Last night I took a break and went to see the newest Harry Potter movie. I know this has been a controversial subject in the church, but thankfully, we're seeing less and less of that now. Not long after the first Harry Potter book came out, a member in my congregation asked me to denounce it from the pulpit. I told him that I wouldn't do so until I had first read it on my own and found it to be harmful. So, I borrowed a copy from a friend and read it cover to cover in a matter of days. Needless to say, I was blown away by the book. Granted, the writing is never going to win a Pulitzer Prize, but it was a great children's fantasy book with clarity between good and evil and didn't promote the evil and witchcraft as critics maintained. I have since read (and purchased) all of the Harry Potter books and seen each Harry Potter movie in turn.
I was very much interested in seeing this new movie since the Order of the Phoenix was my favorite book to date. I think Rowling did an admirable job capturing the angst of the teen-aged years and the struggle that Harry was going through as he was being confronted with the evil of Voldemort and having to choose which side he was going to give allegiance to. How similar to all of our paths -- we all have points in our lives where we have to choose whether to follow good or evil, light or dark, God or not.
I thought the movie was very good, with outstanding performances by the actresses who portrayed Delores Umbridge and Luna Lovegood. The plot never slowed greatly, and I thought the director did a great job balancing the darkness and foreboding of the book and still keeping in mind the age that it was written for. Still, this series has turned more dark of late, and is definitely not suited for younger audiences.
In both the book and the movie, Harry and his friends take it upon themselves to learn how to defend themselves from the dark arts of Voldemort and his followers. What an indictment that carries against us as a church and as a people. If we are not faithfully training them up in the way they should go, then which way will they go? If we don't teach them how to follow the path of light, will they have the faith and fortitude to learn to follow Christ on their own, or have we condemned them to a path of our own making? It is our responsibility as Christians and as parents to be defenders of the faith and to pass on that faith and the responsibility that goes with it to those who will follow.
On a lighter note, those who are fans of the books and/or movies, are aware that first year students are "sorted" out by a "sorting hat" to put them in the right house, the dorm where they will live in community for the duration of their time at the Hogwarts school. Rebel Without a Pew borrowed from this and came up with a "Ministry Sorting Hat." You can view the post here.
1 comment:
I really liked your post. I believe that the books are like, in many ways, Wizard of Oz and/or Star Wars. There is the dark side of things and the light side. They can also be compared to the great trilogy Lord of the Rings.
I do hope that Rowling will end things on a good note of "light" though, because as you said, the books have been getting darker and darker. And so have the movies.
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