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We proudly bring you the Harry Potter Movie Forum, a home away from home for fans of Peter Jackson's Harry Potter movies around the world. |
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Operated by |
We proudly bring you the Harry Potter Movie Forum, a home away from home for fans of Peter Jackson's Harry Potter movies around the world. |
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Well, five books into a seven book series and SF-FANDOM is finally going to say something official about Harry Potter. And our official word is: we like him. Heck, some of us even love him.
The Harry Potter books are, without question, the most popular stories in the world today. J.K. Rowling has surpassed the esteemed J.R.R. Tolkien, a principle topic of comment and discussion for the Xenite.Org family of Web sites since our founding year of 1997, in popularity and recognition. And she has also garnered a great deal of unwanted controversy. Harry Potter, after all, is a wizard, and to some people who have not read the books, that word summons up images of devil worship and demons. People who actually read the books know that nothing could be further from the truth. Harry and his magical friends have innate abilities they are born with -- God-given talents -- which are not derived from the worship of idols or the practice of non-Christian rites and religions. There are, in fact, symbols of Christian piety in the books, in the form of observations of Christian events (such as Christmas) and the practice of naming god-parents. Harry's personal story offers a very peculiar and unusual view into Rowling's imaginary half-hidden world of magical people. And it may be that since she uses traditional folk-lore, and words like "witch", "warlock", "magic", and "spell", some people will never be able to see beyond the end of their own prejudices. These words are very closely associated with the practice of turning away from God in the Bible, and such practices are condemned as being self-destructive. A Christian parent should be understandably concerned about whether his or her children would be unduly influenced by any sort of story to investigate such beliefs. But the Harry Potter books are as far removed from the occult, witchcraft, and other similar areas that no parent should be concerned. These stories don't utilize, teach, or discuss the practices of real-life witches and wizards. Rowling's magic-folk have special abilities which set them apart from the rest of mankind. They comprise imaginary ethnic groups who in their actions and beliefs don't differ from an average English person (or French person, or Bulgarian) any more than one would expect a character in a book to differ -- except in that they had a singular additional ability which sets them apart. That separation from non-magic folk, Muggles as they are called in the books, is a fairly obvious comment on the intolerance and prejudice which rule the hearts of so many self-styled fundamentalists in many belief systems throughout the world: many Christian, Muslim, Jew, and Hindu fundamentalist groups have been identified with hatred, intolerance, and extremism because of their actions (which are normally contrary to the principles they profess a belief in). Such groups don't represent the mainstream viewpoints of their religions. But there are no cut-and-dried lines between the so-called "evil" extremists and the less radical, more orthodox traditionalists who may also find fault with the Harry Potter world. Speaking Christian to Christian, one simply cannot condemn the Harry Potter books on the basis of the Bible's teachings, because Jesus told us that we'll know the tree by the fruit it bears. These stories teach children that there are consequences for actions. While one of the literary objections often raised against these books is that Harry doesn't ever face punishment for his misdeeds, that claim is simply false. Harry is disciplined for his breaking of rules and rewarded for his selfless deeds of courage and heroism. He receives both the good and the bad, just as in real life we must take the bitter with the sweet. Furthermore, the Harry Potter books teach that there is a dividing line between good and evil in all of us, and that we cannot simply stand on the line itself. There are those people within Harry Potter's world who seek to do just that, because they are afraid of the consequences of making a choice. But what the stories reveal is that even refusing to make a choice bears consequences. Those who seek to stand outside a conflict will nonetheless suffer when the conflict erupts. There can be no avoiding the choices made by an evil individual who wants to ruin everyone else's life. The books also teach the young reader to question the contradictions that we are presented with in life. Unfortunately, many people grow to adulthood in full and complete willingness to accept whatever they are told -- if it is stated with an air of authority -- as the Truth. Such reckless abandon of one's responsibility to ASK QUESTIONS is not simply a fault of religious fundamentalists. Many fundamentalists DO ask questions. No, this all-too-common human error is found in all of us, to one degree or another. Some people are less willing to seek the right answers out of fear, others because they are lazy, and still others because they are comfortable with the truths they believe in. But the fact is that the Harry Potter books teach young readers not to accept everything they are told without question. There are people who, while not wholly evil, will lie and deceive others around them for selfish purposes. The Harry Potter stories show that children are especially vulnerable to such deceits because they lack the experience to discern them. Regrettably, the books also show (quite true to real life) that many people either never develop the skill to see through even simple deceits, or they let it go unused in their adult lives more often than not. Wars are not begun because people stand up for the truth. Wars are begun because men of ambition choose to wage them. Harry Potter finds himself growing up in a generation which, tired and fearful of war, hopes to hide away from it. So many of Harry's people find hiding to be easy because they have been hiding for centuries. To them, it is a way of life, and they don't understand that they cannot hide from the consequences of their own apathy. Every citizen has a responsibility to his or her community to help nourish and defend it. When that responsibility is shirked, tyrants and bullies step in and take over. In today's world, the Harry Potter stories are relevant and meaningful for more than just children. They teach a proper lesson to any adult who is willing to open his or her eyes, unplug the ears, look, and listen. The appeal of these books is universal, and they have touched millions of hearts. No one will find sorcery or devil worship through reading these books, but one may find that the human spirit was endowed with the strength to cling to hope and faith and love. Those are gifts bestowed upon us by God, not by hatred, intolerance, and ignorance. The Harry Potter movies generated increased interest in the books, but they are worthy of attention in themselves. The first two movies are unusually faithful to the original story material. Some fans of the books feel that diminishes the quality of the movies, but many other people feel the movies are better than most adaptations precisely because they ARE so faithful. A good film adaptation entertains its audience, but a faithful film adaptation risks losing the audience's interest if they know too much about the story. The Harry Potter movies succeeded in keeping the audience entertained. In fact, the Harry Potter DvD sales have proven to be strong and consistent. People want to watch these movies over and over again. They bring the world of the books alive in a way that so few film adaptations of popular novels ever have. The first Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone" (called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in the United Kingdom), was released in 2001, two years after "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace" and just shortly before "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring". The Star Wars and Lord of the Rings film franchises competed directly with Harry Potter in 2002, when "Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" were released. The first "Spider-man" movie was also released in that year. Instead of taking a beating at the box office, the Harry Potter movies established new records. People around the world showed they wanted more quality fantasy movies. Years from now, when film history students look back at the turn of the millennium, they will undoubtedly debate how much the Harry Potter movies impacted the film-making industry. Fantasy movies have established a high standard for quality and entertainment value, and Harry Potter helped to make that standard.
So what are you waiting for?
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