The HPA: Killin' Horcruxes

Climate Crisis Horcrux: Analyzed

June-July 2011.

This campaign—the last and biggest horcrux in the Deathly Hallows Campaign—focused on the global climate crisis. This horcrux was also broken down into smaller parts: “human rights, clean energy, deforestation and agriculture, political inaction, household activities, and more.” The HPA provided its members with resources to help tackle the problem in addition to issue-related blog posts and discussions on their livestreams to assist in the collaboration and forming of ideas about how to address the climate crisis, which led to the Imagine Better contest.

The Imagine Better contest was broken down into two categories: ideas and art. The voter-selected winners won money to use as they pleased to help the environment. The art winner donated the money to charity, and the idea winner used the money to stage the benefit concert “Wrock for the Environment.”

This campaign has a great deal of ethos and logos present more so than pathos; the ethos is in the places the resources provided came from, the bloggers, and the Imagine Better contest organizers, and the logos was found in the facts given about the climate crisis. They are all clearly effective because the Imagine Better contest drew a lot of participation and the livestreams culminated in great ideas for sustaining the environment and addressing the environmental issue before us.

I think this campaign, and especially the Imagine Better contest, was a terrific idea for the HPA to end on. It drew a large number of people who were interested and wanted to help, the Wrock for the Environment concert was such a great way to raise money to further the worldwide efforts of environmental sustainability as well as any other form of the word. There are definitely other campaigns that have done more for the environment, but for the scale on which the HPA is working, the Climate Crisis was a fabulous effort.

Child Slavery Horcrux: Analyzed

May 2011 to present

Connected to Not in Harry’s Name

This campaign focuses on the very real issue of child slavery across the world; however, it approaches the issue a bit differently. The HP Alliance acknowledges the awful truth that “no one person, or organization, can put a stop to it on their own,” but nevertheless is tackling this issue in the best way they can: by educating as many people as possible.

EDUCATION —> AWARENESS —> CHANGE.

The HPA asked people to get involved in making a difference by making an iReport video to share and finding out new ways to help by watching their livestreams and the documentary “The Dark Side of Chocolate.”

Another less orthodox way they asked members to  contribute was to purchase fair trade chocolate and send the wrappers to Time Warner (see the connection to Not in Harry’s Name yet?).

This campaign is so different and so much more serious and inevitable than the others that it’s hard to analyze on the same level. The subject of Child Slavery is a terrible reality, and the HPA takes a realistic approach, knowing that they cannot eradicate this abomination by themselves, and they do all they can to spread the word to educate more people and start a chain reaction. The entire argument is chock full of pathos, tearing at people’s heartstrings and making them want to help making a difference possible.

I absolutely love that the HPA had this campaign to educate their members even though it didn’t actually enact any social changes. Child slavery is a terrible thing and more people need to be aware of its horrible presence in the world.

Illiteracy Horcrux: Analyzed

March and April 2011.

In this campaign and their third annual book drive, the HPA orchestrated the donation of books to schools, local communities, and the “Imagine Better” library built by the HPA for a charter school in NYC. Previous book drives have sent books as far as Rwanda, and this drive donated over 32,000 books total.

Livestreams and blog posts were also set up to “celebrate the magic of reading.” 

This campaign, yet again, really only used pathos as a rhetorical device. Pathos can be found in members’ sharing of their love of reading, and in the idea of sending books to children who wouldn’t be able to enjoy reading otherwise; members sympathize with those less fortunate and literate than themselves, and so do their best to make it possible for these children to share in the joy of reading.

I think it’s a great campaign because literacy is one of the most important issues to me. I think everyone should have books available to them to learn from and enjoy. The standard book drive is a simple but effective idea, as evidenced by the large number of books the HPA was able to donate. I would like to see it expanded by supporting the spread of literacy in other countries, but I like how it focuses on spreading it locally as well to create a good foundation for possible future campaigns.

Just for today, imagine the worst.

thehpalliance:

Actually, it won’t take much imagining, since some colossally important websites are blacking themselves out today in protest of what could very well become our future.

