I'm going to Wal-Mart tonight to stand in line for the final Harry Potter book. But if you see me there, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is not for me. Really. It's for a friend… yeah, that's it. I've got this friend, see, that reads those books as soon as they come out and I've stood in line each year at midnight to buy my friend each Harry Potter book.
Why, you might ask, is a Preacher buying this demonic tome? Because even though I don't read these books myself (remember the friend?), it's important to be alert to this kind of cultural phenomenon. This book will be read by millions of children and adults and will certainly be turned into a blockbuster movie in a few years. It's themes and plots will become a point of reference for a generations to come.
I also have a healthy respect for the fantasy genre, not heeding the wild-eyed charges made by some alarmists. Is Harry Potter a Christian work? Of course not, I don't expect it to be. But it's also not completely amoral. In the grand scheme of things, Harry Potter is not much different than Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, or the average Disney movie: familiar good guys fight the dastardly bad guys while we cheer them on.
There are worse things.
2 comments:
"it's important to be alert to this kind of cultural phenomenon. This book will be read by millions of children and adults and will certainly be turned into a blockbuster movie in a few years. It's themes and plots will become a point of reference for a generations to come."
So that's why you stand in line at midnight - to be alert to the cultural phenomenon? :/
Actually yes. I make fun of it but you really ought to experience a crowd of overly-devoted fans. It's a window into the human experience, a lesson in group psychology.
And it's just a lot of fun to do something silly once in a while.
And my friend wanted the book as soon as possible.
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