A neighbor of mine is very concerned because he has been told the Harry Potter phenomena is evil. It smacks of witches and sorcery. "If you follow the links on the Internet," he has been told, "you will be led to a letter from a youngster wondering how to drink blood."
Indeed, that DOES sound ominous, and I for one have no desire to test the report and go looking for evil web pages. However, I was quite irate at the suggestion the Harry Potter books and the first movie promote evil per se. I am not convinced J.K. Rowlings is an evil woman scheming how she can lure innocent children to become sorcerers and witches.
My immediate reaction to my neighbors concern was to recall a trip my mother made in 1963. She had come from Wisconsin to visit me in Utah. A bus trip ended in downtown Salt Lake City, and she was shocked beyond belief when she got off the bus. She had been deposited in the heart of the red light district! Prostitutes in the middle of the "Mormon" headquarters? It took her quite some time to realize that even good people are susceptible to bad influences. That doesn't turn the good people bad, it just means evil is hard to escape. However, just because it exists doesn't mean EVERYONE is evil. It doesn't mean whenever we trip over evil we have to partake.
To me, my mother's experience means you can find what you're looking for wherever you are. I imagine if you wanted, you could find pornography somewhere in the Vatican. Or scandals in the Royal Family.
As Tomás Ó Muradhacha of Clundaláne so aptly put it,
In recent years, we have been shocked to see depictions of Jesus Christ in disgusting ways. Some people call it "art." That does not make all art repulsive. Nor does it mean Jesus Christ was a disgusting person.
If Harry Potter is to be banned because it features evil people doing evil things, then I guess I had better throw out my copies of Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, and Hansel and Gretel. Come to think of it, The Bible has quite a few stories of wicked deeds, too.
Now then neighbor, I have a confession to make. I saw the Harry Potter movie! Yes, I did! And you know what? I did not rush out and buy a broom, nor did I get on the Internet to learn how to cast spells. Instead, I was impressed with the wonderful talents of J.K. Rowlings to weave a wonderful fantasy. This former welfare mother agonised for five years over the first book, and in the process created a terrific series of adventures. She has actually been able to get children to turn off their televisions and READ! Her tales explore the traditional fight of GOOD AGAINST EVIL! Her theme is spun around different ways Harry Potter SAVES THE WORLD FROM EVIL!
Hooray for J.K. Rowlings! Hooray for Harry Potter!
[Audience rises] Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, Clap, ...[Clapping continues for an amazingly long time].
Bill Vicars
Harry Potter...evil....Bah! Who ever said that, is the same people who
think Halloween is devil worshiping. I watch and read mystery stories
and have never been tempted to murder anyone (well maybe in the car
sometimes :-) ). What about "The Wizard of Oz"???? Boo EVIL!!!!!
The movie was a delight, the special effects were wonderful and I just
loved Hagrid.
My favorite special effect was the candles floating above the tables in
the dining hall.
I cannot wait for the next installment, and please you need to read them
before you see the movie, just so you can see how well it was done.
Kathy Rageur
People who think Harry Potter is evil need to get a life. We lived in
England for 4 years and came back to America the end of September. My son
who is 8 now read started reading Harry Potter at age 7. The only thing
Harry Potter books do is make kids better at reading. My son was supposed to
be in 3rd grade this year, and we put him in 4th, because he scored 5th
grade level on a reading test. Both of my children ages 6 and 8 saw the
movie and really enjoyed it. The Hogwarts train station looked like the one
in NorthYorks moors railway. The school looked a little like Edinburgh
castle. I don't know if it was.
Carmen Hutchinson
A season of good vs. evil.
This [holiday season], the prevailing theme is basic. It's the good guys and the bad guys. The theme is emerging in myriad ways -- some by design, some by fortuitous coincidence. . . . People are "hungry" for any form of entertainment that distracts them from their worries, and will seek them out, conscioulsy or not, says Michael Wetter, a San Francisco psychologist who studies anxiety disorders and the effect of media and entertainment. . . .their could be no better time for "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and the long-awaited "Lord of the Ring" films. Both pit good against evil in the clearest ways. "Monsters Inc." draws on the theme, too, and opened with the biggest box office take ever for an animated film. . . . "Escapism is really, really important right now [since September 11], not only as simple means of entertainment, but also as a survival mechanism," Wetter said.
