Early last week my daughter in NY and I in TN finished reading the newest Harry Potter novel. My daughter, after being brain washed by Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, and Dr. Laura broke from her Democratic family to join Bush supporters, a move which served to alienate her from the rest of the family. Since we now have such diametrically opposed political views and philosophies, we're both very careful to avoid any conversation that borders that rift.
Since most topics eventually lead to political philosophies and a quick end to our conversations, I thought we were on very safe ground as we discussed Harry Potter.
As she dove into a generalized summary of Harry's plights throughout the novels, she told me that Harry was just like *, who when telling the world about WMD's wasn't believed (as no one would believe Harry insisting that Voldemort was back). She said Vodemort was bin Laden and the symbol of terrorism - that the Death Eaters were the terrorists.
As she made more of these connections I just sat dumbfounded and ended our conversation very worried about her. I'm constantly trying to find ways to get through to her.
I then went to find something on the net to see if this was RW thinking. I found an article on Slate which was tearing down Harry Potter and really sorta did make him sound like * but for other reasons.
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2073627Simple: He's a glory hog who unfairly receives credit for the accomplishments of others and who skates through school by taking advantage of his inherited wealth and his establishment connections. Harry Potter is no braver than his best friend, Ron Weasley, just richer and better-connected. Harry's other good friend, Hermione Granger, is smarter and a better student. The one thing Harry excels at is the sport of Quidditch, and his pampered-jock status allows him to slide in his studies, as long as he brings the school glory on the playing field. But as Charles Barkley long ago noted, being a good athlete doesn't make you a role model.
As I thought further about Harry Potter I could also see many symbolic characters and events that would relate to the state of the world today - but with a different perspective than my daughter's.
It would be really interesting to see how much symbolism is woven in this children's series.
Note: edited because I accidentally posted before I was done. My apologies.
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