Harry Potter

Controversy

The books have provoked various kinds of controversy.

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Accusations of promoting witchcraft

Some religious groups have attacked the books for allegedly promoting witchcraft or undermining Christianity. Most of this controversy has occurred in the parts of the United States where religion plays a prominent role in public life. In the United Kingdom, Harry Potter's country of origin, the controversy has been minor. Other religious figures have praised the books, and some consider the criticism so detached from the actual nature of the books that the most appropriate response to it is parody.

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According to the American Library Association, the Harry Potter novels have been among the most frequently challenged in school libraries in the United States since 1998. The complaints allege that the books have occult or Satanic themes, are violent, and are anti-family.

Related Topics:
American Library Association - Occult - Satanic - Violent - Family

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Some highly conservative Christian groups in the United States have denounced the series for promoting witchcraft or Satanism. "It contains some powerful and valuable lessons about love and courage and the ultimate victory of good over evil," said Paul Hetrick, spokesman for Focus on the Family, a national Christian group based in Colorado Springs. "However, the positive messages are packaged in a medium — witchcraft — that is directly denounced in scripture." http://www.cesnur.org/recens/potter_06.htm. The official exorcist of Rome, Father Gabriele Amorth, believes that the Harry Potter books can be a bad influence on some children by getting them interested in the occult (see Christian views on witchcraft).

Related Topics:
Christian - United States - Witchcraft - Satanism - Focus on the Family - Colorado Springs - Exorcist - Rome - Father Gabriele Amorth - Christian views on witchcraft

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Chick Publications produced a comic book tract called "The Nervous Witch" about two teenaged girls who get seriously involved in occult witchcraft and become demonically possessed as a direct result of reading Harry Potter books.http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/5012/5012_01.asp

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It has been argued that when Pope Benedict XVI was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he also condemned the books in a letter expressing gratitude for the receipt of a book on the subject, stating they are "a subtle seduction, which has deeply unnoticed and direct effects in undermining the soul of Christianity before it can really grow properly." http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/jul/05071301.html (It can be noted here Pope John Paul II was reputed to like Harry Potter and also promoted it see further down.) However no evidence is provided that those "they" which are "a subtle seduction" actually refers to the Harry Potter books, nor is this at all clear from the original German text of the Cardinal's letter, which in any case shows signs of being dashed off in rather a hurry. (For example, the ungrammatical use of "dies" rather than "diese".) Monsignor Peter Fleetwood, a Vatican priest, wrote that these remarks were misinterpreted, and that the letter was likely to have been written by an assistant of the then-cardinal. http://catholicinsider.com/scripts/hp_transcript.php. Indeed, the letter appears to have been written by an underling, but was issued under the Cardinal's signature. This letter and a second that allowed publication of the first have been posted to the Internet by Gabriele Kuby, who had sent her book, Harry Potter - Good or Evil, attacking J.K. Rowling's best-selling series about the boy wizard, to the Cardinal.

Related Topics:
Pope Benedict XVI - Prefect - Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - Pope John Paul II

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However, other Christian readers have pointed out themes in the Harry Potter books which reflect values exemplified or preached by Jesus. Lily Potter sacrificed her own life to save her child (John 15:13). Harry's Muggle guardians attempt to keep him from knowing of his gifts, yet he is taken away and sent to learn to use his powers responsibly (-). Harry comes close to death in several stories, yet is more determined than ever to fight evil. It is also said in the books that love is the strongest magic (1 Cor 13:13). Some Christian bookstores even sell the Harry Potter series. J.K. Rowling is on record saying she did not emphasize Christian ideals in the book because her goal was never to preach or dictate a philosophy of life, but to tell a story; besides, if she had, intelligent readers would be able to guess important plot details.

Related Topics:
Jesus - John

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Other members of the Catholic Church gave the series their approval, saying that it is imbued with Christian morals, and that the good versus evil plot is very clear. The late Pope, Pope John Paul II, praised the books for their message about the evils of racism and genocide. Christian Congregationalist minister John Killinger also argued that rather than corrupting children's minds, the novels encourage young readers to follow the teachings of Jesus. The book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter: Understanding the Meaning, Genius, and Popularity of Joanne Rowling's Harry Potter Novels, written by John Granger, a Reader in the Orthodox Church, claims to uncover Christian themes in its analysis of the story. Granger also cites the fact that Rowling is a professed member of the presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Related Topics:
Catholic Church - Pope John Paul II - Congregationalist - John Killinger - Jesus - John Granger - Reader - Orthodox Church - Presbyterian - Church of Scotland

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The controversy was spoofed on the television show The Simpsons. In one episode, ultra-Christian Ned Flanders "reads" Harry Potter to his son and says "…and Harry Potter and all his wizard friends…went straight to Hell for practicing witchcraft". His son cheers and Ned throws the book into the fireplace. The Harry Potter was also parodied in The Onion, when an article titled Harry Potter Books Spark Rise in Satanism Among Children satirically reported the thousands of children attracted to the dark arts and denying religion due to the books. As reported on Urban Legends Reference Pages, some who were unaware that the article was a pastiche employed it as evidence in the demonisation of the books. The entire action and reaction is recorded on this page.

