Beloit College: Potter Chronology FAIL!

[mijan]

I found this story originally on coffee_n_cocoa's LJ, HERE.

Apparently, Beloit College makes a list every year called the Annual Freshmen Mindset List.  It's a list of social/cultural things that define, in one way or another, the incoming class based on the world as it has been since they were born.  The "Mindset List" for the class of 2012 begins:

1. Harry Potter could be a classmate, playing on their Quidditch team.

Let's hear it.  First, the SQUEE of the initial "Ooh, they mentioned Harry Potter!", then the silence as we realize their chronology is off by a decade.  Then, the long groan of fandomers who just want to inform these people of their grievous error, and then the collective sigh as we decide it's just not worth it.

Well, I was feeling rambunctious, so...

Hello,

Your "Class of 2012 Mindset List" was brought to my attention by a friend, and I had to inform you of your glaring error in item #1.

According to J.K. Rowling's chronology, Harry Potter would have been born on July 31st, 1980, not 1990. In other words, he'd be the exact same age as me: 28 years. He would have defeated Voldemort (or completed Hogwarts) at the same time as I graduated high school, in the spring of 1998, at the age of 17, just months before our 18th birthdays. If he were not fictional, he would certainly not be attending class or playing Quidditch with the current crop of college freshmen. By now, our fictional boy wizard would be a man working at the Ministry of Magic and raising his young children.

So, while I found the Potter reference to be quite amusing, it was incorrect and I wanted to let you know. If your Mindset List is indeed "a globally reported and utilized guide to the intelligent but unprepared adolescent consciousness," then it should be accurate, shouldn't it? I hope it hasn't been cited in too many sources yet.

Regards,
(My name here.)
Gryffindor, Hogwarts Class of 1998
Also University of New Hampshire, class of 2003.

I feel strangely accomplished.
:D

Comments

[lap-otter.livejournal.com]

Awesome. <3!

[furiosity.livejournal.com]

Let us know if they write back!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely! I hope they will. I'd be curious to see what they say. I'll also check to see if they just change that line or not. I was very amused by all this. I can has an amusement at teh st00pid of others?

My 15% Slytherin... let me show you it. :D

[annulvapore.livejournal.com]

My 15% Slytherin... let me show you it. :D

This sounds DIRTYYYY

[mijan.livejournal.com]

You now me well, then. :D

[mijan.livejournal.com]

They wrote back!
http://mijan.livejournal.com/86553.html

And the verdict is:
Geeks FTW, Beloit College FAIL.

[djin7.livejournal.com]

Heeeee! Ah, lovely.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I can understand the confusion; my little brother was 10 when the first HP book came out, and he just left for college.

Where is Rowling's chronology? She gave very little detail about the in-book year, so with the tech mentioned, it could have been anywhere from 1950-today.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

There were mentions to modern technology, including Dudley's Playstation, but mostly, the chronology is set by when JKR conceived of the books.

In 1991, she first envisioned an 11-year-old Harry. I don't know where the interviews are, but from everything I know, she's always set Harry's birth date at July 31st, 1980.

[scarah2.livejournal.com]

There are anachronisms, but the main anchor was the deathday cake in COS. The cake is for Sir Nick's 500th deathday, and says that died Oct 31 1492.

The problems are that Playstation wasn't on the market yet in 1994, and the full moons and Easters and days of the week never seem to match up, so I think she just never thought about those things very hard.

When DH came out, it had dates on the Potters' tombstones. They match the cake timeline.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! I forgot about the Deathday Cake and the tombstones. But yeah... the Playstation was an issue of debate because it wasn't on the market yet. I remember someone writing it off by saying that Dudley was so spoiled that Vernon got him a prototype. I only brought it up to point out that the timeline couldn't have been anything close to 1950.

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

Ooo, good catches! This is the sort of thing I'll have to look out for if I get that editorial position in fiction.

[vampireanneke.livejournal.com]

I didn't take it to mean that Harry was the same age, but as a way to mention that they have grown up with HP all their lives that he seems real.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

See, I took it to mean that Harry would be their age, and would have been in their class. But, we'll see!

[vampireanneke.livejournal.com]

I can not even imagine what it would have been like to grow up with HP in my world. I was the only one who read Star Wars growing up and I was considered a freak for that.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

LOL... I read Star Wars, too. Watched it, read it, roleplayed it... damn, I was such an absolute GEEK!

:D

[jedipirate.livejournal.com]

...Was? I'm roleplaying it tomorrow night, and I'm Jedi-ing it out with a friend (costume-wise) to go see Clone Wars probably this weekend. =P

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I roleplayed before I knew what roleplay was. I would pretend to be Luke Skywalker, running around the forest of Endor with my stick lightsaber, with my buddies the Rebel Alliance Task Force, trying to destroy the moon Death Star. Aaah, the days of my childhood.

But... I wouldn't be opposed to some more sophisticated cosplay. :D

[jedipirate.livejournal.com]

lol... I actually missed out on Star Wars in my childhood, since I didn't actually get into the series until I was 12. And my roleplaying is of the dice variety. =Þ

But... yeah. I don't think I'll ever grow up when it comes to my favorite movies and fandoms. I'll keep dressing up for movie releases (and in between), I'll keep buying toys that were intended for preschool kids (just because they're so cool!), and I'll always treasure that time I got to meet Anthony Daniels at Disney World. XD

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

wait, are you trying to tell me that everyone DIDN'T do that?

