Damn you Harry Potter!

I was asked the strangest question last year. I had just moved into my new dorm room in Bristol, fresh off the boat (or airplane, in this case) and ready to start my freshman year of college. Just as I was unpacking, my neighbors knocked on the door to introduce themselves. We clicked immediately and started chatting about differences between America and England. It was then that my new friend asked: "Is it true that everyone drinks out of red plastic cups at parties in America?"


What?

She then explained that in American movies, everyone drank out of red cups at high school parties, Mean Girls being the most notable reference. Wha... I was at a loss for words. Something as simple as a cup was considered a novelty by my new neighbors when I didn't even think twice about it in the US.

Not that this was such a silly question. As my cousin facetiously put it, "So does everyone in England ride around on broomsticks?"Just as my neighbors formed stereotypes from Mean Girls, I, like many of my fellow Americans, had my first taste of British culture when I read and watched Harry Potter. Until I first saw Number 4 Privet Drive, I just assumed neighborhoods across the pond would look like ours.

Getting back to Mean Girls, another Brit asked me if all girls in America really were that "mean". Oh, poor guy. I don't blame his being English rather his masculine naivety: Girls are mean all over the world. Anyone who believes cruelty is exclusively among women in the US has obviously never watched Cracks. Or Gladiator. 

Funny enough, the English I have met seem fully aware of their own stereotypes. One night at the SU a friend told me, "I bet you thought we were going to talk like, 'Oy guvnah!'" Give me some credit. I'm not that dense.

I guess you could say Harry Potter had a major impact on me as a kid since I'm living in England now. It's been pretty tough trying to move here. I'll never forget the phone call I got from my mom during the lengthy application process: "Your dad just said 'Damn you, Harry Potter!'"