Seeking out Redemption in the Beautiful World of Film. or My Excuse to Write About Movies

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry Potter has long been a source of conflict and controversy among Christians. I will gladly skip over all of that by saying that by this time you are either a Potter fan, or you aren't. I am, big time.
The fifth installment of the Potter series picks up the narrative just as things are starting to get really dark, and Voldemort is beginning to muster his forces. At Hogwarts there is a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher (like every year), but this time she is a nightmare. Her name is Dolores Umbridge, and her greatest pleasure in life is to make up more rules for the students to follow. Thus, the students' hands are tied over and over again. Meanwhile, Harry and his close friends know that Voldemort is back, but no one else believes him. So Harry, Ron, Hermoine and others realize they need to learn defensive skills to fight against the Death Eaters (bad guys). Since Umbridge has turned Defense Against the Dark Arts into pure theory, the students are not learning basic self-defense. Thus, they form Dumbledore's Army, which is a secret "club" which meets to learn the secrets they are not getting in class. I couldn't help but see a parallel between Dumbledore's Army (DA) and the disciples during the first years of the church. Both needed to sneak around the authority who was preventing the students/disciples from doing what was right. Both were fighting for their right to do things that they saw as much more important than every day life, things which the establishment had deemed wrong and immoral. We are intrigued by the figure of the righteous rebel.
Another aspect of the Potter franchise that impresses me is its use of younger people. The kids in the films/books are the main characters, the most impressive movers and shakers if you will. It reminds us that young people have incredibly important roles to play, even while they are maturing. When I was their age I had a desire to change the world, as do the Hogwarts students. And I work with kids every day that are the same age. My students have a role to play in God's mission, not just when they grow up and become "better and more mature" Christians, but also right now! God works through all kinds of people, and we don't have to wait until we are a finished product (whatever that means) to jump in.
Order of the Phoenix also places a gigantic spotlight on the war between good and evil that has, up until this point in the series, been going on behind the scenes. As so many films do so well, Potter awakens us to the spiritual battle that rages on throughout every hour of every day. We must not be so naive to think that humans can just ignore it, not take a side, not decide to follow good or evil. There is right and wrong.
Order of the Phoenix delivers just as well as any of the other Potter films. It recreates an imaginative world of adventure that completely engrosses the audience. The adaptation cannot include everything, but the filmmakers capture the spirit of the books very well. Another great addition to the Potter library.

2 comments:

Dusty said...

The best part about the Harry Potter movies is that now you can be a fan without having to read, which was my hang up all along:)

end sarcasm;

Anonymous said...

It's so strange: Order of the Phoenix was my least favorite of the books, but yet was my hands-down favorite of the movie. While I felt like the other four movies were made for kids, this one was made for adults. I loved it. I found it emotional and thrilling on a whole new level that the previous films. I hope they hire this director for the next two. Great review as always.