Harry Potter, the beloved series written by J.K. Rowling, gained an insane amount of fame throughout the world as readers fell in love with the intriguing plot and complex characters. The series captured the attention of the majority of the youth, and even those who hate reading are glued to these books. Children who are too young to read long stories enjoy being read to or watching the movies. People often praise J.K. Rowling for the morals she includes throughout her story, such as good prevailing over evil, true friendship and the value of family, but the compliments are inevitably followed by critiques.
Comments expressing concerns that children will attempt to become like Harry Potter in dangerous ways began the “Harry Potter Controversy.” This argument gained enough momentum to make it on to a list of approximately 100 other controversies, alongside debates on minimum wage and abortion which prove significantly more important and relevant to society and American culture. Critics fear that children will form cults and begin to practice witchcraft due to these novels. If Peter Pan does not urge children to do something as simple as run away from home, there is no reason why Harry Potter would provoke a child to attempt something so blatantly fictional and difficult. Others accuse the dark magic and evil characters in Harry Potter of displaying the occult lifestyle too positively, luring the children to lead that lifestyle. Essentially, if children read books with anything other than unicorns and rainbows, they are putting themselves in danger.
Critics also suggest that characters such as Draco Malfoy, Snape and even Harry Potter promote bullying and arrogance, and that their hostile approach towards other characters in the series encourages disrespectful behavior. Neville Longbottom, Moaning Myrtle and other passive characters represent shy victims who are continuously made fun of, and this upsets some readers’ parents. They believe the gory creatures who gain power from the sacrifice of innocent lives give their children the wrong idea, and these notions also encourage greed. The bullies at their own schools, however, are not as strong of a concern.
While critics provide some logic, their reasons fail to explain how Harry Potter differs from any other supernatural series. Many authors use darkness, evil and death to make their stories more compelling and attract more interest, and J.K. Rowling did nothing out of the ordinary to deserve such critiques. If overprotective parents wish to shield their children from the fictional evils who are eventually defeated, that is their choice. Consequently, telling others is not something they should be wasting their time doing because the controversy is senseless. Harry Potter is yet another popular fan base that is known and loved worldwide, and the exaggerations that people manage to come up with are ridiculous.
