Beyond the broomsticks and horcruxes

I caught the second half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on TV recently. And just like what happened after I had watched Into the Storm not too long ago either on HBO ( I went link-hopping for materials on Richard Armitage and ended up watching The Hobbit clips and Thorin interviews), I spent a good deal of time watching old interviews with cast members and some other decade-old materials. I harkened back to the years when the Gryffindor kids were just that -- kids -- and the three lead actors were just giving their first interviews as mere 11- or 12-year-olds.

One of the videos I came across was a 2001 BBC Christmas special for which author J. K. Rowling was interviewed. This is particularly interesting to me because rather than being some kind of promotional material for the books and movies, it clarifies -- in Rowling's words, no less -- the truths and falsehoods reported in the media about her and about the process of coming up with the books. It sure is fascinating, too, to see the notebooks and tons of notes she has accumulated in the course of doing her work.

So, in the interest of accuracy, here it is:

Antidote in pages

As I had included some news about the new Harry Potter mini-park on this blog just recently, this, from LifeSiteNews, naturally caught my attention:

Book Teaser: 'Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture' by Michael O'Brien
Reviewed by John-Henry Westen

June 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Master story-teller and artist Michael O’Brien – the man to whom CNN went when they needed comment on Harry Potter - has penned the definitive work assessing the Potter phenomenon. This book is essential reading for all parents whose children have read or are considering reading the wildly popular offerings by J.K. Rowling and similar works such as Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series.

Although an analytical work, the reader will be captivated from the must-read preface.

O’Brien's earlier work, “A Landscape with Dragons,” delineated authentic Christian fantasy literature from its counterfeits. Now, in “Harry Potter and the Paganization of Culture,” he fascinatingly contrasts Potter-world with C.S. Lewis’s Narnia and Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings,” and the character of Harry Potter with Frodo Baggins.

O’Brien’s analysis will enable parents whose children have consumed Potter to comprehend the problematic messages which have been fed their children and give them the points and arguments which can serve as the antidote.

The book goes beyond Potter, however, to address other bestselling series such as “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer and Phillip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass.”

In addition to these and other fantasy books, O’Brien reviews the films which they have spawned.

In all, the author’s new book teaches Christians how to discern harmless fantasy literature and film from that which is destructive to heart, mind and soul.

Those wishing to purchase a copy of the book may get FREE worldwide shipping and a 10% discount by noting “LSN discount” at the final stage of the purchase process and wait for the email acknowledging your discount prior to completing payment. (Each book purchased will also result in a donation to LifeSiteNews.com) Click here.

Get your broomsticks ready!

It looks like experiencing Ollivander's and Hogsmeade -- and snapping up one's own Gryffindor scarf -- is going to be a thrill for travelers to a certain mini-park :-)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opens on June 18.

Visit the website

A slideshow of released images of the new theme park here


Photo (and more information) from Hollywood Dame

He who is named

Harry Potter and the order of love
As the last of the Harry Potter series flies off the shelves, a teacher of literature finds the books very good, even in the ultimate sense.

Friendships at Hogwarts

There will be no Quidditch matches in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That much I know after scanning the Wikipedia page of the latest and final installment in the Harry Potter series.

The approaching movie playdate notwithstanding, some things about the books by J.K. Rowling are a classic, not bound by cultural trends or geographical borders. An insightful piece by Andrew Byrne sheds some light on it. An excerpt:

Imagine for a moment what these books could have been like. If you read the Arts and Culture pages of today’s newspapers, their reviews of books, plays, television, you get a constant flow of dysfunctional situations. The general message is one of depression at the state of modern society. In Harry Potter you get a completely different world view. Instead of a general mush of gloom and self-indulgence, you have a world of clear cut values. These values are not sugary and naive. The world Rowling depicts is very much a battleground, evil and good are locked in struggle, and often it seems that evil is getting the upper hand. Not a few succumb to its pressures. Or prefer to bury their head in the sand. But good wins out in the end.

We see this world through the eyes of a young orphan. He has a deprived home background (the Dursleys household, where he has been living and treated unlovingly since his parents were murdered shortly after his birth). From this background he has been liberated by being given a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here he finds people who understand him and who offer him a home, a double home, both at school and in the holidays (the home of the Weasley family, a large and poor family, parents and seven children, all of whom have been students at Hogwarts).

Read Lessons from the Hogwarts threesome

In the meantime, I found some photos of younger Harry, Ron and Hermione.