Ever read any of those dystopian books that are becoming popular as of late? Like, you know:

(The Hunger Games, for anyone unfamiliar with the trailer that’s from) Or even something older, like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 or George Orwell’s 1984.

The themes and concepts tackled in such stories are scary, the Big Brother feel of it all looming over the reader, but most people know it’s just a story.

The thing is, though… we’re heading towards that ourselves. It won’t be just a story, just a fandom anymore.

Bills like SOPA and PIPA, founded in anti-piracy laws but spiraling out of control with no boundaries, would make it possible for the government to block sites based on what those sites post.

Tumblr would be one of the first to go, since it’s overflowing with content from the people who push for these bills to pass— everything from .gifs to videos to audio posts. And when the censoring starts, it’s hard to stop: who’s to say they couldn’t just as easily take out Google? Facebook? What about Wikipedia, one of the largest online sources of free information? Even e-mails!

Our lives are tethered to the internet; even those who grumble about this have to admit that taking it down brick by brick would be disastrous, and every brick is vital. Nothing is disposable, least of all our knowledge, communication, and that which facilitates the furthering of both.

Today, thousands of sites have gone down to spread the word and give people a taste of what could happen. This includes Google, Wikipedia, and us.

But their blacking out doesn’t mean our silence. Today is the day to start an uproar, to begin the end of the very concepts behind SOPA and PIPA.

Here are two things you can do:

• Spread the word. Whether it be through reblogs, retweets, Facebook posts, or word of mouth, every person needs to know about this.
• Sign and spread the petition. Your support matters most of all, but tangibility is vital.

The HP Alliance, keeping up with current events as usual, made sure to spread the word to its members and encourage them to do the same about the issue of SOPA and PIPA (from which we are temporarily safe).

They have used gifs from the newest upcoming movie fandom (the book fandom is alive and well) to connect the real life issue to something their members already love and understand and can easily relate a complicated issue to.

They definitely encouraged me to sign the petition.

Bullying Horcrux: Analyzed

February 2011.

This campaign focused on promoting the acceptance of LGBTQ youth and fighting for equal marriage rights (Rhode Island in particular). The HPA worked with the Gay-Straight Alliance and  Marriage Equality Rhode Island and created a Facebook page to get people together to discuss and support the issues, including people from fandoms besides Harry Potter. They got over 1,100 signatures for the “Make It Better Oath” explored the topic through blogs and response videos.

The HPA and their partners also made many phone calls to Rhode Island residents to spread the word about marriage equality during Wrock 4 Equality 2, a benefit concert centered around Harry Potter-themed music.

This campaign uses mostly pathos as a rhetorical device. There isn’t much logos and there is a small amount of ethos gained by the HPA working with other established organizations - experts in the cause - and in the discussions with members of the LGBTQ community, but the most dominant device is pathos. The discussions and videos on the “Fans for Equality” Facebook page helped members of various fandoms understand and accept the LGBTQ community better, helping those outside the community to identify with them and learn more about how they are the same and different.

I like this campaign because I personally support acceptance of the LGBTQ community and marriage equality. I feel like the means used were very effective because the HPA was able to reach a much broader base than their usual membership and Wrock 4 Equality 2 was so much fun for people that it really attracted attention. I would have loved to have gotten in on it, but I would have tried to add more logos to the discussions, I guess, besides the personal accounts from those in the community.

Body Bind Horcrux: Analyzed

January 2011

This campaign focused on challenging the “Muggle Media’s” representation of beauty and spreading a message to encourage people to think positively about their own bodies.

It was different from the others in that each week had a different focus:

• Breaking Out of the Muggle Mindset
• Nourishing the Body
• Get Active!
• De-Stress

During these weeks, the HPA fought the “Body Bind Curse” and casted “Rennervate” by spreading ideas and actions in vlogs and blogs from staff and expert guest bloggers who included actress Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood). Many of the challenges for members and other viewers can be found on their Master Task List.

The rhetorical strategies in this campaign are once again filled with pathos by speaking to the unfortunately almost universal low feelings of self worth. Almost everyone has experienced feelings of low self esteem because of images they have seen in the media, and this campaign speaks to them and gives them ways to overcome these undeserved feelings of inadequacy. The ethos of the campaign is also in experts that blogged for the HPA in addition to the staffers.

