THE EDITOR, Madam:
MARTIN HENRY'S column in today's Gleaner (7/12/00) "The Menace of Pottermania" raises some interesting points about reading material for children. The phenomenal success of the Harry Potter books has created great controversy about the age-old battle between good and evil. Internet sites have fed the controversy, with Christian sites invariably condemning the books, although I have seen approving articles based on the assumption that although the setting is in the world of wizards, the stories all end with the 'good' overcoming the 'evil'.
As usual, the quotations and statistics all come from abroad. What is the effect of these stories on Jamaican children? I suppose we will have to wait for the movie to be able to begin to assess this, since it is commonly believed that our children do not like to read. It would be interesting to know how many of the Potter books have been sold in Jamaica (Incidentally, at a recent gathering of persons interested in children's literature in the Caribbean, there were some who had not heard of Harry Potter, or who only had a vague idea of the controversy surrounding the books).
I have read two of the books and found them interesting reading following very basic good story telling format. The magic world of the setting didn't seem unusually compelling, but then I am very much older, and hopefully wiser than the targeted readership. I didn't find Harry Potter's world any more compelling than the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, or Ninja Turtles or Transformers or Power Rangers (remember the controversy over that one?) or Anancy, for that matter, or any of the other entertainment for children which show the weak overcoming powerful forces by some form of 'magic'. I guess the difference here is that the Potter books suggest that gaining supernatural powers can be taught so that even a 'muggle' (an unbeliever) can learn to use magic for good or evil.
If the Harry Potter books can lead a generation of non-readers to the 'magic' world of books, I say good. If they are influencing young, insecure (that's a key word) minds into abnormal interest in Satanic beliefs and practices, this is obviously very bad. So what's the answer? We are not going to be able to stop the hype surrounding J.K. Rowlings books so, I am asking, where are the 'compelling' books with good Christian influences which can counter the menace of the Potter books?
Is anyone in Christendom willing to put the vast amount of resources into promoting good literature that has been put into the promotion of the Potter books? I suspect that the Harry Potter books would have remained relatively obscure, like so many other children's books, had it not been for the massive promotional campaigns and media attention.
I am etc.,
HAZEL CAMPBELL
P.O. Box 1530
Kingston 8
