Harry Potter and the Paganization of Children's Culture
Check out the article here. I'm not exactly sure how I found this article, but I did find it and I'm glad I did. This article is huge, thick, and reading it is like wading through a pool of molasses. Basically, the author equates witches and wizards with occultist evil, and anything portraying them in a favorable light is misguided and wrong. He says that the Harry Potter books are written more like television than actual literature, in that the books "[overwhelm] by using in print form the visceral stimuli and pace of the electronic media, flooding the imagination with sensory rewards while leaving it malnourished at the core."
The article goes on to give a description of the Harry Potter plots, which I feel frankly were the kind of brief synopsis he could have copied from the leaf-jackets of the books themselves... and he insists on putting things like "good wizards" in quotation marks, just so the stupid reader (obviously me) knows that there really is "no such thing" as a "good wizard."
The author then goes into what is really "wrong" with these "books." One of the reasons I don't think he actually read the books is this little gem: "Transfiguration lessons show them how to change objects and people into other kinds of creatures--often against their will." I can't seem to remember a single lesson where the teacup they were trying to turn into a canary raised an objection at the thought. But, regardless, one of his conclusions is this: "The wizard world is about the pursuit of power and esoteric knowledge, and in this sense it is a modern representation of a branch of ancient Gnosticism, the cult that came close to undermining Christianity at its birth."
While you try to digest that huge piece of... whatever... check this out. The author makes an interesting point here: "The false notion that "the end justifies the means" is the subtext throughout. The author's characterization and plot continually reinforce the message that if a person is "nice," if he means well, if he is brave and loyal to his friends, he can pretty much do as he sees fit to combat horrific evil--magic powers being the ideal weapon." (Notice the parenthesis that I did not add into the quotation itself. Nice) This is a good point, I feel... but one that is lost on me. At no point do Harry and his friends cross any kind of "that's too far ethically" line. We see Harry struggle with the decision to capture Pettigrew rather than kill him (but he does), and we even see Malfoy struggle in Book 6 (without going into detail for those who aren't that far [Ken]). Yes, the historic "end justifying means" debate is still hotly contested, but I don't think it's fully applicable to Harry Potter. While we've seen Hermoine punch Draco, we've seen hexes and curses, we've never seen anything so unforgivable and ethically wrong that you have to pull out the "end justifies the means" debate. In fact, for the most part, the books have been kind of thrillers... where we know that Harry will eventually have to face "evil" (I'm doing it too!) and fight it off, we just don't really see him get the full blast of Voldemort's power. I still feel it's too early to say what the end will be, so how can we be talking about the end justifying the means without knowing what the end is?
The author goes on to write about how the use of magic is in complete contrast with the virtues of religion. And, in all honesty, the arguments become so well written and well thought out that it becomes difficult not to agree with the author about the books being opposed to (or, more accurately, ignoring) religion. Here is the thing, though. There is a sense in this article--and others like it--that Rawling is doing this maliciously. As if she writes the books in a darkened room with candles burning in elaborate formations and chants in Latin being played in the background. What I think Rawling is actually doing is capturing the essence of actual children's experiences, and putting them into a fanciful, fictional world. Kids are malicious... the lines between good and evil often blurred during school years... morality becomes relative during the grade school years.
I had a whole bunch of stuff that went right here but I lost it. I will now try to reconstruct it, but I'm tired and sick of writing, so please forgive me.
If Catholics (or Christians in general) have a problem with these books then please, by all means, give us an alternative. Give us a great story with the kinds of morals and ethics you WANT children to be learning. So often it's easy to say "you shouldn't have this"... but, if given no alternative, nothing will change. I challenge the Religious Right to write a book or series of books which is more interesting. And, for the love of God, make it better than How Awesome Will It Be?: A Teenager's Guide to Understanding and Preparing for the Second Coming.
To be honest, I couldn't finish the article. I stopped when the author started talking about how Gandolf was "okay" because he wasn't really a wizard but a moral guide for the other characters. It, to me, seems inaccurate for the White WIZARD who uses MAGIC to become POWERFUL on the BATTLEFIELD to not be more closely related to the Harry Potter characters who are obviously analogous with Satan. To me, that hypocricy is almost as blatant as talking about how the "Fictional" Harry Potter might be, in part, responsible for the ten-fold increase in "real" exorcisms performed by Catholic Priests over the past decade. Yeah... Priests are still doing exorcisms... I didn't know it either.
Mega M&Ms
Without anything else to do in R and D, M&Ms are now making bigger candies. They're also boring ass colors, trying to appeal to adults. Think teal and khaki. I guess I don't have much to say about them besides the fact that I'm interested to see how big they are. And I can't slam M&Ms too much because new the dark chocolate M&Ms are delicious to the max! Have you had the dark chocolate ones? SO GOOD!
Man Dies Playing Video Games
Here's an article about a South Korean man who died after playing a video game for 50 straight hours. I'd like to call him an amateur (thinking that I could do that without dying), but the article says that he recently quit his job to spend more time playing video games. As such, his story becomes infinitely more tragic. I lost a hero on this day.
Redheads are Invincible!
This is an article about how redheaded women are less susceptible to pain than everyone else. It seems as though the scientists believe that redheaded women have a genetic mutation that makes them less susceptible to pain... and the scientists are now going to try to use this discovery to produce new anesthetics. Perhaps this is what drives me towards redheaded women... because dating me is painful. Zing?
Bonnie and Clyde
Real quickly... a two day search does not make anyone the "modern day" Bonnie and Clyde. Also, no offense to the officer shot, but the "real" Bonnie and Clyde were suspected of killing THIRTEEN people, as well as committing robberies and burglaries, as they led the police on a TWO YEAR manhunt. A two-day manhunt for the two Hyattes in no way makes them Bonnie and Clyde. And I don't care, Jim, that they were married, were running from the law, and had shot a lawman... the comparison is still stupid, inaccurate, and shows a real lack of creativity in modern journalism. So there.