Selected Readers’ Comments in Response to the NYTimes Article of 9/23/2019 “Harry Potter and the Poorly-Read Exorcists”

October 9, 2019 by 7 Comments

I have chosen not to comment publicly about the controversy in Tennessee about a priest who pulled the Harry Potter novels from the library of his parish’s school. David Martin, though, long time friend of this blog, put together something of interest, I think, that is of ‘Shared Text’ interest, namely, the responses to the priest’s decision in the letters page of the New York Times, America’s ‘paper of record.’ Enjoy!

On September 23rd, the New York Times published an opinion piece entitled “Harry Potter and the Poorly-Read Exorcists.” (The piece can be seen here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/opinion/banned-books-harry-potter.html ) This piece noted that it was then Banned Books Week (see https://bannedbooksweek.org/ ) and expended a fair amount of ink criticizing the Catholic priest Fr Reehil in Nashville who in August banned the Harry Potter books from a Catholic school where he worked. (Sigh. To quote a Sunday school lesson of my youth, “Not all the servants of the great King are as wise as the great King Himself.)

The coverage given to this unusual bit of censorship – and the failure to note that such censorship of Harry Potter is unusual (now) – gave the article an anti-Catholic tone. Or perhaps even an anti-religion in general tone. Those of us who find faith both in the Bible and in Harry Potter can be glad that some of the comments by the readers have a different orientation. What follows is a selection of readers’ comments on the original New York Times article. These comments represent an admittedly minority view among the comments, but let us be glad that the other side of the issue is being expressed.

(To see all the comments on the original article, go to https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/23/opinion/banned-books-harry-potter.html#commentsContainer and then, when the comments column appears on the right side of the screen, click on the word “All” at the beginning of the comments.)

Peace,
David Martin of Hufflepuff

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From: Andrew Parker
In: Houston

I am an Episcopal priest and a huge Harry Potter fan. I read the books to my children and have three times led a vacation Bible School based on the books (Wizard and Wonders by leaderresources.org) I also recommend “God and Harry Potter at Yale” by the Rev. Danielle Elizabeth Tumminio. To quote an old Episcopal ad “Jesus died to take away your sins, not your mind.”

More after the jump!

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Filed Under: Guest Posts

Potter-Themed Halloween Costumes

October 8, 2019 by 1 Comment

For sale today at BodenUSA.com: off the rack children’s Halloween costumes with Harry Potter themes.

My first thoughts are “Isn’t the fun in making your own costume?” and “One more cashing in on the global shared text (let’s hope we get a cure for MS out of all this.”

What do you think?

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Beatrice Groves: Potter Meets Python!

October 7, 2019 by 2 Comments

Oxford University Research Fellow and Lecturer Beatrice Groves, author of Literary Allusion in Harry Potter, has written two posts over at MuggleNet.com and her Bathilda’s Notebook there. They are both in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first Monty Python television programs being aired on the BBC. Each points to hat-tips in the Potter novels that are almost certainly Rowling’s tribute to the masters of comic defamiliarization (and, yes, as my thesis in progress is a Formalist reading of the Presence’s work, it was a delight to see ostranenie in Groves’ post).

The first is about pointers in the Hogwarts Saga to Monty Python’s ‘Life of Brian’ and the second is to ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ Cockroach Clusters! Who knew?

My only criticisms of these delightful pieces are that (1) Professor Groves doesn’t include links to either the Bookshop Sketch or to the Pornographic Bookshop Sketch with Sir Philip Sidney (and its hilarious ‘literary allusion’ follow-up) and (2) she suggests that Rowling is “responding to” allegorical readings of Dumbledore as Jesus by naming him Brian (she would have to be responding in anticipation if she was; the name appears in Prince and the meme appeared only after DDore’s death Half-Blood Prince).

Which are complaints only to demonstrate how closely I read Groves’ latest in my great delight of stumbling upon them while searching yesterday for the Alohomora podcast link. Here is the Bookshop Sketch for your enjoyment before or after reading Professor Groves’ fun posts on the shadow of Monty Python discernible in the halls of Hogwarts!

