The early reviews of the new Harry Potter are in, and they’re pretty good:
The Vatican lauded the latest Harry Potter film on Monday, saying Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince made the age-old debate over good vs. evil crystal clear.
Wait, crystal clear? I read the book, and I’m pretty sure that the battle between good and evil was anything but crystal clear.
I suppose it’s possible that the movie changes all those parts. But I’m guessing it’s a reasonably faithful adaptation.
Which means that the Vatican must be referring to their own idiosyncratic notions of good and evil.
For instance, perhaps they consider Dumbledore “evil” on account of his support for gay marriage and euthanasia. And maybe they consider Voldemort “good” because his pursuit of horcruxes demonstrates that (unlike those nasty Darwinist muggles) he believes in an immortal soul.
Or perhaps the priests are merely using moral language to disguise an affinity for watching horny teenagers:
The Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano even gave two thumbs up to the film’s treatment of adolescent love, saying it achieved the “correct balance” and made the stars more credible to the general audience.
I’ve always taken it as a general rule of thumb that whatever the catholic church says is (im)moral, then complete opposite is usually the case when reality is actually examined.
It’s mostly worked so far, so I can only come to the conclusion that this film is probably a bit crap.
[...] Religion is False: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood of Christ {Nutter of the Week nominee] (H/T Travis [...]
[...] Religion is False: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood of Christ {Nutter of the Week nominee] (H/T Travis [...]
Why is it NOT simple? it fits in the catholic idea of good and evil. whats your take? your link explains it in fact… so i don’t get it.
Well, the two main antagonists in “Half Blood Prince” are Snape and Malfoy, who are also the two most morally-ambiguous characters in whole series.
@Joel
is catholicism wholly inconsistent with moral ambiguity? not to my knowledge. there are many morally ambiguous characters in that book. in both the old and new testaments. its full of characters who are flawed, and ask to forgive and/or be forgiven.
No, but the review “made the age-old debate over good vs. evil crystal clear” is incongruous with the movie’s moral ambiguity.
i c… i think thats the USA today’s words… the relevant direct quote from the review reads:
“”the line of demarcation between one who does good and one who does evil, and it is not difficult for the reader or the viewer to identify with the first.”
i think thats true. at this point in the film, we can all identify what ‘good’ is, and what evil is.
the movie is sympathetic to good. yes?
I think this is the best Harry Potter movie yet, much darker than the previous ones