Potter Fodder

Turns out, it's not just teenagers and fantasy nerds who love Harry Potter. Here we thought box office receipts were ballooning thanks to repeat visits from obsessive fanboy types. The sixth film in the series, released last week, has already grossed $420 million worldwide and had the biggest global opening day on record, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. But Potter fans apparently span a greater demographic cross-section than little girls and people who roll 12-sided die.

It would seem that these fans can also count those in media and business among their ranks. Over at Fast Company, they've come up with a list of business world equivalents to Hogwarts characters. For instance, who better to embody Harry than real-life tech wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg, who Fast Company notes is still "learning to use his powers" as founder of Facebook, the most popular social media web site in the world. "Bully and jerk" Draco Malfoy's CEO counterpart? Microsoft's Steve Ballmer. Secretive with a penchant for black turtle-necks? Could be Potter's Severus Snape or Apple's Steve Jobs.

Not to be outdone, those in the media game have also come out with their own Potter comparisons. Mediaite thinks the fresh-faced, do-gooding counterpart to Harry is none other than MSNBC newcomer Rachel Maddow. Fred and George Weasley, who provide comic relief at Hogwarts, are paired with Comedy Central's dynamic duo Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. And Mad-Eye Moody? He who "barks," "blurts" and "sometimes seems a little nuts?" None other than Hardball's Chris Matthews, he of the bug-eyed "Ha!"

Come to think of it, maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Nerdy and obsessive with a penchant for parsing meaning from any and all sources? That'd be fanboys and journalists alike.

Photo courtesy of Ikescs via Wikimedia Commons.