Yesterday I saw the new Harry Potter movie with my two youngest children (12 & 17) and we all agreed it was the darkest, but far and away the best, of the movies thus far. As Harry and his friends move into adolescence, their depth of character increases; seeing these children struggle with the eternal "life and death" questions of adolescence from time immemorial (for Harry and Ron : Will she laugh at me when I ask her to the dance? and for Hermione: Will he ask me to the dance?) is sure to bring a knowing smile and slight tug of the heart strings to most parents, who have already been through this themselves so many years before. At the same time, we know that they have been thrust pre-maturely into truly adult "life and death" questions; Voldemort has returned and is preparing a new reign of terror.
Last summer I wrote about the newborn mythology of our times, the stories of Harry Potter and Frodo, from Lord of the Rings. In many ways, they represent an everyman who does not seek greatness but finds himself in the middle of great trials. In both cases, their failure would result in the most horrifying terror being unleashed upon the world. I pointed out that Frodo and Harry share many features.
Both Frodo and Harry have surrogate fathers, wise and loving, who protect and guide them (Gandalf and Dumbledore). After preparing them for their travails, Frodo has to face the evil without his paternal protector, and just with his devoted friend, another "everyman", Sam. In the same way, Harry will eventually have to face his nemesis, Voldemort, without Dumbledore and just with his faithful, loving friends, Ron and Hermione. (I am not offering a "spoiler" here; Harry has ended up facing Voldemort alone in almost every book so far, and the climax likely will come in the 7th book, whenever Ms. Rowling is able to finish her tale.)
I also pointed out a very significant change in the zeitgeist between Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, which is reflected in the major characters of the books.
One interesting change in our culture that is reflected in Harry Potter and is relatively absent in LOTR, reflects the changing place of women in western culture. It is a sign of how the Women's movement has already won (would someone please tell the feminists they can stop fighting now; the battle is over) that Hermione is, by far, the smartest student at Hogwarts. She has no less courage than the boys and her life is on the line and she faces danger in exactly the same manner as Harry and Ron, who embodies goodness and fairness, while being, like Sam, an everyman with no special powers beyond his inner nobility. There is nothing surprising to anyone about Hermione; her brains are as necessary to the fight against evil as Harry's. One of the West's great advantages in the current war is that we no longer keep half (perhaps more than half) of our brain power on the sidelines. As Eowyn puts it in LOTR, "one does not have to live by the sword to die by it." By the time of Harry Potter, women have become deeply enmeshed in every aspect of our society and as involved in its defence as any man (and, with an enemy like Islamic fascism, perhaps with even higher motivation.)
Terrible times are upon us. Sadly, the biggest challenges to our success in Iraq are at home. The temptation to reprise Vietnam (declare victory and leave, abandon our friends to their doom) is playing out in our legislature, among moral and mental pygmies who believe that their re-election trumps doing what is right. That so many Democrats, and too many Republicans, imagine the outcome of our pre-mature departure, that so many would be slaughtered if we leave Iraq, as so many were slaughtered in Vietnam and Cambodia by our premature exit and later abandonment, can be rationalized away or ignored, is sickening. Our media are complicit; do they not know what would happen if we left too soon? Americans are certainly growing weary of the war. The Bush administration has done a terrible job of keeping the American people informed of our progress and of what still needs to be done. The media has adhered to a narrative structure, in the face of all contravening reality, which supports their classical Vietnamization of themselves, the conflict, and their political allies Perhaps much of this is due to laziness, perhaps some to stupidity and a desire to re-capture the lost glory of the Vietnam/Watergate era; I believe too much of it is due to cowardice. I do not care how many medals Rep. Murtha has, to call for immediate withdrawal is the sign of a moral coward, who does not have the courage of his convictions. The legislators who voted for the war because it was politically expedient and now want to back away because the media make it seem as if things are disastrous, is a coward.
Dr. Sanity pointed to the key "metric" in the movie; it is also the key metric by which America will be measured:
In fact, Rowling's series has become the metaphor of our times. Whether this is conscious or unconscious on Rowling's part is neither here nor there.
When Dumbledore says to Harry at the end of the movie (paraphrasing), "Dark and difficult times lay ahead. Soon we will have to decide between doing what is easy and what is right." [In the book, Dumbledore tells all the Hogwarts students: "Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because, he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."]
We are a great nation, a superpower with unchallengeable strength; will we continue to do what is right, or will we surrender to what is easy. The House voted 403-3 to continue doing what is right; when will our media stand up and be counted?
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