I mean, it was already pretty consumerist from the start. Like, how does every book begin, after the Dursleys but before Hogwarts? It begins with Harry going on a shopping spree, often seeing many products that he won't even buy (but have plenty of merchandising potential, nudge nudge, wink wink, publishers). It's also probably the only piece of fantasy outside of RPGs in which a wizard obtains their magical device by buying it, and that is completely played straight.
It begins with Harry going on a shopping spree, often seeing many products that he won’t even buy (but have plenty of merchandising potential, nudge nudge, wink wink, publishers).
The first book uses the Wizarding Marketplace as a device for world building, since its an excuse for Harry to interact with people he wouldn't meet at the school. It also sets up the class composition of the main characters and introduces antagonists.
The second book extends on the trope to introduce more new characters (Doby, most notably), to introduce the journal as a plot device, and to parallel the conclusion.
The consumerist angle, particularly early on, is all social parallels with existing English consumerism. Collectible cards and novelty chocolates are hardly a HP invention and the way they malfunction or disappoint is as much a critique of consumerism as a method of it. I particularly liked Book 4, at the stadium, when they get showered with Fool's Gold coins. The cynicism was nearly tangible.
It’s also probably the only piece of fantasy outside of RPGs in which a wizard obtains their magical device by buying it, and that is completely played straight.
It's a curious commentary on class. Powerful Wizards get their wands lovingly crafted and maintained by a premier wandmaker. Schlub wizards have to mend their hand me down wands with masking tape. Good sports teams get the best gear. Struggling teams get whatever is at the back of the bin.
Money Buys Success as a parallel to the real world makes this a useful leftist critique.
It isn't until Book 7 and the Deathly Hallows that you get magic items vested by Adventurous Questing rather than by birthright or by having the right friends.
It isn’t until Book 7 and the Deathly Hallows that you get magic items vested by Adventurous Questing rather than by birthright or by having the right friends.
That's when I turned off the movie. They found the secret platform, got on the train, arrived at the school and then "It's time to go shopping, Harry!" I was like, uh where's he getting the money from. "Why, you go to The Bank, of course!"
I'm like, YOU HAVE TO WORK TO PUT THE FUCKING MONEY IN THERE MORON, BANKS AREN'T SOME QUEST LOCATION YOU VISIT AND THEY FILL UP YOUR BAG WITH CASH. But no, of course, it's his parents' money. Yes, because he is The Chosen One. Turned it off right there and never looked back to any Harry Potter media since. Never read a book, and 30 minutes in to the first movie.
A couple of books later he visits the bank with his best friends' family who have semi-adopted him and whose main defining trait is that they're always poor and struggling to make ends meet.
Harry watches as the mom visits the family's almost empty vault to scrounge up the few coins left in the corners, then they visit the Potter vault which he is the sole heir of and it looks like Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin
I mean, it was already pretty consumerist from the start. Like, how does every book begin, after the Dursleys but before Hogwarts? It begins with Harry going on a shopping spree, often seeing many products that he won't even buy (but have plenty of merchandising potential, nudge nudge, wink wink, publishers). It's also probably the only piece of fantasy outside of RPGs in which a wizard obtains their magical device by buying it, and that is completely played straight.
The first book uses the Wizarding Marketplace as a device for world building, since its an excuse for Harry to interact with people he wouldn't meet at the school. It also sets up the class composition of the main characters and introduces antagonists.
The second book extends on the trope to introduce more new characters (Doby, most notably), to introduce the journal as a plot device, and to parallel the conclusion.
The consumerist angle, particularly early on, is all social parallels with existing English consumerism. Collectible cards and novelty chocolates are hardly a HP invention and the way they malfunction or disappoint is as much a critique of consumerism as a method of it. I particularly liked Book 4, at the stadium, when they get showered with Fool's Gold coins. The cynicism was nearly tangible.
It's a curious commentary on class. Powerful Wizards get their wands lovingly crafted and maintained by a premier wandmaker. Schlub wizards have to mend their hand me down wands with masking tape. Good sports teams get the best gear. Struggling teams get whatever is at the back of the bin.
Money Buys Success as a parallel to the real world makes this a useful leftist critique.
It isn't until Book 7 and the Deathly Hallows that you get magic items vested by Adventurous Questing rather than by birthright or by having the right friends.
That's when I turned off the movie. They found the secret platform, got on the train, arrived at the school and then "It's time to go shopping, Harry!" I was like, uh where's he getting the money from. "Why, you go to The Bank, of course!"
I'm like, YOU HAVE TO WORK TO PUT THE FUCKING MONEY IN THERE MORON, BANKS AREN'T SOME QUEST LOCATION YOU VISIT AND THEY FILL UP YOUR BAG WITH CASH. But no, of course, it's his parents' money. Yes, because he is The Chosen One. Turned it off right there and never looked back to any Harry Potter media since. Never read a book, and 30 minutes in to the first movie.
A couple of books later he visits the bank with his best friends' family who have semi-adopted him and whose main defining trait is that they're always poor and struggling to make ends meet.
Harry watches as the mom visits the family's almost empty vault to scrounge up the few coins left in the corners, then they visit the Potter vault which he is the sole heir of and it looks like Scrooge McDuck's Money Bin