For many, Harry Potter is a literary example of the Christian hero. J.K. Rowling has been known to say that if her Christian faith were studied, many of the things which happen in the books will not only be understandable, but would be predictable before they occurred. While I do not read the books, I do watch and enjoy the movies. Last week, I went to see the fifth in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
This movie, as with the rest of the series, is good. It is not my favorite (the first holds that position for me), but that does not mean it is a movie to pass up. If you have not read any of the books, or seen any of the movies, I am not sure how much you would get out of this one. If you have followed the series, this movie clearly has the feeling of being a movie about transitions – Harry moves up in life, from the youth of other stories, to a young man who has to take on the full responsibilities of adulthood earlier than most. The greatest question he has to address continues to be the main question of his life: what is his connection to Voldemort? The two are tied together. Voldemort has access to Potter, to his mind, and has an ability not unlike Sauron with a Palantir, to slowly corrupt Potter’s view of the world and the way to deal with the problems he faces. Growing up, Harry goes through much angst, trying to find what actually differs him from Voldemort, and it is only in the end, an ending I will not reveal for those few who do not know it, where we find the Christian answer and the answer which makes this movie one worth watching.
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