Harry, Take Me Away!

I love to read. But sometimes, I just want to sit back and watch a story (TV episodes, movies, etc.) and be entertained without having to use my brain to comprehend the written word. Lately I’ve been looking for something to watch that will serve as a diversion. Something to take me out of reality and put me in a magical place, something so intriguing, and so far removed from reality that my brain will finally rest. 

With that goal in mind, I decided to watch all the Harry Potter movies. Yes, I’d read the books, but it was quite some time ago. I’d never seen the movies. So, I set off to explore the wizarding world, to dive in and let the magic whisk me away. I watched the movies in chronological order. (I may have been looking for an escape, but I still have standards and couldn’t do something so brazen as watch them out of order). I ventured into watching the movies like it was my job. Come hell or high water, I was going to escape into relaxation. I dove in headfirst. Magic, check. Intrigue, check. Far removed from reality...well, maybe. 

As I watched the films, the relevance to reality kept popping into my mind. I tried to ignore it, because, well, escaping was the point after all. The common theme of all the movies really boiled down to good versus evil, light versus dark. And even though I’m just a mere Muggle (non-magical individual for anyone not familiar with Harry Potter), even I could see the parallels to the world around us.  

Innocent children going off to school to expand their minds, only to find evil in their midst. Granted, Hogwarts’ students had to worry about being petrified (like wood), facing Dementors and Death Eaters, rather than worrying about school shootings, bullying, etc., like students in the real world, but the parallels are there.

Then we have the rich looking down their noses at poor families. In the Harry Potter movies, it’s people like the Malfoys making fun of the Weasleys, thinking they’re superior to others because they’re wealthy. Unfortunately, disdain based on a lower financial status is something we see all too often. People thinking less of their fellow humans because they are less wealthy. At least the Weasleys were magical. Unlike our world where the poor often have zero advantages. 

What about families not taking care of their own? I was sickened by the way the Dursley’s treated poor Harry. I know, I know, it’s fiction...but still. Sadly, it reminded me of several news reports where families favored select relatives while abusing others, for no apparent reason. Maybe they didn’t make the abused relative sleep in a cabinet under the stairs...but the evil many doled out to their unfavored family members was actually much worse. 

Overall, the good versus evil themes in the magical world of Harry Potter were too relatable to our world today. Even though I spent hours watching a world with wizards, witches, giants, magical owls, ghosts, goblins, and elves, ultimately, I couldn’t escape the human parallels to our world today. Art imitating life in a way that knotted my stomach instead of serving as the escape I was seeking.

In closing, dear readers, I hope you all find a way to deal with the real world, find magical moments to bask in, and most importantly, continue to align yourself with the good while fighting against the evil that has become part of our everyday life. Take care and love each other. 

​p.s. I did an online Hogwarts sorting experience and am happy to share I was assigned to the Gryffindor house. Phew!