My university days go back to a time
when almost all classes were taught by real, tenured, professors with
real PhDs, and not sessionals working for the hourly wages of a
fast-food cook while also completing their own doctorates.
We were expected to disagree with our
instructors in class — let's say it was in the interests of
critical thought and the discovery of truth.
I recall my favourite poli-sci prof at
one point declaiming against the music of our time. He suggested that
in 30 years nobody would remember Three Dog Night, for instance, but
that Beethoven would live forever. Let the protests begin.
Well, with CBC 2 radio playing
Beethoven in the background in my living room I can claim today my
prof was wrong. See? There's Three Dog Night, right there, in Wikipedia.
I relate this as it was brought to mind
by the release of a trailer for the new live-action movie Beauty
and the Beast. Could that be Emma Watson — our little Hermione
from Hogwarts — as Belle? Well, haven't we grown up.
I'm going to suggest — obviously
without having seen the movie with my grandkids yet — that by the
end of this year Watson will be more famous worldwide for her
performance as Belle, than as the precocious witch in the
earthshaking Harry Potter movie series.
This is how time flies. When we first
met Hermione on the big screen, the majority of the soon-to-be
lifetime fans of Belle were not yet born. Not only that, but many of
them may well need to wait a couple of years before being old enough
to appreciate the action in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's
Stone.
The inaugural Potter book that inspired
the movie series is now 20 years old. We have the book series,
scattered among family, and we will need to gather it all back for
the next generation to enjoy — when they're old enough.
But they will be mighty surprised when
we locate the movies, and they see Hermione being about their age,
frizzy hair and all, doing magic. Is that Belle? they will say. Not
the other way round.
They will know Watson from her dancing
with Beast, not for trading barbs with Ron Weasley.
Generations X, Y and Millennials will
learn a lesson I was warned of — but did not really learn — way
back when, from my pol-sci prof: your time will end.
Harry Potter may well live for
generations yet, but not the millions of youngsters who may have
gotten their first “big reader” experience with his books. His
image, engraved digitally on millions of DVDs, will not age, except
in the 10 years it took to get from The Philosopher's Stone to
The Deathly Hallows.
We Baby Boomers are often accused of
not moving aside to give space to our future leaders. Not me. I am
quite comfortable bequeathing them full control of the world. I fully
believe they will do a more equitable, sustainable and compassionate
job of it than we have.
I got old the evening I realized the
NHL players I watched on the screen were just . . . kids.
My kids will realize their age, when
they recognize that their own children know Emma Watson better as
Belle, than as Hermione.
How about that, Millennials? How does
that feel?
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