Sunday, July 22, 2007

Unless you live in a cave or are deaf and blind you no doubt know that this past Saturday the last in the Harry Potter series came out. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows is perhaps the most hyped-up book since...well, since the last Harry Potter. Posters advertising it are everywhere, "Will you be with Harry at the end?" and various other slogans were (and are) plastered all over. Yahoo news and AOL news ran endless stories on everything from supposed pirated copies to fans' guesses as to the ending of this series. I (as much as it may shock some of you) have read two of the Harry Potter books (Chamber of Secrets & Goblet of Fire), and while I didn't come across anything that I particularly objected to and I must admit that they were well-written and fairly interesting (to fantasy readers) I didn't understand what all the fuss was about. Many claim that they are anti-Christian and no true Christian should read them, others claim that they are in fact "Christian" books (in the sense that they endorse Christian truths). I found no evidence that supports one claim above the rest, the books in themselves seem to be fairly harmless, a good story with some good ideals. My main problem with this series is the cult-like following that they have caused to spring up, kids and adults who are so obsessed with them that they dress up and stand in lines for hours (sometimes days) to see the movies or buy the books; and the obsession for witchcraft which has swept the world. Another is the controversy they cause between Christians, some are accused of being narrow minded because they don't read or let their kids read the books or see the movies, others are accused of being too tolerant because they read the books and love the movies, I prefer to think that your response to Harry Potter is your own business, there most probably is no right answer. Some families may like the adventures of the boy wizard others may be wary of it, but in the end it is a personal choice, but just because someone doesn't subscribe to your view doesn't mean you should beat them over the head with it. The reason that Harry Potter has grown to this dimension is most probably due to the controversy among Christians, case-in-point: The DaVinci Code, until the church began reacting to its ridiculous claims it was relatively small, the very fact that there was controversy made lots of people, including Christians, read the book or see the movie. So it is with Harry Potter, let's hope that now the end has come (ostensibly) we can go back to normalcy.

1 comment:

The Pendragon said...

I'm impressed that you at least read a few before reaching an opinion. I think the frustration largely stems from those who don't read them but pass judgment on them. There's something in Corinthians about not judging each other whether you eat meat or not, and I think it applies here. The cult-following I think should be less worrying to a LOTR fan like yourself. After all, people have done the same for that wonderful series of books and movies. ;-) I agree of course that Christians overreacted to the DaVinci Code and that spurred its popularity but HP was already on its way to stardom by the time Christians got wind of it. The boycotts haven't hurt it, but I don't think the books were doing poorly. I also am a little suspicious of anything resembling a "everyone's doing it so I'm a better person because I don't" mentality because I've heard it used here at Houghton to justify not seeing LOTR or Narnia or lots of well-worth-seeing stuff. Sometimes there is a reason for the popularity that doesn't come from a satanic worldwide conspiracy. Hope all is well at home.