[calgarybornnraised]

Originally Posted by octothorp

The themes in Harry Potter are such pervasive children and young adult literature themes that it's IMO a bit unfair to criticize HP for them. If one were to write a YA book, the first question to ask why the same themes and plot points that run through most YA fiction from Brother's Grimm to Narnia to HP to Wildwood to Hunger Games. The fact is these there are strongly resonant themes that are part of the genre, and it would be silly to ignore them. Like hooks in popular music, we get a little psychological response when stories hit plot points that we may or may not have been anticipating but which we subconsciously recognize from other stories.
When I start watching a movie in which the child has absent parents, and the child is a misfit in their world, and then something happens that force them out of their environment into a different world (and there are literally dozens of movies that start out like that), my mind is already set up for a whole bunch of themes and plot-points. It's best if some of these are rewarded and some of these are subverted, but everything is done with an awareness of those expectations.

nm