The current issue of Time Magazine has an essay written by Lev Grossman entitled, Who Dies in Harry Potter? God. It’s an overly pretentious piece that tries to speak to the popularity of the Harry Potter franchise. Instead of celebrating the fact that a book can still be a powerful catalyst of excitement in this age of video games and iPods, Grossman denounces the series because it supposedly lacks the presence of God. He complains that Harry Potter lives in a world free of religion or spirituality of any kind. He complains that in the world crafted by JK Rowlin, young Harry Potter has no one to pray to.
No one to pray to?
I’m getting tired of people picking on Harry Potter. If I didn’t know better, I would think he was not a fictional, made up character, but in fact a real spectacle wearing young boy the neighborhood bully loves to kick around. I’ve never read any of Harry Potter books or watched any of the movies. That doesn’t mean I don’t value what the Harry Potter franchise means to so many people. I also cannot help but notice that seemingly the only people that pretend to have a problem with all things Harry Potter do so because of their religion. Mainly, the Christian religion.
My message to them is this - Harry Potter is not real. The make believe world he and his make believe friends live in is not real. It’s fiction and total make believe. Why anyone would want something as personal and sacred as their religion to be injected into a fictional make believe world is beyond me. I would think Christians would appreciate the fact that JK Rowling did not create a wizard named Jesus that can raise the dead or turn bottled drinking water into fine wine. Let’s not forget how well some Christians respond to books and movies that do make religion a central part of the story. Remember all the Catholic outrage over The Da Vinci Code?
So what if Harry Potter doesn’t pray? If he were to be shown getting down on bended knee and asking God for guidance and then grabbing his magic wand and jumping on his flying broom, religion would be relegated to the make believe world of magic wands and flying broom sticks. God and religion is a very real thing to a great many people. Magic wands and flying broomsticks are not.
What the fuck is an article about religion doing in Time magazine? I thought it was a reputable publication.
Amen, Rick.
(See what I did there?)
Nutjobs who object to Harry Potter on religious grounds really ought to find something better to do with their time. My favorite objection by these types is that the Potter stories push children toward witchcraft, as if fairy tale-style magic were some real thing that people could tamper with to dire consequences. Isn’t throwing a tantrum over Harry Potter glorifying witchcraft tantamount to objecting that Star Wars glorifies the Dark Side of the Force? You’re sort of admitting that you actually BELIEVE in this crap, aren’t you?
Besides, every Harry Potter movie to date has kicked ass (especially this new one), whereas the best evangelical Christians can barely manage to heave into a multiplex near you is a piece of shit like The Omega Code or Left Behind. They should keep working on producing something of their own worth watching, and climb off Harry’s back in the meantime.
–Steve
I’m a Christian and I dislike the Harry Potter books, but this Time article rubs me the wrong way. I read a couple novels a week and most authors, unless they themselves are Christian, do not mention God. What an odd little potshot at Harry Potter and JK Rowling. She is getting kids to read, and once the Potter phenomenon passes hopefully these kids will discover CS Lewis, Tolkien, White, Dickens, and other truly great writers. I’ve tried all of the Potter books and they bore me, but I don’t condemn those who do enjoy them for the magical escapism they offer.