Harry Potter "Mania" - Harmful or Harmless?

Although I haven’t yet seen the new film – despite it being on 19 times a day at one cinema close by – I have read the latest and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I had set aside Saturday in my diary to read it and got thoroughly immersed in the story to the total exclusion of everything else. . I’m not going to spoil the book for people who are still racing their way through the 600 pages – but obviously the big question is “Does Voldemort triumph in the end?”

So is it just harmless fun or is there something more sinister to the Harry Potter books? Personally, I see it as a form of escapism, a wonderful story of good and evil in which hopefully good will triumph, a modern version of cowboys and Indians. If this seems hard to believe, try reading The Gospel according to Harry Potter which gets slightly tedious as it cites all the examples in all the Harry Potter books where the story could be likened to something in the bible. But the author has a point. There are similarities – the whole series is based on Harry’s mother having died whilst protecting Harry from evil, an example of love triumphing over evil. Or consider the following passage:

“Harry kept quiet. He did not want to express the doubts and uncertainties … He had made his choice …. he had decided to continue along the winding, dangerous path indicated for him … to accept that he not been told everything that he wanted to know, but simply to trust”.

Now I wonder why that sounds so familiar……..