|
OCTOBER 7, 2003 at 8:58 PM
Posted by JAMES
Source: Texas Tech University Daily via Wizard News
Michael Duff has penned a very funny article
about his reaction to the frequent criticism of the Harry Potter series. He divides the critics into three separate groups, based on their rants against the novels: the religious right, the extreme left, and worst of all, the cynical hipsters.
Duff farces the reactions of the most regular critics of the novels and lambasts a book comparing plot points in Harry Potter to Marxist principles.
I have a strange affection for the kid, because he is hated, equally, by the extreme right and the extreme left. A figure who can annoy both these groups must be doing something right.
Opponents of Harry Potter break down into three main categories:
(1) the religious right, who are threatened by competing visions of the supernatural.
(2) the extreme left, who are threatened by old-fashioned notions of good and evil.
(3) the cynical hipsters, who hate anything that becomes popular.
Some Christians are hostile to people who use their imagination, as if reading about magic and supernatural creatures is a kind of gateway drug that will get kids into Satanism.
...A postmodern literary scholar named Andrew Blake has just written a book called The Irresistible Rise of Harry Potter, a book claiming to be a Marxist critique of Harry Potter.
In other words, Blake has written a book that analyzes the Harry Potter books in terms of class struggle.
Now that is not a stupid thing to do. Rowling has put some overt class elements in her work. The wizards hate the muggles, the muggles hate the wizards and the house elves are literal slaves.
But here's a quote from the back of the book. Pierre Bruno of Liberation magazine says, Harry Potter is a sexist neo-conservative autocrat.
This quote is so absurd I don't know where to begin.
Reader Comments (60)
click to read...
Your Thoughts
click to write...
Copyright © 2002-2010 HPANA. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. 
HPANA is an unofficial fan site, in no way affiliated with J.K. Rowling,
Scholastic Books, Bloomsbury Publishing or Warner Bros. Entertainment. All
trademarks and copyrighted material are the property of their respective owners.
About HPANA | Movie 6 | Send a news tip | Contact us | Privacy policy
Auror
Points: 2391
HPN4eveRon says:
Wow i am first to post! Woo Hoo! Thats dumb. Everyone should like Harry Potter. I am a total Catholic and I love it. The religion thing is weird to me. Like today in my 7th period i asked this kid if he reads Harry Potter and he said "No, i am a catholic, catholics dont believe in witchcraft." I was like " I am a Catholic too and i LOVE Harry Potter, it doesn't mean i believe in it, but its cool and fun to read." He was like whatever and walked away. I mean, i just dont get it.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 9:04 PM EST
Points: 3950
CowsOJMilkSoil says:
Haha thats funny how he could break up the critics into three categories, but its quite true, the critics of HP usually fall into those three main categories.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 9:07 PM EST
Witch
Points: 574
Tonks007 says:
Thats weird how could you put the critics in to 3 catingorise but yea i agree with cows that they fall into those 3 catigorise.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 9:21 PM EST
Supreme Mugwump
Points: 2893
S.P.E.W. fan says:
The 3 groups are right on. I now of critics that fall into each of those groups. The Religious right and the extreme left, I'm used to those, the cynical hipsters are who drive me nuts. They look down on us, the poor mindless sheep of the world.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 9:23 PM EST
Astro Zombie
Points: 2603
Fallen Bomb says:
Cool. That guy is intersesting I like his point of views on things my brothers i guess are the cynical hipsters they hate Harry Potter.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 9:30 PM EST
Chief Brain Washer
Points: 2881
Chogiiiirl says:
This article was pretty funny. I do agree that critics of Harry Potter fall into these 3 categories. In fact, critics of mosts things fall into categories similar to these 3. I didn't like the part where he stated that Christians only want their children to have God as an imaginary friend. As a Christian, I found that remark to be very much off the mark. However, overall it was a well written article.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 9:34 PM EST
Head Girl
Points: 494
rache says:
Hmm...harsh, yet true. All critics basicly fall under those three catagories ;D
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 10:04 PM EST
Prefect
Points: 399
Rhiannon Silverflame says:
Well, you know what they say: if you've managed to piss off both the right and the left, you must be doing something right.