Related Topics:
The Simpsons - Ned Flanders - Hell - The Onion - Urban Legends Reference Pages

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Accusations of plagiarism

Rowling prevailed in a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement, filed by Nancy Stouffer, writer of The Legend of Rah and the Muggles and allegedly of Larry Potter and His Best Friend Lilly. The first book features creatures called "muggles". U.S. District Judge Allen G. Schwartz rejected Nancy Stouffer's claims that she was plagiarised, and fined Stouffer $50,000 for "submission of fraudulent documents" and "untruthful testimony", but stopped short of having Stouffer criminally charged with perjury. Stouffer was required to pay a portion of the attorney's fees incurred by Rowling, her U.S. publisher Scholastic Press, and Warner Bros. Films.

Related Topics:
Nancy Stouffer - Muggle - U.S. District - Perjury

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While no known legal action has been taken, a Bollywood (Indian) film 'inspired' by Harry Potter was released in 2005. Called "Aabra Ka Daabra: School of Magic", it claims to be 'inspired by' Harry Potter. It follows a young wizard as he enters magic school, following the apparent death of his wizard father. The film follows very closely to Rowling's story, and many of the sets and costumes are extremely similar.

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Other analogous works

Comic book fans have noted that a comic book series first published in 1990 by DC Comics called The Books of Magic, by Neil Gaiman, shares many similarities to Rowling's book. These include a dark haired young boy with glasses, named Tim Hunter, who discovers his own potential as the most powerful wizard of his age after being approached by magic-wielding individuals, the first of whom makes him a gift of a pet owl. Rowling officially denies being aware of this series, and Gaiman has gone on record stating that he believes similarities to be either coincidence, or drawn from the same fantasy archetypes.

Related Topics:
Comic book - DC Comics - The Books of Magic - Neil Gaiman - Archetypes

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Recent viewers of the 1985 film Young Sherlock Holmes, scripted by Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter movies, have noticed similarities between its characters, setting, events and tone, and those of the Harry Potter series.

Related Topics:
Young Sherlock Holmes - Chris Columbus

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The Ken Akamatsu manga Mahou Sensei Negima is often regarded as a Harry Potter clone, despite the only similarity being a 10 year old wizard from Wales. The manga is probably better described as combining elements of both Harry Potter and Love Hina, Akamatsu's previous manga.

Related Topics:
Manga - Mahou Sensei Negima - Love Hina

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The manga and anime series Naruto shares many similarities with the Harry Potter series, if only for their similar premise - a coming-of-age journey of an orphaned main character surrounded by comrades, set in a microcosm of sorts and accentuated by supernatural elements. The long path from rejection and loneliness to discovering the importance of friendship features in both; the choice of fighting for the sake of one's friends and family versus fighting and caring only for oneself is a striking point of similarity, probably being the most important theme in both works. In what is either a very odd coincidence or an obvious tribute, one of the major villains in Naruto, Orochimaru, is extremely similar to Voldemort; Orochimaru can summon snakes, is very snake-like himself, has largely conditioned immortality (as to discover all the ninja techniques in the world, much like Voldemort, who tries to do much of the same but with magic), and is seen to embed his subordinates with cursed seals. It should be noted, however, that Orochimaru is based largely upon the identically named character in the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari.

Related Topics:
Naruto - Identically named character - Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari

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Readers of classic fantasy fiction have noted a very strong resemblance between the premise of Harry Potter and Ursula K. LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea (1968), in which a boy with unusual gifts of magic is recognized and sent to a special school for wizards. A school rival in the book is almost a dead ringer for Draco Malfoy.

Related Topics:
Fantasy - Ursula K. LeGuin - A Wizard of Earthsea - Draco Malfoy

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LeGuin was not the first to propose a special school for witches and wizards. Eleanor Estes was apparently the first, in her book The Witch Family (1960), and The Worst Witch series follows the same line. A young adult book by Jane Yolen entitled Wizard's Hall, which takes place in a more overtly fairy-tale-esque world, also predates Harry Potter and has as its basic premise a school of wizardry and a boy protagonist with magical talents. By analogy, the mutants of the X-Men world, with their seemingly magical powers attend Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children, with Xavier serving a Dumbledore-like role. In the long-running 1960s TV series Bewitched, several of the older witches are very like those described in the Potter books, and Samantha Stephens' Aunts Hagatha and Enchantra are explicitly described as running a school for witches. Hogwarts-like witches -- one of whom is played by stage actress Hermione Gingold -- also appear in the 1958 film Bell, Book and Candle.

Related Topics:
Eleanor Estes - The Worst Witch - Jane Yolen - X-Men - Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Children - Bewitched - Bell, Book and Candle

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Injunction against purchasers of early copies

A grocery store in Canada accidentally sold several copies of the sixth Harry Potter book before the authorised release date. The Canadian publisher, Raincoast Books, obtained an injunction () from the Supreme Court of British Columbia prohibiting the purchasers from reading the books in their possession. This sparked a number of news articles questioning the injunction's restriction on fundamental rights http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1121377812487&call_pageid=968256290204&col=968350116795 http://www.canada.com/vancouver/story.html?id=9badf853-c1c3-4786-bf4f-75a5071e5c07. Canadian law professor Michael Geist has posted commentary on his weblog http://michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889. Richard Stallman has posted commentary on his weblog calling for a boycott until the publisher issues an apology http://stallman.org/harry-potter.html. Some versions of this creed have been circulated by email including a spoiler for one of the major plot points in the novel; whether this was actually the original posted version and was modified by Stallman is as yet unclear, though the tone of the sentence is substantially the same as that of the rest of the message.

Related Topics:
Injunction - Supreme Court of British Columbia - Michael Geist - Richard Stallman - Creed - Spoiler

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