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I know it's a horrible thought, but... brace yourself... some people are... MUNDANE.

YES! I said it! There are boring, sad people out there who never did such wonderful things! Alas! That's why we must carry on, so that the world will never lose it's spark!

Lightsaber duel, anyone?

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

That makes my brain hurt.

What do they do with themselves as children? Sit and stare at walls?

(It is a constant source of distress to me that because I am somewhat nomadic atm as a result of going back to college, I am trying to keep my collections of Random Stuff to a minimum, and thus have not been able to get any of the neat and nifty Star Wars toys out.) (On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I still have my old ones in a box someplace at my parents', so there's that. :) )

[vampireanneke.livejournal.com]

I'm also a few years older then you. :P

[daddybear716.livejournal.com]

"was such an absolute GEEK!"
Was???? Doesn't that infer that you are no longer??? Anyone who knows you knows that's not true. We adore you for your rampant geekyness!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Oh, my geekiness has only GROWN! But at the time, I didn't know I was a true geek!

[nature-dude.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I too like that fact that Harry and I are the same age. Makes me think that I would be his friend. I think the University was trying to say that incoming freshmen are Harry Potter fans, and since the series is over, they believed he was their age. They probably haven't even read the books yet, or read any of Rowling's interviews. Good Job!

[mijan.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that someone in their office read the books, but a lot of people don't pay much attention to the actual dates of the books, and only followed the dates when the books were actually published and released.

I guess I have a personal attachment to Harry's birthdate; we ALMOST shared the same birthdate (I was a bit late), and so I tend to think of it quickly. But either way, it's all OUR age group, and I think a lot of us get a kick out of that.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

Actually, I'd never thought about it before, so the fact that I would've been at Hogwarts with all of them amuses me deeply.

[lord--voldemort.livejournal.com]

<3333!!!
Thank you <3

[ravenqueen55.livejournal.com]

Yay you! That made me giggle, and then made me want to hug you for writing that letter. That's soooooo something I would do!!! *kicks the stupid people*

[aidenfire]

(reposted to fix formating error)

I'm class of 2011, not 2012, and I kind of get where the school is coming from, though. Regardless of what age Harry is in real time, it feels like he's grown up with us. I was about 11 when the first book came out, and had just finished my last year of high school when DH was released. It feels like he's about my age, even if he's meant to be older. So, props to you for giving them the facts...but Harry does sort of feel like a classmate to me. :)

[jedipirate.livejournal.com]

I am firstly highly amused that you're referencing something that I just happened to have open in a separate tab, because it was linked to in a work-related email.

And I'm secondly amused that you actually corrected them. I'm kinda curious now if they'll write you back. =Þ

[crikkita.livejournal.com]

Yes!! It had to be done.

And, you're exactly the same age as Harry?? I'm so insanely jealous!!!

Ooh, hang on, I think that would put me in the same class as Charlie Weasley. *drools* No, hang on, I'd be a year or two behind him (since my birthday is in September, I suppose I would be Hogwarts class of 1993, not 1992 as I actually was). But, still. I'd have been around to watch Charlie Seek for Gryffindor, and that's good enough for me.

[lielabell.livejournal.com]

You are made of win.

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

This has nothing to do with this post at all, but I just noticed your icon and it's kind of very awesome.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Hehehe... and they're made of even more fail:

http://mijan.livejournal.com/86553.html

[mtranc3.livejournal.com]

You tell them girl! *is curious to see if they will answer back*

[mijan.livejournal.com]

They did! And proved themselves to be even dumber than I thought:

http://mijan.livejournal.com/86553.html

[agr8fae.livejournal.com]

So my mother just sent me just sent me that exact list (she's an architect for colleges) and I had just realized their timeline was off when I saw your post. Talk about coincidences!

[roma-fics.livejournal.com]

And some of us are the same age as Harry's parents and the other Marauders, oh and Snape too. :)

[aliciajd]

Much of the point of this annual listing is that the incoming class of University has a world view that is bound by the experiences they have received through current media. I think they are assuming that these kids don't read and are more strongly influenced by film and TV. The movie Harry, Daniel Radcliffe, is very close to the same age as this incoming class. Emma Watson is actually beginning her University career this autumn.

[phoenixsong71.livejournal.com]

OMG. I was just reading that article before I logged into LJ. Apparently fact checking and research is not something that generation grew up with. :D

[mijan.livejournal.com]

They're even worse about fact-checking and research than we thought:

http://mijan.livejournal.com/86553.html

[hpstrangelove.livejournal.com]

You go girl! I can't believe there is someone as anal on details as I am. I really want to know what they say.

Obviously, they did not do their research - I'm not sure that's the kind of school I'd want to be attending.

[mijan.livejournal.com]

Not the kind of school I'd want to attend, either. They've just proven themselves to be even dumber:

http://mijan.livejournal.com/86553.html

[yaycoffee.livejournal.com]

Awesome! I wonder if they'll respond...

[mijan.livejournal.com]

*snicker* They did:

http://mijan.livejournal.com/86553.html

[twilightsorcery.livejournal.com]

WIN. :D