Harry Potter Movie

Last night I tagged along with my offspring and their friends to watch the new Harry Potter movie- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

It was a very good movie, very enjoyable. It had a good balance of action and humour.

I've never been a big believer in the "Harry Potter is evil" school of thought. If people seriously think that Harry Potter will encourage witchcraft then they don't understand what fiction is about.

On the contrary, I see the Harry Potter series as being about ordinary people being caught up in the big drama of good and evil, and wrestling with issues like what it means to be "good" and "human" in a fallen world.

The wizard society is largely like the church- unseen by the wider community, yet possessing unbelievable powers to influence the destiny of the world.

So what are the issues that come out in Order of the Phoenix?

* The power of community- there are two communities which come together to fight the evil Voldemort. The Order of the Phoenix consisting of adult wizards, and Harry's ad hoc group "Dumbledore's Army". Both groups understand that the fight against evil is bigger than just any single gifted individual- we need each other. The church needs to listen to this message!

* Evil is the absence of love. Harrry at one stage says to Voldemort "You will never have any friends, you will never know love." It's the power of love which marks the essential nature of God in humans.

* Even good people can be easily deceived by the nature of evil. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, does not want to believe that Voldemort is on the loose and clamps down on the activities at Hogwarts to contain Dumbledore and Harry Potter. Eventually, when confronted by the evidence he relents.

* Nobody is perfect- not even Dumbledore or Harry Potter. None of us should claim to have it all together.

* Powerful depiction of the insidious nature of demonic possession. It's the mind that is the "stronghold" which gives satan the power to control us. Harry is warned that Voldemort can twist his memory and use it as a weapon against him. We see Harry almost possessed by Voldemort. The imagery of a snake at this point is very interesting.


So it's a great story, and the movie tells the story well.

It's also a good parable for Christians to see and to take lessons from. It's not a Christian story as such, but all stories are ultimately about The Story.

Blessings

Keith