Two reviews by mainstream film reviewers have been published: Kenneth Turan and A.O. Scott.
Meanwhile, the rest of the reviewers seem to be following the rules that they agreed to follow before they were given the privilege of an advance screening.
(It bugs me that I have to respect the studio’s instructions about when to publish my review, or face the consequences, while the big shots just publish whenever they please, and they don’t even get a slap on the wrist. This embargo system doesn’t make any sense.)
 
I recently spoke to a program assistant at a prominent Christian organization. They were interested in having me as a guest on their interview program to discuss Christians and movies.
When she asked if there were other subjects I wanted to discuss, I mentioned that my first fantasy novel, Auralia’s Colors, is about to be released. She sounded skeptical about noting that on the air.
I said, “Well, that’s up to you, but you know… with this being the summer of the last Harry Potter book, and a new Harry Potter movie… Christians are talking about fantasy again. It might be quite timely. ”
She responded, “Well, we certainly wouldn’t want to talk about Harry Potter on our program. Our listeners wouldn’t want anything to do with that. If we did discuss it, it would only be to warn people about it.”
Sigh. Are there still so many Christians determined to believe that the Harry Potter stories are some kind of occultic conspiracy to lure children into the devil’s clutches?
Have the countless testimonies and interpretations about the value and meaning of these stories done nothing to persuade the skeptics to give the series a second look?
I’m probably not going to convert anybody into Harry Potter fans if they’ve already made up their minds. And heck, I’m not even much of a “fan.” I find the stories amusing at best. But are they part of the devil’s agenda?
Read “The Sacrificial Boy Wizard” at Christianity Today.
Unfortunately, the case presented in “The Sacrificial Boy Wizard” is so overstated that it probably won’t convince anyone who’s skeptical about the relationship between Christianity and fantasy. I’m certainly not convinced that Harry is much of a Christ figure–he may have elements of Christ, but they’re not very well written. However, I’m also distressed when Christians speak out against Harry Potter without having read any of the books.
I see no harmful occult influence in the Harry Potter books, but my parents read the Chronicles of Narnia to me while I was still in the womb, and The Lord of the Rings by the time I was seven, so I was obviously raised in an environment that encouraged Christian fantasy.
I’m an avid Harry Potter reader, though I agree with Jeffrey that they’re more amusing than moving. Though they have plenty of references to myths, they don’t have much of what Lewis and Tolkien would call Myth. Rowling just doesn’t do a good job of portraying good and evil with any depth.
What she does write well (in addition to the quirky little details of the Hogwarts world, which are by far my favorite parts of the books) is institutional injustice, which is why I’m really looking forward to the fifth movie. Dolores Umbridge is so deliciously, hair-tearingly frustrating. We’ve all encountered her somewhere, in one institution or another.
Does “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” give us any practical “advice” as to how Christians should deal with the Umbridges of the world? Absolutely not. That’s not what it’s for. But it’s still delightful and satisfying to watch her downfall.