The wizarding world of Harry Potter created by J.K. Rowling is a worldwide phenomenon. People hold these stories in their hearts, and it may very well be one of the most popular book series of all time. When I saw it trending on social media, I thought it would be some exciting news about new additions to the magical universe but instead was the most bizarre restrictions of it I had ever seen.
According to the Washington Post, the beloved book series was removed from the library of a Nashville Catholic school, after the Reverend had been in contact with multiple exorcists. That's right, you heard me... exorcists. That sure escalated quickly.
Being a Catholic my whole life, I thought maybe I could understand where he was coming from, but I don't have an ounce of understanding after hearing the reasoning for why. There are spells in the book, as one would assume a story about a school of young wizards and witches would. Apparently the spells were the cause for concern because it could transfer evil to the reader. Who saw that one coming?
Books have been censored for centuries for being scandalous or dealing with controversial topics. In recent years, there has been the avid discussion of the banning of certain books in schools, such as To Kill A Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Both these books deal with mature topics of racial discrimination, but topics like those are supposed to be taught in high school, even if it makes you uncomfortable, to ensure that they never happen again. Having read both the books in high school, I'm glad they weren't banned in my area for they were beneficial to my learning.
However, the reasoning for censoring Harry Potter is as whimsical and fake as the book itself. That's right because the so-called evil spells aren't real. They were all created by the genius that is J.K. Rowling, but they are still just words with no substance. If you pointed a wand at the person you hated and said 'Wingardium Leviosa' they won't be violently lifted into the air, no matter how hard you try.
Even if the argument of cursed spells was at all valid to have as a concern, these books were written over 20 years ago, and the first movie came out the year I was born (yay, go 2001). If the books were full of so much bad mumbo-jumbo how have they thrived so well over the last two decades? If kids reading these stories or watching the movies actually were turning evil from it, then how would society as a whole not know that?
The movie franchise was colossal and propelled its stars into being household names. Wouldn't there be millions of evil souls walking the earth in all the moviegoers who saw the films? Would a whole section of a popular amusement park be dedicated to this imaginative world if it was really all that bad?
Lastly, instead of looking to the ever credible exorcists for knowledge about a children's book series, if people have real concerns about it causing unexplained symptoms in readers, they should go to scientists to test the theory or J.K. Rowling herself.
The only thing toxic in this series of events is the idea of censorship in the 21st century. People are open to their opinions, but this one seems like quite the stretch. These books have brought happiness to generations of people and even with this banning, will continue for generations to come. You can ban all the books you want, but Hermione will shun you for it.