Filed Under: Beatrice Groves

Alohamora Podcast: Ring Composition 2

October 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment
This time last year Kat Miller and the Alohamora gang at MuggleNet invited me on their super-powered podcast to speak to their global audience about Ring Composition. That first show — which you can listen to here — went over so well that they invited me back to talk in much greater detail about one pair of books, Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince, and the many correspondences between them. It was a lot of fun, even “geeky glee,” which you’d expect with readers who know the Hogwarts Saga as well as the Alohamora crowd do. Click on the link below in Kat’s announcement of the episode, have a listen, and then let me know what you think!
  

EPISODE 281: RING COMPOSITION, PART DEUX – THE BOOK INSIDE THE BOOK

Wipe off the floor under where you’re sitting and get ready for another jaw dropping Ring Composition episode. Part Deux is here!

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes, MuggleNet Academia, Ring Composition

PotterMore No More! And So What?

October 4, 2019 by 2 Comments

PotterMore.com is now WizardingWorld.com which is the name change covering a host of new online fandom fun from ‘Wizarding World Digital.’ The short story? JKR, Inc., is monetizing PotterMore at long last. Here is the official announcement:

Wizarding World Digital today announces the launch of The Official Harry Potter Fan Club, which can be experienced through the first ever Wizarding World app – a Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts mobile companion, and new, interactive Wizarding World website. Whether you’ve considered Hogwarts a home for over 20 years, or you’ve only recently been bewitched by a Niffler, everyone can now immerse themselves in the ever-expanding magical universe in new and innovative ways.

The Wizarding World app allows users to discover which house they belong to with a re-imagining of the famous Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony, featuring J.K. Rowling’s original questions and a new augmented reality Sorting Hat, whilst those fans that have been previously sorted can reaffirm their house pride. The new app is also packed with fresh content including exclusive videos, interactive quizzes and Secret Codes, plus the new fanzine ‘Wizarding Weekly’, putting the best of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts right at your fingertips.

WizardingWorld.com – the new online home of Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts is where fans can enjoy all they loved from Pottermore.com, but with a trunk full of original content and new interactive experiences. Delve deeper into the stories you love, get behind-the-scenes details and enjoy all your favorites from J.K Rowling’s archive of writing for Pottermore.

Accessible through both the app and the website, fans will be able to join The Official Harry Potter Fan Club for free. This will provide them with curated experiences from the Wizarding World, including an official Fan Club newsletter and member benefits. And soon, fans will have the option to enhance their membership experience with Wizarding World Gold, a yearly paid subscription that comes with a unique, annual gift and is packed with exclusives and special offers – all of the magic you love and more!

All these great experiences and features can be unlocked by registering for a personalised Wizarding Passport which is a fan’s magical identity and holds their defining traits such as their Hogwarts house, Patronus and Wand.

Paul Kanareck, Managing Director of Wizarding World Digital says: ‘The Harry Potter global phenomenon continues to be loved by fans of all ages – from the millions of people who discover the books for the first time to those who explore the movies, audiobooks, stage play, visitor attractions and games each year. We have a wonderful opportunity to create new experiences including a fan club for the digital age, which offers an amazing breadth of content and new interactive platforms that will give our fans around the world a truly connected experience across the Wizarding World universe.’

The Wizarding World app, available with the newly reimagined Hogwarts Sorting Ceremony can be downloaded today for free in the initial launch territories on the App Store for iPhone and Google Play for Android. Selected features will also be hosted globally online at WizardingWorld.com for fans who cannot access the app at this stage.

As with the Cursed Child logo being brought into line with the published books and released films, this consolidation of PotterMore into the Wizarding World, Inc., monolith is just about making a loss-leader that sustains fan interest into a bona fide money maker, the aptly named ‘Wizarding World Gold.’ I am surprised only that it took them this long to monetize their principal web site, that so much of the content will still be free, and that anyone begrudges Rowling and her minions the Galleons of global gold they’ll be depositing in Gringotts for decades.

Your thoughts?

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes