Callahan "Potterheads- Wizards of Odd"

26/08/2013 POTTERHEADS: WIZARDS OF ODD - ADULT FANS GO HOGWART'S WILD AS NEW TREKKIES - NYPOST.com

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POTTERHEADS: WIZARDS OF ODD ADULT FANS GO HOGWART'SWILD AS NEW TREKKIESMAUREEN CALLAHANLast Updated:Posted: 12:00 AM, November 15, 2005

THIS past Saturday night was one of the most momentous in 25-year-old MelissaAnelli's life. She's so nervous that she worries which pair of gold earrings go bestwith her gold necklace. She applied her makeup hours ahead of time. She lives onStaten Island, but is anticipating such an utterly thrilling late night in Manhattan thatshe's rented a hotel room.

The big event? The Harry "Pottercast" that she's hosting at the Union SquareBarnes & Noble. A giddy, free-flowing discussion between fans and experts, it willbe recorded for later broadcast and download on the Web.

As editor of The-Leaky-Cauldron.org, Anelli is one of the world's foremost"Potterheads" - adult superfans whose devotion to the books and films rivals themonomania of Trekkies.

Potterheads are otherwise fully functioning adults who attend conventions, wherethey enjoy dressing up as their favorite characters and quoting arcane dialogue toeach other. They revel in panel discussions, midnight screenings and heateddebates in hotel hallways.

They rent out entire theaters when the films are released, so they can dress up andwatch with their brethren. (The Leaky Cauldron is hosting one in New York thisSaturday.) And, yes, they attend podcasts, like the one held right after the premiereof "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" at the Ziegfeld.

Anelli nervously makes her way through the crowd of 600 Potterheads to thesounds of U2's "Elevation." (Anelli and Emerson Spartz, the 18-year-old editor ofthe equally popular fansite Mugglenet, were flown to England for a rare, highlycoveted interview with author J.K. Rowling this summer, but were forbidden from



telling a soul: "The hardest days of my life!" says Agnelli now. "God, it was sointense. But it was like interviewing an old friend.")

It is no exaggeration to say that she and her colleagues are greeted like rock stars.A Mugglenet tech guy elicits hysteria when he is introduced as "basicallycompatible with everything except HTML!" Spartz declares the latest Potter film"hands down, the best one ever" to glass-shattering squeals.

"I spent last night tossing and turning," says 25-year-old Jeff Guillaume, who runsthe popular fansite hpana.com (an acronym for "The Harry Potter Automatic NewsAggregator"). He flew in from Ann Arbor, Mich., for the premiere and podcast. Itwas his first red-carpet event, and the buzz hasn't worn off yet. Last night, hehosted a dinner for about 30 fellow Potterheads at the theme restaurant Jekyll &Hyde. He says the waiter made fun of them, but he doesn't care. Agnelli, too,knows what it is to be ridiculed: "I have had people look at me funny," she says. "It'snice to be someplace where people don't look at you weird for being an adult HarryPotter fan."

Though neither Guillaume nor Anelli seems particularly socially awkward - both areunfailingly kind, and their obsession seems more endearing than odd - but bothshare a sort of shy quality that is squashed by irrepressible glee once they areamong their own.

"Who better than the socially awkward to be engaged by a story about a kid with nofriends, abused by his guardians, who becomes a savior with stigmata on hisforehead?" asks Bob Thompson, professor of media and popular culture atSyracuse University. "This is a terribly appealing story."

Thompson says that the phenomenon of adult Potter fans is completelyunderstandable, given the "nexes of identification" in the books and the appeal ofthe fantasy/sci-fi genre in general.

"As incredibly successful as 'Desperate Housewives' has been, you don't get thiskind of thing. An alternate universe with its own rules and vocabulary gives you somuch to sink your teeth into, and a lot of info that you can become an expert in."

Superfan Guillaume discovered the books late, in the summer of 2000. "I literallyremember being hooked on the first paragraph of the first book," he says. "I read allfour books in one month, oh yeah!"

"The turning point for me - and some people night think it's hokey - is when Rowlinghad Tom Riddle put his wand up in the air and rearrange the letters to read, 'I amLord Valdemort.' It took my breath away."



Guillaume started his site on Oct. 15, 2002 (he recalls the date as though it's hisbirthday) and says he gets 8 million to 10 million hits a month. In 2004, Rowlingawarded it the "best Harry Potter fan site" for that year. He was a guest of WarnerBrothers at today's premiere, and attended both 2003's convention at the SwanHotel at Disney World - which was for adult fans only - and this year's in Salem,Mass., which drew more than 1,000 Potterheads.

"When these people get together, they can really be themselves," Guillaume says."Because they really have trouble sharing this with the people in their lives."

Steve Pope, 29, understands. He's an exec at a financial software company andlives with his wife in Riverdale; one of their favorite pastimes is listening to thebooks on tape during road trips.

Still, he is careful about bringing up his obsession in certain circles: "If someonetells me, 'I used to play [with] GI Joes,' or they played sports and spent a lot of timeoutside - you can tell they're not going to be Harry Potter fans," he says. "They didnot spend a lot of time indoors, reading."

While Pope insists that he is "not like a Trekkie or anything," he thinks it's fair to saythat there's a parallel. " I think they're the same type of people." Meaning? "Theyplayed Dungeons & Dragons when they were little. They happen to be moresocially awkward, if that's the right phrase. I'm definitely one of 'em. I grew up kindof a nerd."

"The overarching themes - the Death Eaters, who look like the Klan; the pure bloodvs. house blood thing - there's a lot of racism in the world, and as a black person, Irelated to that," adds Angela Bronner, 32.

Bronner and Guillaume say they relate to Harry's orphan status - though they're notsure why. But Bronner thinks is has something to do with rooting for "the underdogkid who's mistreated."

Perhaps it has as much to do with childhood trauma as it does with being, in fact,rabid adult Harry Potter fans who are often subject to ridicule. Professor Thompsonbelieves that those who would heap scorn on adult obsessives should consider it -in a very Potter-esque way - another form of prejudice.

"You know, there are major professors who spend Bloomsday doing readings ofJames Joyce from beginning to end, or who dress up as Ernest Hemingway on hisbirthday," he says. "If you're doing it with Joyce and Hemingway, you're a professor.If you're doing it with Harry Potter, you're crazy."



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Potterheads vs. Trekkies (Tale of the Tape)

Potterheads

Fan gender: Men and women

Fashion statement: Long scarves, lightning-bolt scars

Pet of choice: Owls

A romantic evening includes: Butterbeer, snuggling under "invisibility" cloaks

Pin-up: Hermione

Mode of transport: Nimbus 2000

You know you've crossed the line when: You bet on Quidditch

Future employment: Extrovert IT help work desk worker

Archenemies: "Lords of the Rings" fans

They look forward to: One more book, three more movies

Trekkies

Fan gender: Who are these "women" you speak of?

Fashion statement: Monochromatic shirt, communicator badges

Pet of choice: Tribbles

A romantic evening includes: Synthonol, Ferengi ear messages

Pin-up: Green-skinned Orion slave girls

Mode of transport: NCC-1701

You know you've crossed the line when: You speak Klingon

Future employment: Introvert IT help desk worker

Archenemies: "Star Wars" fans



They look forward to: Sunshine, lives

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Callahan "Potterheads- Wizards of Odd"