I saw an interesting debate come up on a friend's Facebook page - the original post didn't have anything to do with Harry Potter, but a conversation came up where a person expressed the opinion that Harry Potter was demonic and glorified witchcraft. As I was watching the movie today ("HP and the Half-Blood Prince"), I was thinking about the conversation. It was interesting as some folks felt that "Twilight" was not demonic (because vampires aren't real, because the "good" team in the series did not consume human blood, etc.), but HP displayed witchcraft/magic in a positive light.
As I was watching the part of the movie where Harry and Dumbledore are getting the Horcrux from the pedestal, I was reminded of "The Lord of the Rings". I'm not sure why, exactly, but it made me wonder how those folks feel about that series. It includes magic and good and evil. Or the Narnia series...that has magic in it. Or "The Wizard of Oz". Obviously, I haven't had a conversation with the people who were commending, so I'm sure there is much more we could discuss about their perspectives, the reasons they hold the beliefs they do and where the boundary is between acceptable portrayals of fictional magic versus what might be considered unacceptable and how those are determined. I'm not interested in being argumentative, but I do find it fascinating think about.
There isn't a right or wrong in the situation - just really different views about the world and what is good/bad, acceptable/unacceptable, postive/negative influences, etc.
I saw the Hp was condemned in my friends church before it even come out. It was as though she was brain washed to think this was evil with out judging for her self. She even was mad at her hubby for watching it. I told her it is no different than any fairy that is magical. As there was a wicked witch in snow white.But I do see she is a changed person from this church she attends.
ReplyDeleteThat's really hard to watch - a friend changing that way. I guess I would love to really sit with someone and find out what the difference is between say, Snow White and HP. Maybe I would understand their perspective more. I think people find it hard to debate things they feel so deeply.
ReplyDeleteAs always, thanks for coming by, Grammy. I'm always happy to hear from you.