My beautiful wife has gotten her beautiful nose stuck in the world of Harry Potter. This is what she said to me the other day (no lie!): "Life would be so much easier if we could just apparate."
I haven't apparated yet - but something jumped in my mind like a delicious chocolate frog today during my regular staff meeting. What kind of worldview does reading Harry Potter create in our young people?
There are those that argue that reading Harry Potter will turn young people on to witches, warlocks and other "darksided" things. I am inclined to not just disagree but to also argue that anything that turns young people on to reading is ultimately beneficent. (Especially when the entire Harry Potter series can be cast in terms of the gospel of Jesus Christ - sacrificial love as the ultimate power - but more on that another time.)
The question I am asking is, are young people enthralled with Harry Potter because it is someone their age doing battle? Is is because someone their age is making a difference? taking on adult responsibilities? In the meantime, while we at the church are telling them they CAN and SHOULD make a difference (no problem there) but then failing to set them up to do so. We are telling them they can change the world and then taking them to pick up trash.
Is Harry Potter tapping into something that the church has neglected?
5 comments:
I think Harry Potter is so captivating because its a young person who is cast as brave, creative and fearless BUT he is not the typical kid-hero (cool, well built, nice clothes, parents with lots of money). He's wierd looking, awkward, comes from an atypical family, he gets nervous and scared- yet he still does brave things. I am going to the library tomorrow to get Book 6. Yahoo!
I think part of it also (like with many other good books) is that reading Harry Potter is an escape from reality... a dream world, where wonderful and magical things can happen. Where the bad guy is defeated and, like Carissa said, the hero is broken and damaged, too and lives his "normal" life feeling out of place and unwanted.
And you're probably on to something here-- this hero is a geeky, gawky adolescent.
How does that translate into real life though? How do we do things differently so that we set kids up to make a difference? What concrete ideas do you have?
About concrete ideas - I'm not sure. I think my main point is that by reading Harry Potter, kids are convinced that they too can change the world - does that make sense? I think it is excellent literature - my question is how does it shape the worldview of those who read it.
For example, why is it that your kids were so incredibly excited about providing clean water for kids in Africa?
I think you are both onto something that it is attractive beacuse Harry Potter is not an indestructable or impervious hero (Spider - Man is the same way in my mind) But how many of our kids read Harry Potter and yearn to change the world likewise? Is Harry Potter tapping into something that the church is not?
Kids do want to change the world and I'm afraid we tell them they have to look a certain way to do it. ("we" may mean church) Keep searchin' this one out bro and when you get the answer, let me in. This is usable! Gonna miss ya next poker night!
I would add that Harry escapes the adults that do not believe in him (Dursleys) and finds a home in the walls of Hogwarts. Hogwarts celebrates in him what others think is weird.
I have observed that kids always gravitate to the the oldest adult in the room who will take them seriously...the kind of adults who might find a quirky kid gifted, not weird.
I think the adults in Harry's world are the most powerful force...especially Dumbledore. They challenge him to the brink and provide spotters for them (The students) when they fall.
The longer I am in youth ministry the more I feel that the right adults are the key to a successful youth ministry. We need to encourage our adults to challenge kids to the brink (spiritually) and to be there to catch and dust them off when they fall.
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