Individual Entry: Harry Potter
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November 20, 2005

Movies : Harry Potter

I'm not especially a fan of Harry Potter. I have not read the books, and while I have seen all of the movies, I haven't made a particular effort to see them soon after release (although it did work out that way this time).

I did enjoy the first movie a great deal, mostly because of what it said about English boarding schools and the culture that surrounds them. The whole environment was also intriguing as an exploration of "what would it be like if magic was real". Harry's story itself, however, did nothing for me, being targeted at a much younger crowd. The second movie provided some entertainment; but nothing much of substance, and the novelty had worn off. The third movie was just plain bad. They seemed to have dropped all of the small affectations which made the original movie charming – as if the story had been transplanted into an American boarding school instead.

I have now seen the fourth move, and while not without virtue, it is only marginally better than the third. The movie is clearly darker (the bad guys effectively win, with Harry barely coming out alive), and the main characters are allowed to act more like the teen-agers they are supposed to be. Those facts make it a more interesting move than the third; but when all is said and done; it is still just a juvenile fantasy.

The deepest observation made in all of the films is that "a mother's love is stronger than any magic". A noble sentiment; but I have to wonder, how many of the viewers and readers have ever experienced that kind of love in their own lives, or is that just another part of the fantasy for them?

Perhaps the problem is that I am an adult American, and can't help but to read the story as a (sympathetic) exploration of the English upper class. Consider: Harry is raised by a very common family of commoners ("muggles"), only to discover that he is in fact a noble by birth (a "wizard" born of wizards), and is the sole heir to his real family's legacy ("magic"). As the heir, he has powerful friends (Dumbledore and McGonagall) and enemies (Lord Voldemort). As part of coming into his inheritance, he is afforded the opportunity to attend an elite boarding school where he can learn his rights and prerogatives as a noble ("wizardry") and where he makes friend with other nobles. At the school, those whose parents married beneath their station (the "half breeds") are looked down upon by those of pure noble birth. Harry however, who is noble both in birth and in character wishes only to use his station for the good of others.

I could go on; but I think you get the idea.

I just have a hard time getting excited by a story which, at every turn, seems to support the concept of a strong hereditary class system.

Posted by Steven at November 20, 2005 06:38 PM

Comments

You expect something different from an English writer??? It's one of the themes of all great British lit - that and the poor, disadvantaged woman marrying a wealthy noble.

Posted by: Anne at November 20, 2005 08:48 PM

Hmm . . . I always thought of Harry Potter as against the class system. Most of the evil characters are pure-blooded wizards, whereas Harry's friends are either poor (Ron) or children of muggles (Hermione). But I think the "evilness" of the pure-blooded wizards comes out more in the books, especially the more recent books that haven't been made into movies yet.

Posted by: Kristen at November 20, 2005 10:07 PM

Thanks Kristen. I acknowledge that my only experience with Harry Potter comes form the movies, and that the books may well provide a somewhat different picture. My sense from the movies is that pure blood wizards cover the spectrum from good to evil, so there is no inherent thematic bias shown. Harry, as a good wizard (and one who had been raised as a muggle), is more sympathetic than most; but the divide between wizard and muggle (noble and commoner) remains quite distinct.

Posted by: Steven at November 21, 2005 07:18 AM