Chapter 9: The Weapon We Have is Love

Chapter 9 tackles the idea of fandoms spreading beyond their original form of a single media series.  Much of the chapter is spent describing the lives and concerts of a “wizard rock” band called Harry and the Potters.  Wizard rock is a form of filk, encompassing the world created by J. K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series.  Gilsdorf ponders the meaning of parodies, extended series, and fanfics, particularly what he calls ‘slash fiction’ which puts the characters from a story in more risqué situations.  He views this as geek culture entering the mainstream.  To further point out how the culture had become mainstream, Ethan attended J. K. Rowlings’ commencement speech at Harvard University.  She made a moving speech about going out into the world and use their human magic to do good.

Eventually, Ethan meets up with Joe ‘Harry year 4’ and Paul ‘Harry year 7’ DeGeorge, the two brothers who front Harry and the Potters as they embark on their final tour.  They discuss the geekstar life and Ethan finds himself envying their rockstar status among geeks.  Eventually, the Harry Potter craze will pass, but as Gilsdorf points out, it’s been large and widespread enough that The Boy Who Lived will take his place in the fantasy pantheon beside Luke Skywalker and Bilbo Baggins. 

Is Geek Culture still “geek” if it’s mainstream?

Is there an age at which being an unabashed geek is no longer appropriate?

By Erik Poppleton