Watching the final episode in the movie series (again) I remembered how, back in the 90s when I fell in love with the JKRowling books, my favourite characters in the wealth of genius were Hermione and Nevile. As I think she intended.

It's odd. We're constantly being told we live in a multi-channel, multi-universe culture where there are only tiny and discrete audiences and the mass audience is long dead. And yet whenever I pick up a paper, turn on the radio or TV, I'm supposed to 'get' references to Harry Potter (nope), Lord of the Rings (nope), Star Wars (nope), Love Island (nope) and multiple other things that I'm supposed to no longer know about. I personally don't get any of that because I gave up on all of that stuff ages ago and I just don't care, but what does it say about a culture that on the one hand pretends not to be able to engage a mass audience and on the other still lazily assumes it's here? Make up your mind!

Rick wrote:
It's odd. We're constantly being told we live in a multi-channel, multi-universe culture where there are only tiny and discrete audiences and the mass audience is long dead. And yet whenever I pick up a paper, turn on the radio or TV, I'm supposed to 'get' references to Harry Potter (nope), Lord of the Rings (nope), Star Wars (nope), Love Island (nope) and multiple other things that I'm supposed to no longer know about. I personally don't get any of that because I gave up on all of that stuff ages ago and I just don't care, but what does it say about a culture that on the one hand pretends not to be able to engage a mass audience and on the other still lazily assumes it's here? Make up your mind!

Ditto.

I don't go to cinema due 'Wokeness' in films these days. I read the few chapters of Lord of the Rings and gave up, saw part of the first film it cured my insomina.