An example of fandom phenomena From Morais Hélène

It is difficult for me to assert that I am a fan of something in particular, though I am very interested in the huge and international phenomenon generated by the books of J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter. A success that was not expected by the author herself! Actually, this saga provoked an unexpected mass of fans all over the world, a mass of fans which is still continuing to grow up years after years.
Furthermore, this phenomenon generates a profound activity through a broad sample of ages.
This phenomenon, called the “potter mania” in France, is really interesting in the sense it concerns many varied areas such as books, movies, music, games, clothes, toys… Actually, the fandom phenomenon and the success of this story have generated the creation of a myriad of by-products. In a certain sense, the commercial exploitation of the original books has provoked an increase of the fans movement and permit to maintain it as well.
Besides, the fandom activity is really varied. Fans can develop their passion in a myriad of different activities. The multitude of blogs created by fans, for instance, can show the importance of this phenomenon. Generally created by teenagers, the information they communicate are rich and various. Most of these blogs are created and used in order to share information about the topic or conveys some personal opinions. Actually, we can find in it much information about the books, the movies, the actors who embody the main characters, or the new games which are going to bring out.
It is as well the place where they put some articles, some interviews, and some videos in order to inform fans of what happens new for this topic. In general, many pictures and images are posted to illustrate these places.
With these blogs, Harry Potter fans can also share their feelings about the stories, the movies, the characters, etc… or share their opinion about it.
In fact, they are always informed of everything and they are also in touch with each other. The blogs: http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/ is a very good example of a fandom blog. There are always recent news about the film, the actors or everything which concerns Harry Potter (even decorations such as “gingerbread creation”).
The book official website (http://www.jkrowling.com/en/index.cfm) permits to the fans of J.K. Rowling to have news, information about the books, how she wrote it, more precisions about the characters, or some animals for instance.
Fans have to discover all the clues and the secrets through the website in order to have information, or to obtain some secret draws by J.K. Rowling for instance…
Fandom phenomenon can be perceptible as well through some elements such as the number of enters in cinema to see the adaptation of the books, the queue to have an autograph of the author or of the actors, the number of fans gathers at the premiere of the movies, the security measures to preserve the secret of the last book, or the fact that for the publication of several tomes of Harry Potter some bookshops have organize a sale that took place at midnight and gathered a huge number of fans. In United States of America, the 6th movie of Harry Potter was showed for the first time at midnight, and according to Warner Bros, the film achieved revenue of $ 22.2 million just for this session!
And fandom activity through the phenomenon of Harry Potter is not ready to stop, even if the last book is brought out. Actually, fans are waiting for the last episodes of the movie and this story seems to cross generations. Consequently, fandom movement is still active…