Posted on 06/03/2004 9:38:49 AM PDT by BobbyBeeper
FIRST-PERSON: Is Harry Potter merely entertainment? Jun 2, 2004 By Phil Boatwright
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" Photo courtesy of harrypotter.com
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (BP)--"I love Harry Potter. I think it would be so cool to be a witch," Sharon, age 11, says.
That's my answer to anyone who says J.K. Rowling's adventure series is harmless fantasy.
While the Harry Potter book and film series has held a hypnotic fascination for youngsters, its thematic foundation is troubling. Arguably, perceptive children can view such material without succumbing to the snare of the occult, but it would be naive to think that movies and TV programs containing witchcraft are not aiding the rise of Wicca in our culture.
In a television special titled "Hollywood Spirituality" which aired several years back on E! Entertainment, Raven Mounauni, a professing witch and owner of an occult paraphernalia store, credited the 1996 movie "The Craft" with inspiring young women to explore the world of witches. "I get a lot of teenage girls in here. You can always tell when 'The Craft' has been on TV, 'cause we get a big influx of girls looking for supplies."
Occult practices shouldn't be considered just diverting amusement. Ouija boards, psychic readers and other forms of misleading supernatural entertainment should not be taken lightly. In Leviticus 19:26 we are instructed, "Do not practice divination or sorcery." There are several warnings in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testament, making it clear that we are to avoid witchcraft or anything associated with the occult. So if God is instructing us to avoid occult practices, how can we justify using it to entertain ourselves?
This may not be a popular view right now. The first Harry Potter film installment earned $969 million worldwide. J.K. Rowlings' five books on the young wizard have become a phenomenon, allowing the author to become the richest woman in England, with assets beyond $1 billion. That would indicate that many parents find nothing wrong with these children's adventures.
There are even a couple of books out right now exclaiming parallels between the Potter books and the Gospel. One author suggests the books help relate Christian themes and truths, opening the door for talking about things such as right and wrong, the nature of faith, loyalty, bravery and trust. Honestly, I think that's a bit thin. Yes, Rowlings’ themes deal with honor, friendship and self-sacrifice, but the kids in Harry Potter gravitate to sorcery in order to accomplish these attributes. And even if there are positive elements associated with the series, you simply can't ignore the witchcraft equation.
Members of Wicca teach a philosophy that embraces no absolute truth or sin and replaces the patriarchal male creator God of the Bible with a belief in both male and female gods. Its credo instructs members to embrace spirits and conjure spells in order to control their lives and the lives of others. There are millions of practicing witches worldwide. Indeed, Wicca has become one of the fastest-growing religions in the world today.
OK, it's good that children are reading. But what is it they're reading? Shouldn't that be considered? When an author makes $1 billion on five books that have sorcery as a main theme, and renowned secular critics hail the films as incredible filmmaking without examining their occult roots, I question what's really behind this phenom.
Is it merely entertainment? Or is there a dark spiritual source feeding and supporting it? I realize that may sound like a stretch, but often Satan is most deceiving with a glossed-over package. Wouldn't it be a shame if kids got pulled into witchcraft, while their folks thought of the books and films as merely children's fantasy? --30-- Phil Boatwright is a film reviewer and editor of The Movie Reporter, on the Web at www.moviereporter.com. (BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKAB
Also this: "I can see why they would appeal to fifth grade boys" when you likely know that Tolkein is read by all ages and both sexes.
A couple of posters have pointed out that Tolkein was happily married with 4 kids, yet you constantly imply he had sexual problems, without seeming to know anything about him. Hard to find your comments credible.
So did James Fennimore Cooper, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Shakespeare, Homer, and a myriad of other authors. For that matter, all authors before the 20th Century (or even the 1950's, if you want to carry it that far) would fall into that category.
Are you so easily trashing their writings as well? "Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn"? "The Devil and Daniel Webster"? "Moby Dick"? "The Deerslayer"? None of them had much to do with male-female relationships either.
Or is it just because they're all dead white men?
No, sit down before you hurt yourself, amateur.
Because it involves witchcraft, the occult, and goofy, teenage fantasy artwork. No, really.
When I was in junior high, a group of us that got to school early wanted to go into the lunchroom and play D&D rather than stay outside and amuse ourselves by fighting and breaking things.
