Harry Potter Among All-Time Coolest Pop Culture Heroes from Entertainment Weekly

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Harry Potter Among All-Time Coolest Pop Culture Heroes from Entertainment Weekly

Posted by: Edward

March 27, 2009, 02:30 PM

UPDATE: You can see the cover of the EW magazine, which features a newer photo of Dan Radcliffe as Harry and an old photo of Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort here in our galleries.

Entertainment Weekly has released a new list which ranks their Twenty All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture. Among the list of Pop Culture Heroes is none other than The Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter, who is ranked in fourth place. The young wizard joins the ranks of such other heroes as Dirty Harry, Captain James T. Kirk, Spider-Man, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Indiana Jones, and James Bond. Entertainment Weekly writes the following of the character of Mr. Potter:

4. HARRY POTTER

WHY HIM: Orphaned, cast out, and in the throes of adolescent hormonal revolt, J.K. Rowling's boy wizard (played by Daniel Radcliffe on screen) is the embodiment of the corny bumper sticker: Why be normal?

MOST HEROIC MOVE: Obliterating Voldemort by deploying his secret weapons: love, loyalty, and the good ol' Expelliarmus.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Misses his mommy and daddy.

You can view the complete list of Pop Culture Heroes via this link.

Update 2: Thanks to TLC reader Lara, we received word (and scan, available in our galleries) that the recently published issue of Entertainment Weekly featured another listing, ranking the Twenty Scariest Villains. Evil Lord Voldemort made the list at number eight, with EW saying the following of Tom Riddle:

WHY HIM: Cruel with no hope of redemption, Harry Potter's nemesis (Ralph Fiennes in the films) is an old-school unrepentant, power-hungry, control-freak. But his loathing for anyone who doesn't meet his definition of "normal" is utterly of the moment.

MOST EVIL MOVE: Killing Harry's parents.

BIGGEST WEAKNESS: Motherly love.

Thanks to Jodi for mailing!

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86 Comments

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2482 Points

GREAT! Actually I didn’t like the part “misses his mommy and daddy”, but it’s otherwise ok..

Posted by ele0206 -ROAR- on March 27, 2009, 03:50 PM report to moderator

626 Points

Cool Agreed

Posted by AutumnWizard *ROAR* on March 27, 2009, 03:59 PM report to moderator

12569 Points

Yeah! Woohoo. A total hero, but I too was put off by the “misses his mommy and daddy” thing. Whatever!

Posted by tinagin [ROAR]! on March 27, 2009, 04:06 PM report to moderator

2400 Points

Americans and the constant use of the word “cool”… Good he’s in and so high but i don’t consider this list as a great one. ET and many other magazines make lists like this every year so…, maybe we’ll see one next year again. It’s just a magazine

Posted by Mr. Brightside on March 27, 2009, 04:07 PM report to moderator

3703 Points

He’s MY number one hero :)

Wow. That was cheesy.
But true. LOL :D

Posted by Christine on March 27, 2009, 04:24 PM report to moderator

586 Points

Awesome! I love the “Most Heroic Move” part <3

Posted by HermioneRon4ever on March 27, 2009, 04:31 PM report to moderator

3395 Points

1. Happy that he’s on the list
BUT (of course I have to complain! :P)
2. Misses his Mommy and Daddy? I didn’t think that was Harry’s biggest weakness! In my opinion, it doesn’t even seem like he cared that much!
3. “Is the embodiment of the corny bumper sticker: Why be normal?” What!?! it’s not like he chose to be an outcast or something, and of all the wonderful things you can put about Harry, they say “Why be normal?” is a way to describe him?!!? Arg!
4. Not sure if anyone has ever heard of those Clique books (a.k.a. books about mean, rich people)- but isn’t that more of a pop culture thing? The pop-ular culture, like things that most teens like? Harry Potter is an amazing book about a wizard- is that really considered pop(ular) culture? :/
5. “And the good ’ol Expelliarmus”!!! Lol
6. I wish Harry was #1 on the list, and that they gave him a better description!
K, I’m done now :D

Posted by BeAchL0veEr05 ☼ on March 27, 2009, 04:32 PM report to moderator

3982 Points

YES!!!!!!

Posted by missskye «Я☼AR» {OoM2} on March 27, 2009, 04:42 PM report to moderator

346 Points

glad harry is on the list but i was surprised not to have seen the master chief (nerdy i know but aren’t we all nerds in some way?).

Posted by jonfrog {ROAR} on March 27, 2009, 04:45 PM report to moderator

1410 Points

Yay Harry! (How is Superman in front of him? Harry IS Superman! Haha.)

What’s up with the “misses his mommy and daddy”?

Posted by AccioAmanda ☆WBM☆ on March 27, 2009, 04:56 PM report to moderator

439 Points

this is awesome, but Batman is #18?! that’s ridiculous! Batman is much more of a beast than that. he should be a lot higher ranked. i definitely do no think that Nancy Drew deserves to beat Batman.

Posted by orangeisthenewiloveyou on March 27, 2009, 05:20 PM report to moderator

13596 Points

Growing up watching Sean Connery as James Bond … Well, you just can’t beat the Sean Connery version. Drives an Astin Martin. Licensed to kill. Gets all the ladies. Drinks martinis (shaken, not stirred). The 1960s James Bond would never spit out pumpkin juice on his robes because he saw a cute girl.

I swear, in one of his movies, he takes off his diving suit, and he’s wearing a tux underneath. Nope. Harry Potter is a boy. James is man. Now where is Miss Moneypenny?

Posted by Garden State Geek on March 27, 2009, 05:26 PM report to moderator

508 Points

The top four is my all-time favourite characters!!:D I just knew James Bond was number one before I even got half way through the list! I love James Bond, and Superman, and Indy Jones and of course Harry Potter, my top four. :D

Posted by half-blood queen~ROAR~ on March 27, 2009, 05:33 PM report to moderator