Harry Potter?

[PhuturePriest]

I DECLARE THIS THREAD RESURRECTED!

IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG SINCE THE LAST HARRY POTTER DEBATE, AND MY OWN POSITION WAS EXPRESSED IN THIS THREAD BETTER THAN I HAVE DONE ANY TIME BEFORE OR SINCE!

 

 

You're really proud of your position on Harry Potter.

[Nihil Obstat]

You're really proud of your position on Harry Potter.

 

It is not that so much as the fact that whenever Harry Potter comes up in this kind of context, I want to say exactly what I said in this thread, but I just cannot be arsed to sit still long enough that I can type it all out again.

[theculturewarrior]

i don't know if there is already a thread about this, but i wanted to know what other peoples opinions about Harry Potter books were. i personally like the series because its, um, imaginary and really fun to read. it's supposed to be rediculous anyway because, look at the names: Dumbledore, Hogwarts, Diagon-ally...silly. that's just my oppinion.

 

 

When my daughter is old enough, I am going to buy the Latin edition and read them to her.  I wonder what language the spells will be in.  I have always been primarily a Tolkien fan, but Rowling did get young people to read again and she became a billionaire doing it, which inspires me to write.  My daughter's childhood will be fraught dangers to her faith.  I can't keep all of them from her.  I think I would like to take what's good, such as a story that encourages young people to read, and use the rest as a teaching moment when appropriate.  There are going to be times when I will need to shelter my daughter from the world, but children's literature is not on my radar yet.  We have real problems as a Church and as a nation.  We don't need to dig deeper for more.

[Aloysius]

we may need someone to go track down all the horcruxes of this thread to finally rid ourselves of it.

 

btw, I don't think the good guys should've been shown as using the unforgivable curses in the final book, or else they should've had to deal with some consequences for doing so.  that was a bit relativistic morally speaking; while I don't mind showing desperate times bringing out desperate measures, they should've had to deal with moral consequences for such things as using the imperius curse, it should've been shown as something corrupting when they did it, traumatizing them and making them question good and evil.  it was far too much "ends justify the means" with the supposedly unforgivable curses in the final book.

[Nihil Obstat]

we may need someone to go track down all the horcruxes of this thread to finally rid ourselves of it.

 

btw, I don't think the good guys should've been shown as using the unforgivable curses in the final book, or else they should've had to deal with some consequences for doing so.  that was a bit relativistic morally speaking; while I don't mind showing desperate times bringing out desperate measures, they should've had to deal with moral consequences for such things as using the imperius curse, it should've been shown as something corrupting when they did it, traumatizing them and making them question good and evil.  it was far too much "ends justify the means" with the supposedly unforgivable curses in the final book.

 

If Rowling had meant to take HP down a rather darker road, she might have had them start using the Unforgivable Curses, then gradually they find themselves using them more and more often, for less and less grave reasons. There would need to be some kind of game changing event that occurs, which then causes them to realize that somewhere along the way they have in fact begun actually murdering and torturing people, the same as those against whom they are fighting.

 

And then they discover that all the murder has split their souls the same as Voldemort's.

 

Then they find out that they are Voldemort, and that the entirety of the Harry Potter story has taken place in the instant during which Voldemort murdered Harry's parents, as a sort of instantaneous hallucination, after which Voldemort, unable to understand the enormous influx of conflicting emotions, kills himself.

 

Wait, what?

[theculturewarrior]

If Rowling had meant to take HP down a rather darker road, she might have had them start using the Unforgivable Curses, then gradually they find themselves using them more and more often, for less and less grave reasons. There would need to be some kind of game changing event that occurs, which then causes them to realize that somewhere along the way they have in fact begun actually murdering and torturing people, the same as those against whom they are fighting.

 

And then they discover that all the murder has split their souls the same as Voldemort's.

 

Then they find out that they are Voldemort, and that the entirety of the Harry Potter story has taken place in the instant during which Voldemort murdered Harry's parents, as a sort of instantaneous hallucination, after which Voldemort, unable to understand the enormous influx of conflicting emotions, kills himself.

 

Wait, what?

 

That's brilliant.  Please don't make me read these books.

[Nihil Obstat]

That's brilliant.  Please don't make me read these books.

 

I am basically a literary genius. I just have never deigned to share the potential products of my effort.

[theculturewarrior]

I don't doubt your genius.  I just don't want to have to read JK Rowling to keep up with this thread and it is starting to tempt me.  Your book really does sound cool as a psychological drama or as a parody.

[Basilisa Marie]

I DECLARE THIS THREAD RESURRECTED!

IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG SINCE THE LAST HARRY POTTER DEBATE, AND MY OWN POSITION WAS EXPRESSED IN THIS THREAD BETTER THAN I HAVE DONE ANY TIME BEFORE OR SINCE!

 

 

 

*straps on Dumbledore's Army boots, begins polishing wand in case of attack* 

 

This will only end badly.  

 

FWIW, I agree with Aloysius about the unforgivable curses.  You see some hesitation, but no real consequences.  Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if that was something that was edited out because there really just wasn't time to tease out how those consequences impacted the rest of the story.  Though it might have been good to make a connection between performing the unforgivable curses and experiences of wearing the locket horcrux. 

[Selah]

I DECLARE THIS THREAD RESURRECTED!

IT HAS BEEN FAR TOO LONG SINCE THE LAST HARRY POTTER DEBATE, AND MY OWN POSITION WAS EXPRESSED IN THIS THREAD BETTER THAN I HAVE DONE ANY TIME BEFORE OR SINCE!

 

 

Yo te odio <_<

[tinytherese]

There's a book from Our Sunday Visitor where a Catholic mom who is also a G.K. Chesterton fan writes about the good and the bad of Harry Potter taking a balanced view of the series called The Mystery of Harry Potter: A Catholic Family Guide by Nancy Carpentier Brown. Dale Ahlquist and Regina Doman, who wrote Angel in the Waters and fairy tale novels for teens contribute as well.