Tonight people will be on line in bookstores at midnight to purchase the first legal copies of the final Harry Potter book. I have generally been neutral on Harry Potter; anything that gets kids to read chunky 700 page books has some good to it. But those of you who have listened to me discourse on "what's good for kids" know that I have issues when kids are portrayed as unnaturally independent and in perpetual conflict with adults. I am less concerned about the "witchcraft" problems that fundamentalist Christians have oft mentioned; I tend to tally much of that brouhaha up to sheer sexism. Male "wizards" are seen as benign or at least neutral while female "witches" are seen as evil; even Glinda is suspect. But the day is here at last, the Potter saga is at an end, and soon enough we will have new controversies to debate.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Tonight Begins Pottermania
Tonight people will be on line in bookstores at midnight to purchase the first legal copies of the final Harry Potter book. I have generally been neutral on Harry Potter; anything that gets kids to read chunky 700 page books has some good to it. But those of you who have listened to me discourse on "what's good for kids" know that I have issues when kids are portrayed as unnaturally independent and in perpetual conflict with adults. I am less concerned about the "witchcraft" problems that fundamentalist Christians have oft mentioned; I tend to tally much of that brouhaha up to sheer sexism. Male "wizards" are seen as benign or at least neutral while female "witches" are seen as evil; even Glinda is suspect. But the day is here at last, the Potter saga is at an end, and soon enough we will have new controversies to debate.
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