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 10:05 PM EST
Witch
Points: 750
siriusgurl says:
I loved that article, and it did have some both good and funny points. I may be catholic but one of the things that scares me the most in the world are the type of christians he just talked about. l-o-l and HPN4eveRon tell that kid that the catholic churche and pope SUPPORT Harry. he he I can only imgine he's feeble responce then....
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 10:06 PM EST
Auror
Points: 2773
Professor Grubbly-Plank says:
It is amazing how many people would ban Harry Potter but would allow their children to read other books that are fantasy. I have talked with several parents who wont let their kids read Harry, but they are reading Lord of the Rings to them. Go Figure
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 10:30 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 4th Class
Points: 1227
Prongs150 says:
That was a great article. This guy seems to know what he's talking about, which I can hardly say about the critics to which he is referring. It seems the only way to bad mouth Harry Potter is to pull tiny details that have nothing to do with the true purpose of the novel (entertainment, only) and relate them to something Satanic or worse. A smart man that Michael Duff!
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 11:19 PM EST
Animagus
Points: 19544
Sirius-Ella says:
I'm a christian and I love Harry Potter its so imaginitive yah know? I love it!
-sirius-ella-
Posted Oct 7, 2003 at 11:19 PM EST
Witch
Points: 611
Mdm Rosmerta says:
Dito, I am a Christian as well. I get really fed up though that people think that all Christians hate Harry Potter and think that it promotes satanism etc.
Those Christians are far and few, and are only the extremist. In general I think that Christians love the books, all my Christian friends do anyway.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 9:20 AM EST
Prefect
Points: 323
fang says:
Very funny, obviously getting everyone rowed at the same time is quite an accomplishment and another testement to the success of JKR, nobody likes a winner.....fang
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 9:26 AM EST
Points: 7828
Rococoed says:
I'm a Christian and enjoy reading Harry Potter, and am not influenced the occult, but will the Fundamentalists ever notice that not anyone I know started practcing witchcraft themselves after reading Potter?
And to the critics I deliver a message from myself, starting with the right-wing extremist conservatives:
Magic, while Christians do oppose to it's use in the real world, has been often in fantasy (actually that is what makes it fantasy after all). If you are going to ban Potter, you might as well ban Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, the Wizard of Oz, and Alice in Wonderland. We also might as well ban all soap operas and movies for promoting adultery and pre-marital sex. We might as well ban all video game platformers where you "kill" dozens of enemies on every level (for example the Mario games).
Oh, I have been rambling over here! In the short term, all I can say is I have no problem with magic being used as a literary device in fantasy, but in the real world to me I have a different view.
The liberals...I don't know really what to say to that as the media isn't devouring them? Harry Potter is a sexist neo-conservative autocart? Thanks for the opinion, but do you have any evidence to support the fact Harry is sexist? Is it because he likes girls for their looks? Sorry, but unfortunately all adolescents are like that.
The cynical hipsters are always there, and forever will be, attacking everything from Britney Spears to Arnold Schwarzeneger as governor, from celebrities to books, from shows to video games, just because they don't like pop culture and fads.
I'm going to have to disagree with him on his belief that wizards hate Muggles. Yes, some like Lucius Malfoy do, but they of course are stereotypical archetype.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 10:14 AM EST
Order of Merlin, 1st Class
Points: 1826
snapelupinfan says:
Very interesting, I would sort it out like this and I know some people who belong to these groups, but most of them belong to the cynical hipsters. They think it is just "cool" to belong to - in this case- a minority of persons who hate HP. Well, if they are getting happy with it, o.k., but they are missing the best parts of literature, movies, music etc.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 10:36 AM EST
Points: 790
M. Sebastian says:
I find it fascinating that what started out to be a lovely, highly readable fantasy has become such a vehicle for intellectuals, want-to-be intellectuals, religious fanatics, etc., etc. to put forth their opinions and/or beliefs. I hope JKR is enjoying it all. The fault lies not in the author, but the reader that we now even have "categories of HP opponents". Must differ with article author that muggles hate wizards and wizards hate muggles. For the most part they seem to co-exist quite well except for a few fanatics as the Malfoys. Of course, wizards know much more about muggles than muggles know about wizards. No such thing as "wizard studies" in their schools.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 11:31 AM EST
Professor
Points: 1068
Penumbra says:
Well done with the sorting of the groups. Here we go again with the criticism, HP books rule, are big fun, excellent lit and everything we have always said. And these extremists only raise their popularity and that's what counts.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 12:17 PM EST
Transfiguration Professor
Points: 2990
Choralee says:
There will always be poeple who feel the need to voice their opinions - always be people who are looking to stir things up just to become recognised for a point of view that is extremely skewed.
