Harry Potter and other fantasy books

[anon67074017]

I personally think that as long as magic is not portrayed positively or it is a Christian work it is okay. This makes movies like Frozen evil because it portrays magic positively and it is not a Christian story.

 

[RPRPsych]

I personally think that as long as magic is not portrayed positively or it is a Christian work it is okay. This makes movies like Frozen evil because it portrays magic positively and it is not a Christian story.

[SIGN]ELSA IS A WITCH AND MUST BE BURNED AT THE STAKE,[/SIGN]

[SIGN]…NOT![/SIGN]

Yes you do have a point.

Is that your son in your avatar picture? Cute child.

Yes, that’s RPR Junior. Thanks!

 

[ToeInTheWater]

Harry Potter, on the other hand:

• is a copy / paste from Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton’s school stories, and a few fantasy elements
• features corny names which even a fan-fiction writer would be ashamed of (“Diagon Alley”? “The Mirror of Erised”?)
• includes juvenile toilet humour, especially in the tail end of the series (“U-No-Poo”, “Eat dung, Malfoy”, etc…)
• has references to Christianity that seem tacked on in the last book, as if to appease the “moral guardians”
• suffers from an inability to be concise; it’s as if books 5-7 had no editor at all
• relies on “cinematic” devices that sometimes reach the levels of a Road Runner cartoon (a “Snape-shaped” hole in the window? Really?)
• tries to pack an entire universe of plot devices into one final book, after meandering along for 6 previous volumes
• has an author who can’t seem to leave her world alone (“Dumbledore was gay!”, “Ron ending up with Hermione was a mistake!”)

I don’t think HP is flawless or great literature by any means, but I was certainly a Potterhead when the books first came out, and that was when I was first in college. I do think that the series did make reading “cool” both for kids and adults in a way that many other works didn’t.

And although the series did tackle more “gritty” topics (JKR’s own words) as Harry matured, it never quite crossed the line into anything inappropriate for children, at least not on the surface. Although many adult fans have speculated about certain characters likely having sex before marriage (I personally wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Bill was born not quite 9 months after Arthur and Molly Weasley wed), or even being victims of sexual assault. I think one can certainly make a case that Tom Riddle Sr. was such a victim even based on the surface reading of Merope’s actions in bewitching him into marrying her. There’s also the reference to Aberforth and goats that is pretty sick if you really think about it.

I suppose one can make a case that she was trying more obviously to appeal to a teen or even older reader in the last 3 books. (Certainly, she happily wrote about sex and drugs in her first official “adult” book and it reminded me of former child stars who rush into R rated movies to shed their “kiddie” image.) But I still think most tweens could read them without cottoning to some of the more problematic material.

I do think, though, that the Christian elements in Book 7 were not tacked on at all but amply foreshadowed in the prior books. I will give you the point about the actual “Deathly Hallows” that featured so prominently in the “Deathly Hallows” book. And that JKR really seems loath to let go of her creation. Still not sure if I want to read the script book for the sequel play.

On the other hand, I am grateful that she has so far not published the “HP Bible” she hinted about for a while after Book 7 came out. Maybe she saw what Stephenie Meyer’s attempt at an Official Guide wrought, and reconsidered?

 

[styrgwillidar]

OP,

Strongly recommend you do a search for HP threads, there are quite a few.

HP is far more overtly Christian than Narnia/LOTRs. Part of the reason it will never be considered in their league, critics are never going to accept something overtly Christian in this day and age as a good work.

It deals with death and the next life, specifically Christ’s admonition to not love this life to the point we lose sight of the next. The antagonist comes to grief due to this, he literally loves this world so much that he attaches his soul to things of this world through acts of evil.

The climax shows that whether he wins or loses in this world is irrelevant because it is the next life we should be focused on.

Again, there are some fairly extensive threads on the subject already.

 

[RPRPsych]

I don’t think HP is flawless or great literature by any means, but I was certainly a Potterhead when the books first came out, and that was when I was first in college. I do think that the series did make reading “cool” both for kids and adults in a way that many other works didn’t.

Can’t really argue with that.

And although the series did tackle more “gritty” topics (JKR’s own words) as Harry matured, it never quite crossed the line into anything inappropriate for children, at least not on the surface. Although many adult fans have speculated about certain characters likely having sex before marriage (I personally wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out Bill was born not quite 9 months after Arthur and Molly Weasley wed), or even being victims of sexual assault. I think one can certainly make a case that Tom Riddle Sr. was such a victim even based on the surface reading of Merope’s actions in bewitching him into marrying her. There’s also the reference to Aberforth and goats that is pretty sick if you really think about it.

I deliberately omitted references to that because (a) it’s been done to death, and (b) it’s too easy to make the Aberforth jokes.

I suppose one can make a case that she was trying more obviously to appeal to a teen or even older reader in the last 3 books. (Certainly, she happily wrote about sex and drugs in her first official “adult” book and it reminded me of former child stars who rush into R rated movies to shed their “kiddie” image.) But I still think most tweens could read them without cottoning to some of the more problematic material.

True, though some of them are bound to ask embarrassing questions.

I do think, though, that the Christian elements in Book 7 were not tacked on at all but amply foreshadowed in the prior books.

Let’s agree to disagree on that. (Also, she really seemed to have a love/hate relationship with Severus Snape, who went from vengeful rival to clever double agent to whiny “emo” teen as each novel went by. )

I will give you the point about the actual “Deathly Hallows” that featured so prominently in the “Deathly Hallows” book. And that JKR really seems loath to let go of her creation. Still not sure if I want to read the script book for the sequel play.

On the other hand, I am grateful that she has so far not published the “HP Bible” she hinted about for a while after Book 7 came out. Maybe she saw what Stephenie Meyer’s attempt at an Official Guide wrought, and reconsidered?

I do believe that some fan did try an “HP Encyclopedia” project, but JKR’s lawyers put the kibosh on that one quite soon.