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| Author: Posted: Sep. 8, 2002 | This Page Viewed: 7,005,797 |
Question of the Week: 68 - 11/25/2001 Are You Wild About Harry? Have you seen the movie? What did you think of it? Do you think that the movie will bring more people into Paganism or to the study of real magic(k)? Do you think that this is a good thing or not? Do you think that the witchcraft and magic and spells as depicted in the movie accurately (though exaggerated) reflect the basic premises of Witchcraft and magick and spellwork as we know it? What do think a good response would be to both those who want to 'do it like Harry' and to those who believe that Pottermania is anti-Christian or enticing children into the 'world of the occult'? |
| Reponses: There are 80 responses posted to this question. | Reverse Sort |
| Many People Ponder Why The Harry Potter Books Are Such A Monster... | Nov 25th. at 3:13:35 pm EST |
| Nicole M. Berg (Lake Oswego, Oregon US) | Age: 32 - Email |
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Many people ponder WHY the Harry Potter books are such a monster hit? Book critics have noted JK Rowling's keen ability to remember how children actually think as well as what they actually think and worry about. Care has gone into describing the underlying mythos behind the main Hogwarts characters Hagrid (loyal guardian/imaginary friend), Dumbledore (wise grandfather figure), and Head Mistress Mc Gonaggal(sp?)(the ideal teacher). But what many fail to realize is that Rowling also successfully expresses the unspoken, despairing ennui of children growing up in a dulling, hollow, mystery-sapped culture. Children of cookie cutter homes, suburban sprawl, and the concrete grimness of inner cities see scant real Beauty in their lives, the most troubling of which is seeing Nature as another planet, accessible only on cable. Though fun is oft poked at clueless 'Muggles', eventually what Harry Potter rescues the reader from is seeing the 'mundane' world as mundane. It is very hard to experience either the natural world or magic (and for many Pagans, the two are inseparable) in city or tract housing ugliness. Rowling knows this, which is why she physically transports her readers to a separate place where both can be experienced. So there is Wands and Potions Classes and also the Dark Forest and Hagrid's pets(both real & mythic), to reaccquaint children with the wonder of nature. On the subject of how some Christians view the Potter series, I have a personal antedote. I remember going into a Christian bookstore out of curiousity and encountered a whole bookshelf under the heading "Spiritual Warfare." (Now who do these people think they're fighting?) Well sure enough there were already 3 titles devoted to villifying JK Rowling and Harry Potter. To any Christians who may just happen to read this article, I say this: If this book series was a Jewish flavored magical tale or an African religion inspired story, I would expect you'd hesitate before demonizing them. Because that would be PREJUDICE now, wouldn't it? Please remember that no one religion is the ONLY right and true religion for EVERYONE. It is this kind of narrow mindedness that Rowling addresses in her books which help chidren get along with those who are different from themselves. This is a GOOD thing, in my book. Blessings, Nicole |
| Harry Potter Was A Good Movie For My Sister And Brother Of... | Nov 25th. at 3:45:21 pm EST |
| Emina (Ottawa , Ontario CA) | Age: 18 |
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Harry potter Was a good movie for my sister and brother of 12 and 13...But come on lets get serious. It will need more than a childs movie to get some one to believe im magic. |
| I Am A Harry Potter Maniac! I've Read The Books. I've Seen... | Nov 25th. at 4:44:36 pm EST |
| Vwondola (Waycross, Georgia US) | Age: 15 - Email |
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I am a Harry Potter maniac! I've read the books. I've seen the movie. I love it! I don't think it will bring more people into paganism because it doesn't directly mention it. Half the people i know have read it and they haven't switched religions over a fictional work. If they were becoming witches over it though, I think they would change their minds when they realized it was not as easy as in the books. The spells in the movie are different from real spells. They are more words and wand-swishing than visualization and concentration. Still, they make for an interesting story. For the people who want to be all magical like Harry i have 3 words- Role Playing Game. And for all the over-obsessed psychotic Christians, lighten up! Do you wanna have a heart attack at the ripe old age of 23?! Reading a book is not going to cause eternal damnation. I's a fictional work!!! And it does not make people sacrifice babies to the devil(someone