July 20, 2007
Potter Mania Nears Ridiculous Heights
I am a Harry Potter fan, and look forward to the release of the final book tonight as much as anyone. I refuse to look at spoilers, but have been reading articles about the frenzy surrounding the release with interest.
Some die-hard fans have been camped out in front of stores since yesterday to be first in line to buy the book, some in costume. Others plan on going to parties thrown by book retailers. All well and good, if that's how you want to spend your time. This, however, is one of the sillier things I've seen:
In Britain, a phone counseling service for children expects a surge in calls when readers learn who is killed.
Um...what? It's a BOOK! A work of fiction! It makes you think about how pampered we have become as a society if a child can't handle having a favorite literary character killed off. There are children all over the globe who have to deal with more frightening life circumstances than whether or not Harry, Ron or Hermione bites the dust at the end of the Harry Potter series. Children in Iraq and Darfur, for example. Come on, now!
Some characters
die...get over it!
Show Comments »
Hasn't a book ever deeply disturbed you? I remember reading Of Mice and Men when I was about 8 and I cried for hours. But I guess my bleeding heart is showing.
Posted by: at July 20, 2007 02:42 PMThere's absolutely nothing wrong with being saddened by a book. In fact, if you weren't very moved by many works of literature, I'd say there was something seriously wrong with you. However, I agree that it's absolutely ridiculous to set up some blasted phone counseling hot line ... if parents are going to let their kids read what is obviously no longer a "children's book", they need to be equipped to deal with their children's needs. How can they be sure the hotline is staffed with qualified professionals that don't have some odd agenda.
Our society pampers kids *way* too much these days to where they can't identify what they really feel without "professional help" ... kids aren't allowed to feel sad without being drugged ... they aren't allowed to ever feel less than the best about themselves or to feel that they've failed or come up short on something ... kids need to learn about pain, suffering, loss, failure, disappointment, etc. right along with how to overcome those things. Without learning those things, kids will not be equipped to deal with real life.
Posted by: HMIL at July 22, 2007 09:25 PM
