This has been the most entertaining debate in quite a while! Here's my two
cents' worth, and I'll keep it short:
I've read the first two Harry Potter books with my daughter, and I agree
with the consensus that they're neither subversive nor an endorsement of
demonism. The denizens of Hogwarts (the wizardry school Harry attends, for
the uninitiated) even celebrate Christmas, although it's a pretty thoroughly
secularized version. There's a clear distinction between normal magic and
dark magic, and the dark practitioners are always the antagonists.
The parallels to many other fantasy series (e.g., the Dragons of Pern,
Riverworld, Alvin Maker, or the Chronicles of Amber) are clear, although
Harry is more kid-friendly than most. The message that you're not powerless
just because you're a kid is pervasive, but that's not a bad lesson for kids
to learn; they certainly get run over in enough other context to offset any
pernicious sense of empowerment they might get from such a lesson ;-)
Finally, I'm going to have to disagree with the parallel with Scooby. If I'm
remember correctly -- a dicey proposition, that, as my daughter's Scooby
Jones has faded a bit -- the "supernatural" mysteries in Scooby-Doo always
turn out to be hoaxes. (Oops! Did I give it away?)
Michael Renner
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Michael J. Renner, Ph.D. voice: 610-436-2925
Professor of Psychology fax: 610-436-2846
Institutional Research Fellow [EMAIL PROTECTED]
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383-2145
Office hours for Fall 1999 (Peoples 32):
Tuesday & Thursday 9:15-11:00 am; Friday 1:00-2:30 pm
"The path of least resistance is always downhill."
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