Harry Potter pushed to saturation point
Vince | 02.12.2000 17:31
The BBC is to turn over about a half day's broadcasting on Radio 4 to readings from the Harry Potter canon.
A while ago I wrote a piece on what I felt to be a blatant case of corporate exploitation going on under our very eyes, courtesy of the British establishment, which now seems to be behaving in a manner little different from any USA based multibucks concern. I suggested that while it was relatively easy to note the activities of what are, after all, foreign companies, we should take a look at what our own institutions are up to.
When I wrote it, I had my own doubts: perhaps Harry Potter was just another "fad", perhaps it'll be fading away soon anyway. So, just when I wasnt too sure, along comes the BBC to confirm my fears! But unlike other children's "crazes", say, Pokemon, this one has the full force of the establishment behind it. Pokemon, you will recall, was reviled in many quarters for its commercialism but also, I felt, in others, was a bit of barely concealed anti- Japanese sentiment.
Now, I cant imagine the cost of taking up so much air time on what is, I daresay, the BBC's most important domestic radio station. Someone must be pretty anxious to ensure "Harry" gets his fair share of the best that it can provide. Why, I cant be sure. The whole thing seems to be a throwback to the days of Billy Bunter and Enid Blyton, postwar, but somehow wishing for fonder days beforehand. This is perfectly in keeping with the dearest wishes of that nice man in No.10, who along with a lot of other people in the area, pleads with history to pretend that 1960- 79 never happened.
When I wrote it, I had my own doubts: perhaps Harry Potter was just another "fad", perhaps it'll be fading away soon anyway. So, just when I wasnt too sure, along comes the BBC to confirm my fears! But unlike other children's "crazes", say, Pokemon, this one has the full force of the establishment behind it. Pokemon, you will recall, was reviled in many quarters for its commercialism but also, I felt, in others, was a bit of barely concealed anti- Japanese sentiment.
Now, I cant imagine the cost of taking up so much air time on what is, I daresay, the BBC's most important domestic radio station. Someone must be pretty anxious to ensure "Harry" gets his fair share of the best that it can provide. Why, I cant be sure. The whole thing seems to be a throwback to the days of Billy Bunter and Enid Blyton, postwar, but somehow wishing for fonder days beforehand. This is perfectly in keeping with the dearest wishes of that nice man in No.10, who along with a lot of other people in the area, pleads with history to pretend that 1960- 79 never happened.
Vince
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