Okay - so we're still in the midst of our experiment of reading Harry Potter collaboratively at home, but I thought this a good time to reflect upon my personal daemons with regards to Ms. Rowling's epic tale of good, evil, and Quidditch. While the debate of the literary merit of the series, and even the sad state of the world when we applaud that a child is actually picking up a book to read, rages on, I have my own issues to deal with concerning the $1 billion+ industry of Potterdom and my tenuous grasp of reality.
No, it is not the cliched fear that books that portray magic in any light other than equation with the devil are poisoning the minds of good, Christian boys and girls. Please - if you parent well, and teach your kids the difference between right and wrong, reality and fantasy, what's the big deal?
Nor is it the feeling that Ms. Rowling has not created anything new, but rather borrowed from this, that, and the other storyteller of yore to create her own McFantasy with limited if any literary merit, originality, innovation, or staying power. Time will tell, but that's not my issue either.
Put quite simply, I think that I'm falling prey of the dangerous misconception that attending law school will be like attending Hogwart's School of Wizardry. I have been trying to shake this feeling, which arose strongly ever since I started reading the 5th book in the series (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), which coincided with my decision to hand off 3 years of my life to an institution of higher torture learning. Since that time, I have oddly equated my time in law school with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the crowd's adventures in Hogwart's.
I shudder at the thought of finding out who the creepy professors are, loathe the prospect of hours of confounding riddles and passcodes embedded in the study of Occlumency Jurisprudence, and just caught myself anticipating my first year schedule/course list and wondering when I'll have the opportunity to visit Diagon Alley and collect my school supplies for the coming term.
I don't think that it's healthy to equate the two, and perhaps I need some help, but maybe this explains why I'm looking forward to law school in a way most students don't. And perhaps this explains why I'm going to be really disappointed when I don't get letters delivered via owl, meals that materialize in front of me, or even a simple bottle of butterbeer.
What an infernal bummer.
Jul 21, 2005
Why Harry Potter is Dangerous
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Like i said ealier: booorrrringgg.
Dude, what does any of this have to do w/ the "brown side"? I was looking for interesting topics from an ABCD POV, but instead find myself engulfed in more whitewashed meanderings encased in overly ostentatious prose--stuff that is pretty much omnipresent in this country. Where's the interesting desi take?
Harry Potter? Bleh. Hmmmm, the only thing mildly interesting to me abt the Potter books is that the author is making a killing by dwelling in the tiresome western (or maybe northern hemispheric is a better term?)concept and imagery of "Black (evil) Magic vs White (good) Magic.
Look, maybe you should think abt changing the title of this blog to "Upside Down on My Coconut Head"?
Ok I apologize. My generic SSRI prescription ran out and I'm feeling a tad curmudgeonly.
Anyway, no hard feelings. Though I am deleting this site from my bookmarks(so no more annoying msgs from me). Was looking for more "edge" but wound up getting more insipid, platitudinous middle ground.
Carry on dear sir, carry on.
Hear, Here!
AK - that's fine. I don't have the energy to entertain right now. But it's your loss when I start writing in earnest again.
Whitewashed meanderings? Troll off.
You know - I didn't read that whole message from whatever his/her face - but it's all good. If s/he felt better about himself after bashing for a bit, more power to him/her. Considering that s/he visited a few times and continued to state how boring the posts were, I'd say s/he was either an optimist or one of the sad dregs with dull dayjobs and nothing better to do.
Still - perhaps I'll take him/her up on the challenge to not be lazy and post whatever comes to mind. Maybe it makes more sense only to post when there are so called "brown" issues. Sheesh - maybe s/he would be more forgiving if he saw the other stuff that I was writing...
Yeah. But "bite me" felt beneath my ostentatious, insipid, platitudinous, whitewashed self. Please. Put away the SAT study guide, get thee to an apothecary, and get a life.
Thanks, burnie.
Post a Comment