I wish the Harry Potter world was real

I wish the Harry Potter world was real.

Anyone else feel that way?

I felt like I was healing and growing with each movie installment:

I related to discovery and rescue in 1.

I related to overcoming obstacles in 2.

I related to anger, revenge, and new family in 3.

I related to competing and witnessing death in 4.

I related to forming alliances and overcoming internal chaos in 5.

I related to deception, grief, and loss in 6.

I related to exile and hiding in 7a.

I related to conquering death and the coming of age in 7b.

I've never read the Harry Potter books nor seen the movies. But, many years ago, I was heavily into this sort of fantasy thing. I was just sure there must be more to life than what we see around us every day & it was just a matter of finding it. I recall one segment of the TV series: "Cosmos" where Carl Sagan talked about times when he was a child he would go outside at night, stretch out his arms, & hope to be contacted (or perhaps whisked away ?) by some super-intelligent space aliens. I did the same thing.

As I've become older I've come to realize that "what you see is what you get." So I've given up on fantasy. Give me a good BBC murder mystery. I've even wondered sometimes what society would be like if kids were brought up in the real world & didn't have their heads filled with fantasies...Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, & all the rest. Perhaps childhood would be less fun. But we might be more stable as adults because I think that, as adults, we keep trying to find our ways to those fantasies we grew up with... one of the reasons people sometimes have kids I think so they can re-live their childhood fantasies through their kids.

As I understand it, from what little I've read or heard from people who study such things, this whole childhood fantasy thing in our culture is a fairly recent development in history. It wasn't so many years ago that children were simply viewed as little adults (which may or may not have been a good thing.) But then somebody realized how much money there was to be made in immersing people (children & adults alike) in fantasy. So here we are.

Anyway... just a few thoughts with regard to your post. Thanks for posting it. I enjoyed having the opportunity to reply.

Thank you @Skeezyks

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Originally Posted by Skeezyks I've never read the Harry Potter books nor seen the movies. But, many years ago, I was heavily into this sort of fantasy thing. I was just sure there must be more to life than what we see around us every day & it was just a matter of finding it. I recall one segment of the TV series: "Cosmos" where Carl Sagan talked about times when he was a child he would go outside at night, stretch out his arms, & hope to be contacted (or perhaps whisked away ?) by some super-intelligent space aliens. I did the same thing.

I loved watching Starman (the TV series, not the movie, though I like the movie, too), and wished so much to meet an alien. I like your fantasy upbringing, too, though I haven't watched Cosmos. I did look it up just now, and I faintly remember it, I think. I'm 45 y/o, so maybe I was around 10 y/o when that was out. Too cool!

Here's a link to the Starman series I liked: Starman (TV Series 1986–1987) - IMDb

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As I've become older I've come to realize that "what you see is what you get." So I've given up on fantasy. Give me a good BBC murder mystery. I've even wondered sometimes what society would be like if kids were brought up in the real world & didn't have their heads filled with fantasies...Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, & all the rest. Perhaps childhood would be less fun. But we might be more stable as adults because I think that, as adults, we keep trying to find our ways to those fantasies we grew up with... one of the reasons people sometimes have kids I think so they can re-live their childhood fantasies through their kids.

You brought up a good point about what life would be like without fantasy. Before the children's rights movement, children were treated as commodities, so being adultified and parentified were common back in the day. I think what you suggested rings true. I wonder if the pretend play and imaginary friends that youth experience in our Western civilization are not so common among youth in indigenous lands. Cultural anthropologists have found that adultification and parentification are common in indigenous countries, but they use terms such as "alloparenting" to represent a type of parentification where children help raise other children in their villages, including their own siblings. Where's the time for fantasy when kids are put to work?

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As I understand it, from what little I've read or heard from people who study such things, this whole childhood fantasy thing in our culture is a fairly recent development in history. It wasn't so many years ago that children were simply viewed as little adults (which may or may not have been a good thing.) But then somebody realized how much money there was to be made in immersing people (children & adults alike) in fantasy. So here we are.

Hmm... Excellent points!

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Anyway... just a few thoughts with regard to your post. Thanks for posting it. I enjoyed having the opportunity to reply.

Thank you for replying! I enjoyed your intelligent feedback!

As a person with a dissociative disorder, fantasy comes easy to me. I wonder if fantasy played a role in the forming of my dissociation. Hmm....

I read the first book and seen all the movie.

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Originally Posted by possum220 Just a bit of fun.

LOL I love muppets! Thank you!