie. The battle of Harry vs. Voldemort has finally come to an end. But the story is far from over — this series will live on for many, many years. Not only will I be able to tell my kids about them, I’ll be able to say how I witnessed firsthand, in front of hundreds of fellow fans, the finale to one of the best stories ever told — how we laughed when we saw Ron’s costume and beard as he, Harry and Hermione tried to break into Gringotts; how we cried when we saw Fred Weasley dead on the floor of Hogwarts, his family crowded around him crying; how we erupted in cheers when Neville slayed the evil snake Nagini; and how, when Lord Voldemort’s body finally disintegrated into the air, we let out a collective sigh, knowing that our hero’s journey had finally come to a triumphant conclusion.

In the end, it’s comforting to know that a movie franchise of this caliber still has the potential to affect millions. Sure, the books obviously helped with that, but when was the last time people of all ages had this kind of enthusiasm for a film? ‘Star Wars,’ perhaps? That’s not to say ‘Harry Potter’ is better than ‘Star Wars’ or vice versa. (Although, if you have a second, check out Deadspin’s hilarious NSFW comparison of the two franchises.) It’s that movies like this are timeless, and they live on long after their release.

What are your best memories from the ‘Harry Potter’ saga?

(Banner image: Everett Collection / Warner Bros.)