wrote to the Waycross Journal Herald saying it did). Why don't you open your eyes and realize that everyone who is different is not necessarily evil or going to bring about the apocalypse. And besides, it's making children READ!!! That's what you've been trying to get them to do for years, right? And don't tell me that's not true because I have a friend who would have failed the 8th grade if he hadn't gotten into Harry Potter. Besides, i think some of you folks need to be introduced to the rest of the world. Meet some real witches. We don't sacrifice babies to the devil. We don't sacrifice anything to the devil. We don't BELIEVE in the devil. Newsflash- we're not Satanic and violent. Well i think i've babbled enough... Vwondola ^_^ |
| I Started Reading The Harry Potter Books Simply Because Some Christian (?) Groups... | Nov 25th. at 5:43:41 pm EST |
| Catdra (smalltownin, Texas US) | Age: 41 - Email |
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I started reading the Harry Potter books simply because some Christian (?) groups wanted them banned. They are cute books. The movie itself was great, good special effects. As for the movie getting people into paganism I dont think so. Yes, its about witchcraft but.... its not witchcraft! Deep down its about good versus evil and good wins. Which in the world right now is something we all need. Also the series got kids to READ. Now thats magical! The movie Lord of the Rings is coming out, it too contains wizards and magic. Is there going to be a fuss about that? |
| Merry Meet! First, I Should Say That I Love The Harry Potter... | Nov 25th. at 7:29:59 pm EST |
| Olivia (Pipersville, Pennsylvania US) | Age: 16 - Email |
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Merry meet! First, I should say that I love the Harry Potter books. I'm sixteen, and I think they really bridge the age gap and reconnect readers to faery-tale riproaring adventure in the style of Roald Dahl. The movie was okay. But I think that by linking Harry Potter to the religion of Witchcraft we are actually doing our community as disservice. Harry's spellwork is literary magic---it's dazzling, fun, and completely secular. There's no thealogy to turn the magic into magick (pardon the semantic distinction.) When the magickal community as a whole acts as though Harry is a spokeperson for Witchcraft and magick, we inadvertently support the fundamentalists' claims that Harry Potter is a cover for a Wiccan recruiting agency, interested in stealing souls to a Nature/devil worshipping Pagan religion. Horrors! I guess that the reason the Pagan community is so into Harry Potter is that, as a whole, we love all things magickal. We're bewitched by faery tales and swashbuckling tales of Hogwarts, because magic of any literary kind is fun. But we shouldn't mistake literary magic for literal magick, and we shouldn't count on Harry Potter to be a spokesperson for the religion of Witchcraft...because he truly doesn't have anything to do with Wicca (or any other kind of Paganism) at all. Not to say that's gonna make me stop loving those books! Peace through anarchy. |
| Did Anyone Else Pick Up On The Xtian Holiday Themes? Obvious Xtianized... | Nov 27th. at 9:28:40 am EST |
| Angelfyre (Another Small Town in Texas, Texas US) | Age: 40 |
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Did anyone else pick up on the Xtian holiday themes? Obvious Xtianized Halloween celebration, the Xmas wasn't too secular, but Ron Weasley did call it "Christmas" not "Yule". I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and the books. |
| Yes, I'm Wild About Harry. But Then Again, I'm Wild About Any... | Nov 27th. at 12:31:27 pm EST |
| Liz (Orpington, England UK) | Age: 40 - Email |
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Yes, I'm wild about Harry. But then again, I'm wild about any really well written fantasy (& some pretty poorly written stuff as well ;-). I went to see the film for the first time in a group of adults (youngest 30, oldest late 50s) including my brother who had arranged the visit & booked the tickets for the preview showings as he couldn't wait until the full release. Now my brother classes himself as an "anti-theist", someone who disapproves of and dislikes any form of religion as the root of most of the problems of the world. As someone who reads fantasy books he used to like the Chronicles of Narnia until the day he realised it was Christian "propaganda" and won't look at them since. If there was any real question of the Potter stories pushing any form of religion on anyone, my brother would be the first to see it & reject them, yet he pre-ordered the 4th book in hardback from Amazon. So do I think the stories will bring more people into Paganism? I very much doubt it. But it won't stop me from enjoying a great bit of fantasy. |
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