Harry Potter Movies

The story has Harry, grieving the loss of Dobby the elf who was killed as they were transported out of the Malfoy estate where they were taken to by their enemies, followers of you know who. The trio reunite and continue on the quest for the rest of the horcruxes and to obtain the three objects of the Deathly Hallows legend, one of which is already in their possession, the cloak of invisibility. The second object of the legend, the stone from the ring of Marvolo’s aunt was unknowingly under the possession of Harry, hidden by Professor Dumbledore in the golden snitch Harry first caught on his first game of Quidditch. One problem exists, the Elder wand is now with Voldemort, which he took from the grave of Dumbledore which he knows is the most powerful wand in the world.

It all ends with Harry getting killed by Voldemeort only to come back to life being one of the horcruxes he still has his life thanks to the Stone of Resurrection. He comes back to death and the last horcrux, Nagini Voldemort’s Snake is destroyed of all people by Neville Longbottom who hacks off the head using the Sword of Griffindor. It all ends well and a look at the future shows Harry and Ginny, Hermoine and Ron, and Malfoy with his wife all with children being sent to Hogwarts to continue the legacy of magic their parents have lived through and almost died for.

The objections raised by some fundamentalist Christians to the Harry Potter books continue to make the news.

The Christian attacks on the Potter series aren’t an attack on witchcraft and magic, so much as an attack on the imagination and freedom of expression – and by extension an attack on literature. The Harry Potter books aren’t ‘How To’ manuals on witchcraft, nor is the author, J.K. Rowling, advocating the practice of witchcraft.

The themes in the Harry Potter stories pit the good against the dark side. Magical themes happen to be an effective way to play out the drama in a manner that is engaging, especially for younger readers.

Professor Dumbledore, the Hogwarts headmaster, is clearly the personification of good and urges Harry to use the power of love when dealing with the dark side personified by Lord Voldemart. On one level the Potter books are morality tales that happen to take place in a make-believe world that is magical – but then a lot of literature contains magical themes, including books by famous Christian authors.

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein are examples of Christian authors who created magical worlds with plots that at root are moral and even Christian in philosophical intent. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by Lewis creates an intermediary zone between the real and imaginary worlds using a prop – the magical wardrobe. Enchantment and make-believe allow the ‘other world’ beyond the wardrobe to become a possibility. Similarly Tolkein in Lord of the Rings invokes the powers of wizardry and magic. But it is used as a device to enable characters and events that couldn’t feasibly exist in the ‘ordinary’ world. This doesn’t mean that either Tolkein or Lewis were promoting magic or attempting to ‘corrupt’ the minds of young readers.

The problem with the criticism coming from a section of the evangelical community is that their interpretation of the books is much too literal. They seem to think that young readers are incapable of divining meaning and truth beyond the trappings of the tale. They get hung up on the trappings themselves rather than probe the deeper meaning of the stories. When they do look a little deeper, they often misconstrue the author’s intent and try to spin the plot as evidence of literary evil doing. Fortunately, a few leading voices in the evangelical community have had the good sense to take a more objective view of the content, and have resisted the temptation to try and subvert a fictional fantasy in order to smoke out the devil.

In attempting to ban the Harry books or in other ways suppress them, the detractors ironically succeed in adding to their allure and power. When something is ‘forbidden’ it becomes a lot more tempting. When the D.H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned, it did more for the sale of the book than any promotional campaign could ever have done. The same went for Ulysses by the great Irish writer James Joyce.

Moreover when you consider the amount of material on magic and witchcraft that is freely available in book stores these days, on the internet, in magazines, via certain video games or just by word-of-mouth – it makes it almost absurd to try and suppress Harry Potter books.

If Harry Potter gets banned in the bailiwicks of the offended – what’s next on the list? Grimm’s Fairy Tales? Rupert the Bear? Teletubbies? We live in a society in which diversity of opinion is an integral part of our fundamental freedoms. People who for personal or religious reasons attempt to create a chill by pushing for a ban of material as innocuous as Harry Potter, cater to a mean spirited approach that diminishes us all. Objectors can refuse to buy the books or have them in their home, and that’s as far as it should reasonably go.

We are talking about tales for young readers after all – not Anton La Vey’s Satanic Bible.

British examination standards have reached an all time low following confirmation that the book Harry Potter, by J K Rowling is to be included in the A-Level examination syllabus from next year.

Groan. Harry Potter is undeniably an imaginative piece of work; so imaginative it borders on gobbledygook. J K Rowling has managed to corner the children�s literature market admirably with her tales of the boy wizard and his adventures in the land of wherever. Not so admirably, I might add, as her PR machine has managed to corner the product support market, with such items as Harry Potter school bags, dolls, souvenir diaries and so on. It is this marketing machine that is responsible to the greater degree for the incredible success of the book series, not Ms Rowling�s dealthless talent as a writer.

