Harry Potter

I went to see Harry Potter 5 at the cinema the other day. It was good fun and moderately diverting, but I thought it was the weakest of the films so far, as I thought it was also one of the weakest of the books so far.

The book was full of teenage angst stuff, and the film tried to be entertaining and interesting for younger kids. As a result, they cut out most of the angst, played down the torture scenes, etc. They even got rid of my favourite possible twist - the idea that it is actually Neville who is the saviour-type guy and Harry is the decoy.

Anyway, I came across this interesting quote from JK Rowling back in 2000, and thought it was both interesting and potentially relevant to the plot of book 7.

Harry, of course, is able to battle supernatural evil with supernatural forces of his own, and Rowling is quite clear that she doesn't personally believe in that kind of magic -- ''not at all.'' Is she a Christian?

''Yes, I am,'' she says. ''Which seems to offend the religious right far worse than if I said I thought there was no God. Every time I've been asked if I believe in God, I've said yes, because I do, but no one ever really has gone any more deeply into it than that, and I have to say that does suit me, because if I talk too freely about that I think the intelligent reader, whether 10 or 60, will be able to guess what's coming in the books.''

from here, and originally linked to from Christianity Today.

So then, Dumbledore as Christ, Harry as man, Snape as Judas (I think in HP he has to be complicit rather than not), and so Dumbledore's death has in some way accomplished the defeat of Voldemort. Or not.

But it'd be cool if it was - sermon illustrations and opportunities to talk about Jesus galore...