tiddler who grew up read the Harry Potter books are voting in U.S. election . And now a novel bailiwick says the adventures of the unseasoned magician might have cast an enduring spell on its fans , subtly shaping their economic value and political views . The Millennial Generation is in reality the Muggle Generation .
Anthony Gierzynski , a political scientist at the University of Vermont , interview more than 1,100 Millennial - aged college scholar across the Carry Amelia Moore Nation . He found that young people who grew up as Harry Potter fan are more open to diversity and are more politically tolerant than nonfans . The buff are also less likely to support the economic consumption of deadly force or overrefinement , more politically active and more likely to have had a negative view of the Bush governing body . Gierzynski sound out these correlation remain significant even when utilise more sophisticated statistical analysis — controlling for other factor , such as paternal influences .
Politics Isn’t Rational
Gierzynski is accustomed to encountering agnosticism . And , he enjoin , it has n’t helped that the promotion hem in his 136 - pagebookhas generated headlines such as“Harry Potter Helped Obama Get Elected . “ One clause evendeclaredthat his survey proved Harry Potter book had “ brainwash ” Millennials . ( “ Despite Gierzynski ’s claims that reading the books do Millennials to favor the left over backstage politician , ” the clause report , “ he refuse to sustain suspicion that he considers Harry a Democrat and Voldemort a Republican . ” )
Gierzynskiretortsin an column publish at The Conversation that it should n’t seem ridiculous to take care at how entertainment influence our political science , establish the vast book of inquiry that has analyse popular culture ’s effect on violence , sex , smoke and drinking . In fact , political views , he argues , are particularly susceptible to being influenced by amusement — especially now , as the consumption of pop acculturation in our society increases , countenance many masses to avoid serious news coverage altogether :
There ’s a foresightful record of inquiry in multiple field of study ( psychology , sociology , and political science to name a few ) that thoroughly expose the opinion that we learn political values and attitude through a intellectual process .
And search into how we engulf ourselves in stories has demonstrated that we do not process ideas in amusement the same way we process entropy — we react on a more excited level , at a length from material man fact .
When we ’re have amusement stories it ’s probable that we ’re more susceptible to politically relevant messages — we’re decompress , having play , our political “ guard ” is down . Indeed , most people are for the most part unaware of the politically relevant message of that which they watch out or take because they are not looking for it . And certain politically relevant messages are so ubiquitous throughout our culture that they become unseeable to us . Take the overwhelmingly positively charged portray of gun in US media — it ’s incredibly rarified to see a hero without a artillery .
Selective Exposure
One argument against Gierzynski ’s “ Harry Potter Thesis ” is that we are drawn toward entertainment that reflect our pre - existing beliefs — otherwise fuck as “ selective exposure . ” Liberals , for instance , are the biggest devotee of the Daily Show because it constantly skewers conservative horizon and the vapid insurance coverage of “ corporate - controlled big medium . ” But Gierzynski say that argument does n’t unremarkably apply to amusement that is not overtly political :
We ’re often draw to tale for ground that may have nothing to do with our views . This may be its popularity , attention given to it in the media , critical reviews , special effects , publicizing , ennui , inadvertent exposure when we have little alternative — the ground go on . And once we ’re immersed in the book , TV programe , pic or whatever , once we ’ve come up to identify with certain characters we are , as communicating scholars have demonstrated , likely to internalize the lessons of the tale , and emulate the qualities of those with whom we distinguish .
Selective exposure is also complicated by the fact that the politically relevant lessons of a narrative or the qualities of fictional fiber are not always patent early on in the tale . And they may evolve throughout it . Take that of Darth Vader , a ethnical icon of evil , for example – he turns out to still have some good in him at the end . Or there ’s the Cylons of the recent reimagining of Battlestar Galactica , who germinate from genocidal robots to a form of intelligent life deserving acceptance and permissiveness .
Gierzynski says he has preliminary results from two other recent studies that further brook this purview . One study found that exposure to dissimilar types of science fiction and fantasy villains affected attitudes about criminal justice . And another that found that viewers of Game of Thrones and House of Cards were are less likely to believe in a just world .
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