The end of an era

As we prepare to go to see the final Harry Potter film today I can't help but think back on 'pre Harry Potter' days.  I remember the first time I heard about Harry Potter was around when the first movie came out.  Being in my final year of college I wasn't connected enough to the demographic that Harry Potter was directed toward to have been aware of the books prior to that.  A friend was well aware of the movie and as such I got sucked into the world.  I don't remember when I first started reading the series, but I remember reading the first several books in rapid succession as they were all available in paperback.  Over the next ten years we (the audience) have had the remarkable opportunity to literally watch as the actors and characters grow up in front of our eyes.  I don't think anything on this scale has ever occurred in cinematic history where literally millions of people have been present to follow this change.  There is an entire generation of Harry Potter children who were probably in elementary school when the first book came out and are now in college, but this defines their childhood.  During my childhood the closest thing to this was Star Wars, but even that spanned only a few years and the actors were all adults.  Recently an article I read pointed out that unlike many series the Harry Potter series will stand the test of time, because it exists in it's own world and as a result is constrained by dating itself with fashion or gadgetry of the moment.  I look forward to the day when I might be able to read the Harry Potter series to someone in the next generation of fans.