The Vatican Praises “New Potter” For Its Depiction of Morality
This is an exciting story for me. Yahoo news posted a brief story about early praise for the latest Potter movie’s depiction of good vs. evil and other moral issues. And from where did the praise come? The Vatican! The Vatican’s newpaper L’Osservatore Romano gave Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince two thumbs up for its “crystal clear” portrayal of the struggle between good and evil, most especially for showing that struggle to be one of sacrifice and hardship for those who would see good prevail.
While the Vatican did critique the movie’s omission of any explicit reference to the transcendent or divine, it did also praise the movie’s presentation of adolescent love, calling it “the correct balance,” as well as its negative depiction of Voldemort’s frantic search for immortality.
This excites me for a couple of reasons: first, I have LONG been an advocate of fantasy books/films for this sole reason, that the genre of the fantastic can and often does present moral issues more clearly and in a more instructional light than any other medium. I’m glad to see that an entity as important and influential as the Vatican sees fantasy’s potential for raising, questioning, and highlighting moral issues. The second reason this excites me is that if one of the most unlikely critics imaginable, the Catholic Church, praises this movie, then it is a no doubt a testimony to the film’s overall quality. Of all the Potter films, I am most excited about Half-Blood Prince. I feel it is the best written of all the books, and from the sound of early reviews, will likely be the best of the films.
Take Care,
The Professor
