Goodbye Harry Potter.

To all my regular followers, I'm sorry for being so quiet the last couple of days, but life got a little hectic here.  My head had to content with rambling in my sleep, as there was no other time for it.  Unfortunitely, I now woke up with a headache from all the blocked ramblings that didn't make it to the blog.  ;)  At least all the activities that kept me from rambling was good fun, and nothing too horrible to cope with.

This week is date week.  Yesterday I took my oldest on his date with mom.  He is finally old enough to legally go watch Harry Potter on the big screen.  Here comes the big confession.  We are Harry Potter fans.  I have to confess that we first discovered the movies and then the books, but from book 4 onwards, we eagerly awaited the next book or the next movie to make their appearance.  I've read the books more times than I could care to count. 

Don't get me wrong.  I know there is bad in the books and the movies.  I know it is not all healthy and good fun.  If you wish to dwell deeper you can find some scary stuff. That is why I place limits on my kids access to it.  It is not off limits, but within limits.  What I feel they can't deal with I don't allow them, till I see they are at a point were they can deal with it.  But I'm not keeping it from them.  To do so would be counter productive in this household. 

Apart from the fact that I love it, I also know, that my kids are like me. The more you say no, the more they will want to do so and will do so behind my back if given the opportunity. So I rather expose them in a controlled why.  One were we discuss the good and the bad of the books.

Originally, I watched the first movie out of boredom on an airplane, 9 years ago, and I thoroughly enjoyed this magical world.  Then a couple of months later the second movie hit the circuit and once again I thought it would be a good escape from my depressed mood.  After that I bought the first book, and so my love relation with Harry Potter started.  I later tried to justify it, with the "I have to know what my kids will read one day" excuse, but truth be told:  I simply loved it myself.

So what make Harry Potter so popular?  Is it just good advertisement?  Or is the books really that good?  I must admit, like many Potter fans, I found the movies not nearly as good as the books, but I still liked watching them. But the books are amazingly well written.

Harry Potter is pure escapism.  J.K. Rowling manages to have you spellbound from the beginning till the end.  She abducts you into this mysterious world where everything makes perfect sense at the end of the day.  Where good always come out tops, but were the evil frustrates you to the point that you want to see it destroyed.

She creates reasonable explanations for baffling things in this world.  Why do you loose a key, or why are we depressed during raining weather?  Some times you wish it really was the explanation for that thing that drives you mad.

My husband hold out on the temptation till last year.  Calling it all sorts of names.  And then he finally sub come and started to read it.  He had to grudgingly admit to enjoying it. Actually finding it fascinating and spellbinding.

One negative about Harry Potter?  You struggle to escape his world to return to reality.  It is hard to come back from reading his story.  It is as if you have lost touch with a friend you really cared about. It keeps worrying at the back of your head.

So is Harry Potter a curse of a blessing?  Honestly?  I think he is both.  He is a blessing for millions of parents that struggled to get their kids to read.  He was a blessing for me when I was depressed or worried and needed an escape.  But he was a curse for me, because when I needed to focus, I still had him hanging in my head for days after finishing off the book...  He is a curse to those people, who wants to dwell in the darkness of the magical world, as he can be a foothold into it.

I don't think it is a healthy book to read if you are already inclined to paganism, for together with the Internet you can quickly get sucked into the occults.  I don't think parents should let their kids read it on their own, without knowing what goes on in the books and discussing the various aspects in the book with your child. Talk through the bad stuff, explain why it is evil and not something to wish you could do.  Explain why God wishes us to stay away from magic.

Harry Potter can be your stumbling block if you let it.  Or he can be just good entertainment, escapism, and an exciting story.  You must make up your mind which it will be...

For me, I'm sad to see the end of an era.  Yesterday I said a final goodbye to 3 of my all time favourite characters. But I'm also glad it has come to an end.  No more unanswered questions about what will happen next.  No more living in suspense. 

So, farewell all fellow Harry Potter fans.  It was a great fun, but now it is time to escape the magical world and return to the reality of our normal lives.

Hope you all have a magical day today. ;)
From little old me.