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July 19, 2004
The Right House?
Found this over on G'day Mate and as usual couldn't resist trying it out to see where I would wind up. OK, I confess to being a Harry Potter fan as well. Who couldn't be when it's been filmed in a place you know. Besides, it is also a very good exploration of good versus evil despite what some of the more extreme branches of the church may think. Far from being "a withcraft manual", it explores some concepts which are all too often overlooked these days in education and in far too much children's entertainment.
You have only to look at the "hero" figures that are being fed to the children of today in cartoons and many of the so-called "children's programmes" on television to see what I mean. They frequently make a virtue out of poor social skills, violent tempers, and gratuitous violence in response to difficulty. These are not just "flawed" hero figures, they actually promote the idea that to be a hero is to be some sort of social misfit. It makes a change to find someone being put forward as a hero who is generally the sort of person who you don't mind the kids bringing home, where you might not have to worry about having some sort of temper tantrum and smashing the place to bits.
Well, I tried out the Harry Potter Sorting Hat and, for a moment thought I'd wind up in Slitherin, but I guess I don't fit the profile! Something of a relief to all my friends I'm sure .....
At least the average Gryffindor denizen is outgoing, no more disobedient than normal children, and just a tad more likely to stop and think about how their actions impact on the rest of society than those at the opposite end of the spectrum in the aptly named Slytherin. It's a great pity that we are not able to provide our children with more positive "heroes" in more of the programmes and cartoons they are watching. Let's hope that J K Rowling can continue to write these entertaining and educational books - they deserve the readership they have acquired.
Posted by The Gray Monk at July 19, 2004 08:26 PM