The principle asked one of the school staff to take a look at D&D and make sure it wasn't gambling. Well, the guy he asked to look at it is probably posting anti-Potter diatribes somewhere if he is still alive. We got a 45 minute lecture on the evils of witchcraft and satan worship, complete with descriptions of exorcisms of ouija boards.
Here we were a bunch of small town Christian kids dealing with a guy who would be out burning witches if he could, starting with us.
Is this another hyperbole? This is a wrong statement. Boromir and Faramir had problems with their father, who was a selfish king. These 3 characters are all adult humans.
You don't seem to know the subject matter that you're trying to come across as an expert on.
thanks for the tip
I'm confused. Are these people saying there is more than one God, and that some Gods are good and some are bad? So if your magic comes from a good God ( as presumably does Gandolph's) then it is good, but if it comes from a bad God, then it is evil. Is that the way it works?
The subject of the thread is not people (Christian or whatever) who "don't like" the stories as a matter of personal taste, but loonies who think that it will somehow lure The Children[tm] into the embrace of Beelzebub.
Such people are, as the original message said, nuts, and calling them nuts is necessary in order to prevent normal Christians and conservatives from being tarred with the same brush. Silence in the face of a lunatic fringe in one's own camp is just foolish (ask any American Moslem).
hahahahaha...
Don't forget "All Quiet on the Western Front" or many other war novels written. Presumably this guy would have troubles with those too.
Yeah, but we actually did go straight to hell.
Though it’s all dressed up as sweetness and light, the first Harry Potter book has rituals (for example, “the Sorting Ceremony,” pp. 117-122); spells (Hermione casts the full Body-Bind spell on Neville, p. 273); spirits and other non-human entities (Voldemort inhabits Quirrell’s body, pp. 293-295, and the myriad ghosts of Hogwarts); candles (thousands floating above the tables at Hogwarts, p. 116); and brews (Professor Snape’s potions class, pp. 136-139).
My high school had rituals: they were called pep rallies and we were encouraged to paint our bodies and scream at the top of our lungs, compete with the other classes,and do really weird things in the sake of school spirit. The full- body bind? It's a form of paralyzing someone. People can do the same with guns, bombs, cars, and a lot more. Many sane, rational people believe in ghosts or have dreamed of a deceased loved one telling them things, encouraging them, etc... I mean, Joan of Arc talked to God, saw his face. Candles? I have candles throughout my house, and often light them to relax, scent the air, or make the atmoshpere whatever I wish it to be. Potions? The students add ingredients in a heated cauldron and stir until it's ready. I do the same thing whenever I cook, and potions can even be connected to high school chemistry. I made all sorts of weird things in that class. Does all of this make me evil or a Satanic follower? If you think so, maybe you should visit a doctor and get rid of that ol' fingerprint of evil on your soul.
Someone already pointed out the Faramir/Boromir sibling rivalry and striving for their father's affection.
There's also the entire Eowyn sub-plot.
I also fail to see how strong ties of friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice between a group of men (including hobbits, elves, and dwarves) doesn't qualify as an "adult relatonship". Do you mean to imply that only books with romantic/sexual sub-plot matter? Doesn't this definition disqualify just about any book about war?
Cool, I'm outta here!
I'm posting from there right now.
Nope...I don't know...
Give it up :-)
I just can't wait til book 6 though!
See my (much) earlier reply on this subject -- in LOTR, all of the main "magical" characters are higher-order spirits created by the same (and only) godlike being. The differences between them are based solely on their own choices. The people saying otherwise obviously haven't read the books, or at least did a fair bit of skimming.
You know, I was watching The Dirty Dozen the other day, and I was thinking "now why doesn't this movie have more married people, why can't we see more adult relationships, instead of a bunch of guys running around killing everything?"
On a serious note, I am glad he didn't have much in the way of adult relationships in the books, beyond what he already had. Increasing the amount of characters and storylines in the LOTR books would have greatly distracted from the main storyline..
The last thing I'd want to read was some combination of Tolkien and Jane Austin.
The Pride and Prejudice of Emma the Hobbit. I think my head would explode.
(Said in a quiet "Newt" voice from the movie Aliens)
"Fairuza Balk mostly annoys me.
Mostly."
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