The books were hailed as cult ‘must-have’s’ from their first inception, making J K Rowling deservedly a millionairess overnight, with movie offers coming out of the woodwork. That does not, however, make her books appropriate curriculum material for students striving for university entrance. For some of us, it still did not make her books interesting enough to get past page fifty. In my case, I believe the books good enough to borrow but not to buy; a definite case of one man�s meat, methinks…

Such decisions taken by our boards of examiners might lead one to believe that we are fast running out of contemporary material for A Level study. Certainly we are going down a slippery slope if we are to accept that the standard now aspired to within the terms of literary success may be described at best as entering the realms of fantasy.

With the release of the last part of the ten year movie series, is it really the end of the infamous Harry Potter? Maybe but for many, the magic will live on for many years. Seldom has a film series been so much a part of so many people’s lives, some of whom have grown up with the characters.

The movies may have completed their run but the magic that is Harry potter will live on. Rumors abound on the film when a mysterious web page supposedly by J.K.Rowling springs up on the internet. Speculations start flying all over with die hard fans about Pottermore.com,fabricating their own assumptions. To what effect that very website may hold of significance, only she would know. Should she decide to lengthen the life of our dear wizards who lived in the film and in the hearts of many a people.

The first part of the end for our dear Harry has him and his close friends out to find several horcruxes or objects that magically contain parts of Voldemort’s soul in an effort to weaken and eventually kill the evil wizard. The legend of the Deathly Hallows was only a legend till the wand maker Olivander confirms the legend to be true, in a sense.

The legend has three magical objects that to who ever possesses all of them becomes the most powerful wizard of all time. The objects consists of the Elder Wand, the Cloak of Invisibility and the Ressurection stone, all given by death to three brothers who were contained in a story/legend known as The tales of the Three Brothers. Harry, Hermoine and Rupert all go out after the Horcruxes which was compounded by the legend which they believe is true and may hold the key to ending the rising influence and power of you know who.

With all of the controversy surrounding Harry Potter, including cries to ban the book from schools, the novels have done something that American parents and teachers, as a group, have failed to do. They have made our children read.

A recent study by Scholastic notes some intriguing statistics among the kids of Harry Potter’s world. Parents and kids both credit Potter with getting kids to read for fun; just over half of the kids surveyed said they neglected to do so before latching on to the series. Almost two thirds – 65% – have noted improvements at school since they started Rowling’s works.

More important than grades, however, is the entire shift in attitude towards reading. Previous surveys have found that children’s reading drops after the age of 8. The average Harry Potter reader, however, start the series at 9 and continue to read – and reread – the books as they get older.

Reread the books. This single statement spoke volumes to me. Most people I know read a book once and then never again. Most people, who will watch the same movie over and over, refuse to read a book they have already enjoyed because ‘they know how it ends’. They watch the same television shows with the same expected, overused endings. Yet we have kids now reading and rereading books. The idea boggles the mind.

Speaking of mindboggling, you do realize that most adults read less than five books after they graduate school, be it high school or college. Reading is apparently too difficult for most people. But Rowlings has lured her audience to read not one but six books, and eagerly anticipate the seventh. Not only that, but according to the aforementioned survey, half of Harry Potter readers will seek out a new series to devour. One in three – that is 33% – intend to reread the series. Oddly, only 27% intend to look for a new Rowlings book; perhaps the rest are afraid of being sucked into another ten year series.

You can put me down for all three sections, personally (no word was spoken on overlap, by the way). I will reread the entire series immediately before Book 7 comes out, trying to time it so that I receive my book ‘just in the nick of time’. That’s how I managed the last two books. I will continue to seek out new books and new series to read. And I will eagerly anticipate Rowlings next book – although I might wait until she concludes her next series before I start reading this time around.

Anticipation for the last installment of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows is building not just among diehard Harry Potter fans but among movie fans in general.

The Harry Potter movies have been very successful and have raked in billions of dollars collectively for all the seven movies that have been released. With the second part of The Deathly Hallows to be released worldwide in just a few months the buzz is already going strong. First of all, this being a second part of a two-part movie, moviegoers were faced with a cliffhanger ending and they can’t wait to see what will happen to Harry Potter and his friends as they finally battle Lord Voldemort.

Wouldn’t it be nice to study about your favorite book all college years? That could be quite ideal especially if you are a Harry Potter fanatic because the Columbia College is offering a Harry Potter course for incoming students. If you are going to enrol in that course, they will charge you 600 dollars per hour. The course aims to go through Rowling’s writings that will focus on “reading between the lines” and double meanings, intricate details that is all over Harry Potter books. Example of a question asked to students is Harry’s Muggle residency, Privet Drive. So they have to find out what is a privet and its significance.

