Harry Potter
The very popular Harry Potter series is about an orphan named Harry Potter who discovers that he is a wizard at age eleven when he is invited to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He discovers that he is famous for defeating Voldemort, a dark wizard and his parents murderer ,when he was a baby. Throughout this seven book series, him and his friends partake on several dangerous and mysterious adventures, uncovering his past and dealing with old and new enemies as they try to survive. It is a very long series featuring 7 action filled books and is very popular. The series has been translated into 47 languages with the movie versions making over $7.7 billion in the box office worldwide. Despite its popularity, the series was #1 on the American Library Association's Top 100 Banned and Challenged Books between 2000 and 2009 and #48 on the list between 1990 and 1999. They are also the most frequently challenged books in 2001 and 2002, and made second in 2003. Why would such a beloved children's books get banned? According to the ALA, the reasons why people challenge it, is because they are anti- family, violent and unsuited for its age group, or it go against a religious viewpoint.
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The reason why the Harry Potter series is so loved is because it contains a complete alternate world filled with magical and mythical creatures. The plot is filled with mystery and adventure, and the writing has a lot of forshadowing. The series is obviously filled with witchcraft, as the main character himself is a wizard. However, because Harry Potter is an orphan, he lives with his muggle (non magical ) relatives. The argument that the books are anti- family can be valid, depending on your point of view. In the series, Harry is treated as a slave or maid by his relatives. There are several examples throughout the books. For example, Harry's bedroom is the cupboard under the stairs when he is 10, while his cousin Dudley has two bedrooms, one of them full of all of his toys. Another example is how Harry is forced to do housework while his cousin isn't. His aunt and uncle obviously spoil their own son, and because of the different and unfair way they treat him, Harry hates them. Harry's opinion on his relatives is very clear throughout the series, and his friends share the same opinion. The books could also be anti-family because of the way Sirius Black treated and was treated by his family. Sirius Black is Harry's godfather and also an escaped convict. He was born into a pureblood (all magical) family who hates muggles and muggleborns (witch or wizard with nonmagical family). Sirius Black disagreed with that view, and was exiled from his family because of it. But like a coin, there are two sides to this. The Weasley family we meet and interact with in the books is a total of nine, with both parents, six sons and only one youngest daughter. Ron, the youngest Weasley son, is one of Harry's best friends. Because of that, Harry spends a lot of time with the Weasley family, and is treated as another sibling. Judging by the way the Weasley family interacts, they are the epitome of a loyal caring family, although they have their faults. When war strikes, The Weasley family is targeted because of their relation with Harry. Previous sibling rivalries lead to one of their sons exiling himself from his family. Their mother, who was previously just caring and slightly overbearing becomes slightly controlling with her anxiety and fear. Even through the war though, the family is loyal to their causes, and love each other dearly, even with their lack of money and material things. Even the exiled son returned back home with an apology in the end. Whether or not the books are anti-family depends on your point of view, and what you pay attention to while reading.
I can admit that some of the Harry Potter books are slightly violent. The characters are trying to survive through a magical war, and while the first few books just have some frightful scenes, there are many deaths and battles in the later books. J.K. Rowling does an excellent job of describing the scenes from Harry's point of view, and as expected, there is a fair amount of blood, gore, and pain. For example,in the last book, a characters loses his ear from a magical dark cutting curse. The books certainly contain violence, but are they too violent for kids. Apparently, opinions vary considering the movie ratings. The movie versions of the books differentiate from the plot very little, and are rated differently depending on where you live. For example, the first three movies are rated PG in the U.S, the UK, and Australia. The third and fourth movies are both rated 12 in the UK, PG-13 in the US, and M in Australia. There is a difference between violence in movies and violence in books. Violence in movies is physical violence and violence in books is mental violence. Mental violence is considered by some to be more harmful, as it leaves more negative impacts. Those impacts along with the amount of mature themes and swear words make the series unsuited for children in many peoples eyes. As usual, opinions differentiate depending on who you talk to.
The series is popularly banned because of religious viewpoint.The books are filled with magic and witchcraft, which many religions don't accept. The practice of witchcraft goes against many holy scriptures, which makes the entire series unacceptable in some peoples eyes. People believe that real witchcraft exists and is evil, and believe that the books will prevent kids from taking the threat seriously. The Head teacher,Carol Rockwood, from St. Mary's Island Church of England school in Chatham Kent said,"The Bible is very clear and consistent in its teachings that wizards, devils, and demons exist and are very real, powerful and dangerous and God's people are told to have nothing to do with them." Others like me aren't worried and believe that children are smart enough to know the difference between fiction and reality. No matter your beliefs, fantasy writing can be very influential and powerful and should be taken seriously.
No matter how many arguments there are against the series, it is still very well loved. In fact, when the Harry Potter series first came out and was challenged so much, kids and other community members protested, and an organization called Muggles for Harry Potter was founded to help fight against the challenges. The organization is now called kidSPEAK and helps kids fight against censorship and know their rights.