A new study shows that reading Harry Potter lowers Americans’ opinions of Donald Trump.
In fact, it found the more books in the series participants had read, the greater the effect.
The study’s author, Professor Diana Mutz from the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, found that because Trump’s political views are widely seen as opposed to the values espoused in the Harry Potter series, exposure to the series may influence how Americans respond to Trump.
Titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Donald, the study focused on three core themes from Harry Potter:
- the value of tolerance and respect for difference
- opposition to violence and punitiveness
- opposition to authoritarianism.
In each case, Professor Mutz points out, Donald Trump’s messages are opposed to the lessons conveyed in Harry Potter and closer to that of his enemy, Lord Voldemort.
Professor Mutz says people understand and are moved by the Harry Potter books’ powerful theme of love and kindness consistently triumphing over aggression and prejudice, and she believes the Harry Potter effect could even make a difference at the polling booth.
| Cinden Lester has more than 25 years’ experience as a professional writer, editor and communications specialist. She worked as a broadcast journalist, in private sector marketing and public relations, and in government communications before establishing her own Canberra-based communications consultancy in 2000.
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