All three categories of HP non - enthusiasts (small groups that they are) will always be pouring out nonsense and judgment concerning HP. I have taken to ignoring their comments all together. Why spend time replying to their petty bickerings when I could be rereading PoA?
Queen of the Dementors (odd name for one so sane in reasoning and thought!) you are absolutely correct when you list ALL the items that should be banned if HP is to be banned!
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 12:33 PM EST
Witch
Points: 585
Joyce says:
Most people who have a problem with Harry Potter have never read the books. It is a story that opens your imagination and allows you to experience new and different things. I feel that Harry Potter is no more evil than other fantacy or fictional stories. What about Mickey Mouse, in Fantasia, where he waves his wand and makes the brooms help him get water? Evil? Wichcraft? Where were the critics then? Also, how many of us grew up watching the "clasics" Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie? These are no different than Harry Potter. Yes, I blinked my eyes and twitched my nose growing up, but NEVER did I actually think I could do magic. It was just fun IMAGINING that I could.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 12:53 PM EST
Crookshanks Caretaker
Points: 3837
hermionefan1 says:
I'm a christian and i love Harry Potter. Those three catagories are absolutly ridiculus! Aleast this guy knows what hes talking about.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 1:01 PM EST
Witch
Points: 684
Malakite says:
I am glad he wrote this article. I like how he said the Christians want God to be a kid's only "imaginary friend." Well, no, I don't think God is imaginary (I am a Christian, too, you know), but I have the feeling that this author was trying to make a point about how you can't see God standing there as a person, so need to use your imagination, or heart, or whatever you want to call it, to speak to Him. So, what's wrong with exercising this muscle with fiction??
The kind of magic in Harry Potter isn't "real", except the magic of enjoyment the books bring to those who read them. My daughter said she wished that there was real magic, like in Harry Potter, and I told her that yeah, so did I, isn't it so cool? From that statement, she learned that 1) it's okay to wish and dream and use your imagination, 2) that the "magic" of flying on a broom (amoungst other things) IS NOT REAL, but it's cool to think about, 3) her mom likes the same neat, imaginative, creative things she does, and 4) she can say what she wants to me without fear of me shutting her down, punishing her, or trying to kill off her imagination. I think that's another bit of "magic" that the Harry Potter books (and all other books, really), posses.
Anyway, my closest friend is a "cynical hipster" and frankly, that's a huge part of her I don't like. I am allowed to like something whether it's considered "selling out" or not; I can do this because I have a brain, I know how to use it, and I can form my own opinion. I don't care if anyone else thinks I am copying them or being a sheep to do it. If they knew me better, they'd know that I am no sheep.
But I LOVE Harry Potter. :)
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 2:33 PM EST
Order of Merlin, 2nd Class
Points: 1645
morgana witch says:
The part I could understand was really funny, but some parts I didn't get at all! I thought it was funny how he split the people into three groups. What group do people go in if they hate Harry Potter because they think its trying to get them to become Christian?
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 4:08 PM EST
Professor
Points: 1065
Lerah99 says:
PolyJuice13,
Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" is one of my favorite movies!
People only bash the Harry Potter books because they are popular. Let's face it, if they protested "Dr. PB and the Jelly Gang" no one would notice because no one has heard of it. But, by protesting Harry Potter they get publicity. Everyone can climb onto their various soapboxes and shout about the evils of this world using Harry Potter as an example. It isn't true, just convenient. :o)
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 5:36 PM EST
Metamorphmagus
Points: 37946
tonks black says:
Heh..I love the three groups he put the haters in. the last one is filled of alot of people, I bet.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 6:13 PM EST
Witch
Points: 712
harryroxmysocks says:
Thats funny, but this guy's right. The people who usually post things against HP are the extremists...well sometimes they're not.
Posted Oct 8, 2003 at 6:48 PM EST
Back to top of page