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
I fully agree...you should go to the movie rental place- Larry just came out with a new solo one. Have you heard Ron White's comedy CD? I cry everytime I listen to it, it's so funny.
Very close, except "thou" takes the weird verb form "dost" in this case.
Is that "Drunk in Public"? Haven't gotten that, or Larry's "Lord, I Apologize", but they're both on the list for this weekend.
Do I really want to know how you're so informed about this form of English? Don't banish me for it, but it seems kinda...eccentric. Just wondering.
Yeah, the Drunk in Public CD. It's hilarious- you ought to hear the things he comes up with about his rich wife. Same for "Lord, I Apologize." It's a guaranteed mood lifter.
Its the only book I have every read where lineage is so important it has family trees for everyone printed in the back of it.
Sam talks about his father and his advice when things get rough. "If my old gaffer could see me now!"
And there isn't anything sweeter than Tom Bombadil and Goldberry's relationship in LoTR.... Going down to the river just to gather lillies for his lady! How romantic!
And Aragorn's entire mission to reclaim the thrown was because his ability to marry Arwen with her father's blessing depended on it.
There is a reason why middle aged British men wrote stories about men who never really touch or interact with women, but I won't tax your mind by asking you to imagine why.
Your mind is a corrupt place maybe.... But I don't think Tolkien's was.
I almost got away with not crying. But there was that part when Harry unwrapped the little mirror and tried using it, even though it didn't work. That's when I started bawling and didn't stop for a while.
No, the original statement implied that all the nutsos were Christians (probably true), not that all Christians are nutsos.
a -> b !=> b -> a
The central story of the book is loyalty and friendship and human relationships. It may not come out and tell you "this is a human interaction, watch this!"
The trouble isn't that Tolkien is shallow, it is that you are. Good night.
So far that's just a rumor. But it can't be true; how are Ron and Hermione going to get together if one of them dies?!
Ron and Hermione? I know it was hinted at in the fourth book, but I really can't see it. I think their intelligence levels are just too separate to work. I think she'd be better off with either an older man or a smarter guy her age. Just my opinion.
That is just wrong on SO many levels..
Thanks for the ping, Bella. I haven't been around much lately, and probably won't be for a while longer....I'm starting a new (and much BETTER) job and will be moving in about a month. I'm working from home now.
Ya know, sci-fi geek though I am, I've just never been into the swords n' sorcery stuff. Never. Never played D&D, never read any of the LOTR or any HP books, nor have I seen any of the movies. (I did however see the Misty Mundae version of LORD OF THE G-STRINGS. 2 thumbs up! :) But it's always interesting to me to see the comments of those who think HP books are evil and such. So an 11-year old wants to be a witch after seeing a HP film or something. God knows I wanted to be an astronaut, a cowboy,a reporter, a fireman, a policeman, etc. etc. after seeing some movie or reading some book when I was a sprout. None of them happened, either.
And about Fairuza Balk...she's a hottie. I wrote her a fan letter some years ago, and she responded with a picture and nice handwritten letter. Some of those goth-type rock chicks do it for me. Rose McGowan in The Doom Generation was another. Although I still think Neve was the hottest of the Craft girls. Best legs, too.
Lemme tell ya 'bout the time I got thrown outta the bar in New York. :-)
Well, I think Harry will "become" a Weasley by marrying Ginny.
I can see Ron's death fitting in to the story, but I don't see how Hermione can be killed. She is too important.
Thank you, oh kind Dark Mistress!
You depth of your evil compassion in unfathomable. ;-)
(snip). . . . A time when witchcraft (Wicca) is considered by many to be "just another religion", and nothing to worry about.
I happened to live near the military base to which you refer and know the chaplain who dealt with the whole mess. The Wiccans (as opposed to witches) are pagans and worship nature. We're not talking sacrifices and spells.
Interestingly enough, I'd rather my kids taking object lessons from the Wiccans, who quietly asked for a place to meet, than from the local holy rollers who loudly protested at local shopping centers and went so far as to make death threats to the chaplain who was charged with religious liberty on base or to the Wiccans themselves.
No. This is an ancilliary problem. The main problem with the series is the central notion of "good" witchcraft. This is a contradiction in terms, just like the terms "good murderer," or "good blasphemer."
The purpose of portraying "good witchcraft" is to innure children to the occult. The jump from "white" witchcraft to "black" witchcraft isn't very big.
This is the core problem in most modern children's fantasy literature, as Michael O'Brien explains in "A Landscape with Dragons."
I'm glad someone liked it 8-). Too bad most people have to learn the hard way, especially innocent children.
I think anyone who believes that companies like Disney are trying to promote witchcraft must be paranoid.
In fact, I'm eagerly awaiting the Disney release of the C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. book series any minute...
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