Margaret Webb Pressler
The Washington Post
14 November 2001, page H02
By most accounts the movie, based on stories by J.K.
Rowling, is a healthy fantasy about good versus evil that could
prompt meaningful discussions between children and their
parents. . .
``Obviously it's tapping into universal themes such as the
realities of good versus evil ... what is true and what is not true
... and that's what the Gospel is about,'' said the Rev. Martyn
Minns of Truro Episcopal Church in Fairfax, Virginia. ``For me it gives the Christian community a tremendous
opportunity to talk to kids about things that really matter,''
Minns said. ``The film reflects a tremendous spiritual hunger in
the culture. ... We don't need to be afraid of imagination.''
Connie Neal, a California-based former youth pastor who wrote
the book ``What's A Christian To Do With Harry Potter?'' said
people should not be afraid of the movie and that she has
shared the Harry Potter books with her own children as a way to
teach them right from wrong and how to tell the difference.
Sarah Tippit
Harry Potter film: invitation to join occult?
(Reuters) Saturday November 17, 2001
"Your mother died to save you. IF there is one thing Voldemort cannot
understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your
mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign...to have
been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give
us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of
hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch
you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so
good."
Dumbledore
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone page 299
"J.K. Rowling has pulled myths and legends from all over the world." - David Colbert. "Harry Potter came to me on a train in 1990 while staring out a window. . . the idea fell out of nowhere. . . the purest stroke of inspiration I've ever had in my life." - J.K. Rowling
Discovering the real world of Harry Potter
Atlantic Productions
PBS, 3 December 2001.
8 November 2002
Marcos Paulo D. França saw an article in Canada's National Post, which he forwarded to the Borley Ghost Society. In effect, he told us, One year after you published this article, the TRUTH has been written about Rowlings. The 2 November article by Scott Feschuk, Paul Mather and Peter McBain, "with files from Massimo Commanducci," is titled, "An irreverent look at the week:J.K. ROWLING INKS DEAL WITH LUCIFER." In part, it quotes Rowlings as saying, "I worship the Devil, Beelzebub, Satan, Lucifer -- in all his unholy forms. And I owe all my success, all my glory, all my power, to my sweet, beautiful Lucifer."
Later, the author writes, "Rowling then graciously offered me tea and shortbread cookies and wearily discussed the progress of the fifth Potter novel, which is taking so long 'because my sweet, beautiful Lucifer suddenly fancies himself an editor, and every night he sends up some deformed minion with a bunch of notes. . . .'"
Mr. D. Franca apparently took the article at face value.
To me, it was absurd to think of a movie-like "deformed minion with a bunch of notes" appearing to anyone. Not only are there no such creatures, but even if they did exist, they could not write or type "a bunch of notes." However, to be fair, I did an Internet search and was unable to confirm this story - anywhere. I imagine it will eventually show up on one of those web site that track hoaxes and urban legends.
If based on an actual interview, why hasn't any other media picked up on it? With the second movie in the seires about to be released, this would be front page - lead story fodder for all forms of media. After extensive research, I could find reference to the interview nowhere else. I guessed it was because of the new movie that this fictional piece was created.
The words "An irreverent look," give us another clue that this is definately a tongue-in-cheek satire.
Finally, I e-mailed The Post, "Someone has forwarded the above story to me with great and serious concern. Can you please tell me in what context the original appeared? Commentary? Humour?"
The author was kind enough to reply in person -
Dear reader,
The article in the Nov. 2 edition of Post Mortem, the National Post's weekly
satirical look at people and news events, was indeed satire - a poke not at
Ms. Rowling herself but at critics who have accused her of "corrupting young
minds."
Anyone familiar with J.K. Rowling's books knows that they advocate the value of friendship and loyalty and that they depict the triumph of good over evil.
To insinuate that Ms. Rowling secretly intends to lure young readers to the "dark arts" - as her critics have done - is simply absurd. Similarly, to believe that she owes her success to some kind of deal with the Devil is preposterous.
Ms. Rowling's success has indeed been phenomenal. The sight of thousands of children lining up outside bookstores, eagerly awaiting the release of her next book, is unheard of - especially in an age of video games, computers and the Internet.
But there are no supernatural forces at work. Ms. Rowling's success is obviously the result of a combination of smart marketing and the talents of a writer who knows how to tell a good story and who respects her audience's intelligence, imagination and ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality.
Massimo Commanducci (National Post)