[From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters and sitcoms (see below for the URL of our Home Page) and our isolation and identification of more than 188 stages of the Hero's Journey that you need to know about...]

The Hero’s Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero’s Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Gives you a tangible process for building and releasing dissonance (establishing and achieving catharsis).

d) Gives you a universal structural template upon which you can superimpose your situational story.

and more…

Harry Potter and Star Wars

The Harry Potter and Star Wars stories are good examples of the applicability of the Hero’s Journey (Monomyth)

Both are orphans living with distant relatives (foster parents or aunts and uncles).

Both meet magical wizards as mentors (Hagrid or Ben Kenobi).

Both have unique skills (a great little pilot and a quidditch player)

My young son, Joseph, was born in September 2006. I was delighted to know he’d be joining our family, but we needed to have an emergency C-section. I had been pushing for two hours and he was starting to show signs of distress. He was born at 2:11 am, nice and pink with a “Harry Potter” scar on his forehead that went away after a few days. Unfortunately, what might have occurred during his birth was some neurological damage which left him with Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

I didn’t notice something was wrong until Joe was about eighteen months. He met all his physical milestones – in fact, he made them earlier than my first son. At eighteen months though, Joe wasn’t talking. He didn’t seem to know “Mommy” or “Daddy.” He threw toys for no reason, as if he needed to throw them. He also covered his ears with his hands often, which we didn’t understand. He hardly got sick or had ear infections. We knew he wasn’t autistic, but we also knew something wasn’t quite right. Our pediatrician recommended us to our Regional Center, in charge of Early Childhood Intervention. (Every state should have an Early Childhood Intervention Program.) Joseph was evaluated with severe cognitive and speech delays. He was twenty-months-old at the time of the evaluation, but presented with the cognitive skills of an eight-month-old. My husband and I were stunned. Joe began receiving child development, speech, and occupational therapies. At twenty-seven months, he began group therapy.

After six months, Joe had closed some rather daunting developmental gaps. A re-evaluation at twenty-nine months showed him at twenty-two months cognitively. Still, we had no idea what was the cause. Joe’s occupational therapist review had the clues we needed to determine what he had – Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

Known as SID or DSI, (so as not to confuse it with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome SIDS) Sensory Integration Dysfunction is where the brain perceives sensory input normally, but misinterprets the information. This misinterpretation leaves the child in a hypo or hyper-active state. Hypoactive is an under stimulation to sensory input and hyperactive is an over stimulation to sensory input. In Joe’s case, he’s more hypo than hyper-active.

There are multiple causes for DSI, and in fact, it often presents with autism, but it can also present by itself. In my son’s case, it was presenting with cognitive and speech delays.

Joe’s occupational therapist report documented several sensory seeking behaviors. (As opposed to sensory avoiding/hyper-active behaviors.) He loved to jump, spin, and swing over the norm that children with no sensory issues do. He had a high tolerance for pain and had a high activity level. Joe is also easily distracted by other things. I did a Google search on sensory seeking behaviors and it led me right to Sensory Integration Dysfunction.

To my surprise, I discovered there are seven senses – yes, seven! Hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch, we all know, but there is also the vestibular sense and proprioception sense. The vestibular sense refers to the sense of balance and gravity. Without that sense, we’d be clumsy or awkward in our movements. Proprioception refers to the impacting/compacting of joints. Signs that your child might be sensory seeking in these areas are running, jumping, spinning more than normal (vestibular) and throwing toys just for the sensation of the impacting/compacting of the joints. (proprioception) This was Joe to a “tee.”

Other signs of DSI include covering one’s hands over their ears, (something Joe used to do a lot, but now rarely does. It was his one sign of sensory avoiding, hyper-active behavior) unusually high or low activity, and very picky eating. (In Joe’s case, he needs crunchy, chewy foods to help provide the stimulation he needs to get the proprioception sensation of the jaw’s joints impacting and compacting.) More signs involve tip-toe walking (because their feet are highly sensitive to touch), hand flapping (for the proprioception effect) speech delays, cognitive delays, poor balance, unusually high or low tolerance for pain, acting impulsively, and an unusually high or low activity level. There are many other symptoms which you can research online. There’s also a wealth of information on the Internet regarding DSI and there are several well written books on the subject alone.

An occupational therapist is essential in helping the family with a DSI child. They can help identify DSI behaviors and establish a “sensory diet” for a family to use when their child shows signs of sensory seeking or avoiding behaviors. In fact, A. Jean Ayers, an occupational therapist, was the one to identify the dysfunction.

DSI is a dysfunction, not a disease. It can’t be cured, but managed. Though early childhood services, my son is thriving and we’re managing his DSI now. It’s still an adventure for us, but recognizing DSI symptoms early will help your child get the services he or she needs.