I really love this campaign in particular because I think it has a great message and I loved watching the vlogs and reading the messages from people like Evanna. The Task List was also a great addition because it’s easy to print out and hang anywhere convenient. The To Write Love on Her Arms Campaign also has a similar goal, as do other organizations, but “Liberacorpus” as it’s also known had a great means of spreading their message.

Who taught us what

thehpalliance:

Harry Potter taught us how to look danger in the eye.

Harry Potter taught us that the people that we care about should always come first.

Hermione Granger taught us that we should think things through.

Ron Weasley taught us that even though we might not always be in the spotlight, we still shine.

Albus Dumbledore taught us that you are never to old to make mistakes.

Severus Snape taught us that love is worth the risk.

Sirius Black taught us that we can never get time back, so don’t waste it.

Neville Longbottom taught us that it takes time to grow into who we really are.

Luna Lovegood taught us that standing on the outside looking in could be a good thing.

Luna Lovegood taught us that things aren’t always as they appear.

Hermione Granger taught us that you can never know it all.

Rubeus Hagrid taught us that you don’t have to have a wand to be magical.

Draco Malfoy taught us that we don’t always have to be who our parents are.

Minerva McGonagall taught us to always trust our friends, families, leaders, and our gut.

Dobby taught us what loyalty is all about.

Lily and James Potter taught us not to fear death.

Tom Marvolo Riddle taught us that there is always a choice and it is possible to make the wrong one.

Voldemort taught us that love is the strongest magic.

J.K. Rowling taught us not to never judge a book by its cover.

Dementor Horcrux: Analyzed

December 2010 to the present.

This campaign focused on combating the “dementors” in everyone’s lives: the things that make us feel worse about ourselves like depression, anxiety, and low self esteem. The HPA worked with  ReachOut.com to urge members to submit their own “patronuses” that help them feel better to share with others who might be going through similar problems. Members submitted them in various art forms, including but not limited to paintings, videos, and poems.

These submissions can be found on the HP Alliance’s Tumblr blog.

This campaign made many personal appeals to the members of the HPA by asking them to share their own stories. The ethos in these stories is inherent because they are from the members’ personal experiences, and pathos is also found here because other members reading these stories can sympathize and empathize with them.

I personally love this campaign in particular because it helped me through a few rough patches, seeing how others helped themselves to overcome such difficult and oppressive feelings. I actually did get on board and submitted my own patronus (I can’t find it now unfortunately). There are definitely campaigns out there like this one, such as To Write Love on Her Arms, but that one has a different focus and a different tone in its efforts. The HPA’s Expecto Patronum is more focused on expelling positive messages into the world.

Starvation Wages Horcrux: Analyzed

or, Not in Harry’s Name. 

October 2010 to the present.

This on-going campaign started out as a mini-campaign in the Deathly Hallows Campaign but has developed into its own effort dubbed “Not in Harry’s Name.”

The goal is to urge Time Warner and Warner Bros. into making the Harry Potter branded candies such as Chocolate Frogs out of Fair Trade chocolate. The effort started a letter to the parent company and has grown since, and has included a petition signed by actors from the movies themselves (Scarlett Byrne, Evanna Lynch, and Jason Isaacs among others).

The HPA did receive a response supporting their efforts, but no real changes have been made.

There is now a petition stillcirculating the Internet, and members of the HPA have been asked to send “Video Howlers” and Cease and Desist Letters to Warner Bros.

The rhetorical strategies found in this campaign are mostly a strong use of pathos within logos. The ethos of the HPA is implied, and so members hear about the problems with non-Fair Trade chocolate and the negative effects it has. Members are persuaded to not want to buy chocolate that is supporting the mistreatment of workers, hence the title “Not in Harry’s Name.”

I personally think that the campaign is a good cause, but my personal opinion is that the Video Howlers go a bit far. Fair Trade chocolate is a good product, but looking at it pragmatically from the viewpoint of Warner Bros., it is not at all cost effective or even possible because there are so few Fair Trade cacao plantations to get chocolate from and they are usually a lot more expensive.