It’s The Era Of The Common Man And, Boy, Is He Common!
By Ann Huggett (06/23/03)
Another one of those dreadfully shallow Harry Potter books was released for public purchase at 12:01 AM on midsummer’s eve. The hysteria and hype over Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix went from silly to sillier as the release day approached.
You could be forgiven for thinking something important was set to happen because of the way hordes of frantic children and equally frantic parents were scrambling for sneak peaks and advance purchase. This is the fifth book in a seven book series of Harry Potter adventures and there hadn’t been a new Harry Potter book in three years. Perhaps said kiddies were going through literary withdrawal or something, having obviously not touched other books in all that time.
For anyone who has scratched his or her head over the Harry Potter phenomenon, let me elucidate. J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is the debased, unimaginative, amoral universe of the Lord of the Flies generation, that scary subset of pre- and early teen human beings currently surging through grade school. Harry Potter is their kind of guy. He gets to do cool stuff like cast spells, fight ogres, hang out with powerful wizards, fly around on the latest model broomstick, sneak around on school grounds, break rules, solve mysteries, drive flying cars, scurry around invisible, and lie like a rug. He does this all as part of a privileged, moneyed elite, who will never be subject to the slings and arrows of having to work for a living. Oh, and the absolute coolest thing is that there’s no parental authority, just benign instructors of metaphysical arts.
The Harry Potter books are wish fulfillment on a grand scale, set up for minds bereft of actual literature but familiar with amusement parks. The meals served in the Great Hall are high-level junk food feasts while the snacks range from sublime to ridiculous. The stairwells in the school shift as you walk on them. The ancestral pictures in the halls come to life. Ghosts flit through the dining halls. It’s a movie version of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion but with better housekeeping and an English accent.
So here’s the actual kicker of the story, the thing that frosts my cookies, the thing that makes Harry Potter so perfect for this time and point in history: Harry Potter personally has the mark of “greatness” on him. No, I’m not referring to his lightening bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, but to the constant refrain from those around him assuring him of this alleged “greatness”.
And the source of this “greatness” is? You tell me! From what I can see, Harry Potter is “great” because he simply exists. He takes in Oxygen and exhales carbon dioxide. He eats and dumps a load. He takes in everything around him and gives nothing back. No matter what he does, it’s okay with the adults in charge. What kid today can’t identify with him?
So that makes Harry Potter Every Kid and every kid a Harry Potter wannabe. There are Harry Potter conventions where children come dressed as wizards. There’s talk now of Harry Potter snacks so fans can eat the weird foods found on The Hogwart’s Express. I listened to the unlovely, slovenly, fat, uneducated, sun-shines-out-of-his-bum nephew of a friend of mine inform his doting auntie and me that he was going to be a wizard for a living. How special.
Now I don’t expect a ten-year-old to have his heart set on being an orthopedic surgeon at that age but I do expect kids that age to start understanding the difference between fantasy and reality around then. Two years ago he wanted to be a Jedi Knight and that was fine for eight but I don’t see any growth in his intellectual development nor is he curious enough to want to expand his horizons. He sort of sits there and chews. He passively takes in whatever nonsense the local public school shovels out, gets his Pass grade, then goes on to the next non-challenging level.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this kid is the exception. I think he is the rule. The reason why children like him are so enthralled with Harry Potter is that Harry Potter reflects the worldview of what is being taught in the schools and that is socialism. The don’t excel, don’t make waves, don’t be judgmental, no moral authority crowd has our children in its greasy grasp. Kids today aren’t encouraged to think but to parrot answers for tests. They do not learn real history but watered down, politically correct, colorless, and valueless drelb for the unwashed masses. Literature is non-existent and books are mercilessly censored in case someone’s ultra-sensitive feelings might get hurt. Organized religion of high morality is laughed at. Earth worship, which is a part of real life paganism, is encouraged through environmental studies. Children have it drummed into their dull heads that they’re “special” or “excellent” for just existing or having the hot ethnic skin color du jour.
This constant harping on “specialness” because of mere existence breeds arrogance, not pride. Pride is based on accomplishment; arrogance is based on nothing but common existence. In the Harry Potter novels, Harry’s greatness is through existence. He is the literary patron saint of the now-in-training socialist cadres of the youngest generation.
The socialists look down upon with contempt and malice anyone who rejects their message. The wizards-in-training of Harry Potter look down upon ordinary mortals as piggish “muggles”, which is a name of ridicule and contempt. You'll notice that both camps ridicule and satirize every decent and conservative concept and person that they can.
So, how does one stop this socialist bastardization of our children in the schools and in their free time? It can be done. The socialists know it and fear it and it will make J. K. Rowling’s works fade into much deserved obscurity.
It has to do with education. The schools must start educating again instead of indoctrinating. Parents must get involved with their children and expose them to decent literature if the schools won’t. Home schooling has proved incredibly successful in producing educated, well-adjusted, successful students. A truly educated man, woman, or child is above substandard thought. They don't fall for lies, cheap trash, impulse buys, cheesy novels, tawdry morals, manipulative politics, political correctness, herd mentality, rap, moronic Eurotrash music, fads, debasement, or regimentation.
In other words, they're civilized. They're flexible and adaptable. They react with circumspection and restraint. Most importantly, they see through the lies of social engineering. The educated have standards and they are not interested in lowering them.
And an educated person would never have uttered the debased statement that the knuckle-dragging jerk said in the row in back of me when I went to see the second Lord of the Rings movie, The Twin Towers, “I hear this is even more violent than the first one!”
(Printer friendly version) Email: Ann Huggett
