Children's films tend to be didactic in the sense that they teach children, as well as adults, life lessons. JK Rowling's Harry Potter film series can be viewed as coming of age films as the characters grow from their mistakes. Most coming of age films are seen differently by adults and children; the moral changes as you get older. The Harry Potter film series utilizes fantasy to communicate multiple messages to its viewers. The characters of Harry, Ron, and Hermione are used to get messages across because they are easier to relate to. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, these characters begin to learn about the importance of love, friendship, courage, principles, and determination which help them grow into mature adults.
The lessons that children are taught from films are most often sugarcoated versions of life lessons that adults gather. Children’s films are about what adults want their children to see, not about what their children actually learn. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry leaves his aunt and uncle, Petunia and Vernon Dursley, to study magic at the Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Soon after leaving he discovers that his parents were murdered by the most powerful dark lord, Voldemort, and he was the "boy who lived." Along the way to Hogwarts, Harry meets Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The three soon become best friends and plot to save Hogwarts from Voldemort's wrath.
One of the most distinguishing characteristics of children's films is the centrality of the moral. Although Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone teaches children many lessons, but the main one is that good will always conquer evil. Right from the beginning of the film, audiences are shown how poorly Harry gets treated ...
... middle of paper ...
...s fully aware that he should not be there, but that does not stop him from going. All through the film, Hagrid tells Harry to forget certain information which could lead to trouble. Curiosity gets the best of Harry as he constantly rebels to find out more information about Flamel and the person who is after the stone. Furthermore, the characters resorts to aggression when people get in their way. Neville attempts to stop the three main characters from sneaking out as they keep getting Gryffindor into trouble, but they easily put him in a full body freezing spell and continue on without looking back. The filmmakers may have molded the scenes so that they were perceived as bravery, but the underlying tone is undeniably rebellion. Instead of showing bravery and courage, one may be drawn to the idea that breaking the rules can be an effective way to achieve an endpoint.
Throughout history it is known that fairy tales were written to teach children lessons about life in a way they could understand and that is fun and unique. Authors of fairy tales put simple lessons into the stories so the children could understand them easily while reading. Whether this be a lesson to be nice to all people, like in Cinderella, or to not judge someone by their appearance, like in Donkey Skin, both by Charles Perrault. Each fairytale has a moral that can be found throughout reading the stories that teach children right from wrong while letting them use their imaginations to discover that moral. The good and the bad lets them express their thoughts openly, rather it be their negative thoughts through the villian or their
Dr. Seuss once wrote that “today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you”, but what makes a person unique? A person’s character is what makes them who they are. It is the foundation of personality, words, and actions, and it grows with every trial in an individual’s life. Personal struggle develops character because it brings to light what a person will and will not do, allows them to find or develop talents, it creates an opportunity to alter their mindset, and the experience gained will stay with the individual forever.
Many have come to know and love the stories of Harry Potter, the boy who lived, but what most may not realize is that Harry Potter can have a bad influence on young children and adults. Though the Harry Potter series is a children’s book that is meant to enlighten the imagination of young viewers, it can be misguiding to those cannot comprehend the difference between imagination and real life. The beloved story of Harry Potter can have a negative influence on young children and adults for a variety of reasons.
The article details the problems parents have with the Potter series in saying that magic is appalling, Potter's anti-family behavior was impeding on family values, and children may become...
Many of us have seen a Disney movie when we were younger. Disney movies captured our attention with their good morals and successful conclusions of finding their true love. The animations and music transform us into a land of magic where anything is possible if we just believe. Disney movies wrapped us in the idea that good always triumphs evil, that happy ever after exists. We have become the generation of Beauty and the Beast, 101 Dalmatians, Dumbo and Snow White as children now have not heard of these or have watched them. Some of these movies have been recreated and released in high definition and on DVDs in the past few years, but the structure and themes of the movies stays the same. However, we never stop and think about the undertones in Disney movies. They contain abuse, violence, dysfunctional relationships, and gender stereotypes, which is not appropriate for children. They may not understand what abuse, violence, dysfunctional relationships, alcohol or gender stereotypes are at their ages but do we want them to think that it’s normal. When we think that little girls watch these movies where the female characters are controlled by man or need a man to watch over them, they are not creating good role models for them. Would we not want them to have a better understanding that women do not have to have a prince charming to be happy, women can be independent and have careers and yes find love but not give everything up so their prince charming has the control.
According to Giroux (1996), animated movies are a part of children’s culture. Children’s culture consists of entertainment, artifacts, myths, etc. that are based around the notion of what it means to be a child. Animated movies, particularly Disney films, encourages the child’s imagination and fantasy to be enhanced, creates a drive within them to go on adventures and helps them develop an aura of innocence. Animated films are “teaching machines” (Giroux, 1996, p. 66). Disney films teach children about specific roles, values and ideals and also take them through the world of enchantment. It helps them to understand who they are and what it means to be a part of the society and an adult environment (Giroux, 1996). Disney characters are a reflection
... time retain one outstanding quality---they are empowering, first in how much power they give to the youth of that time. These are films for them and about them. They reflect their everyday experiences or those they long to have, with the best films knowing exactly what their young audiences want to see on screen and never judging them for it because the mistakes, struggles, and imperfections of young adulthood are timeless too. Second, coming-of-age films also give so much back to young audiences and empower them. These films’ characters have taught audiences what to do, how to feel, and essentially given them the tools by which to navigate the transition from childhood to adulthood and how to make it as painless as possible. As ‘coming-of-age’ changes or stays the same in meaning over time, youth culture, as a genre and subject, will remain a necessity in film.
The Harry Potter series is one of my favorite movie series. The films were well done and follow the books well. J.K Rowling has captured the hearts of many and there are “Potterheads” in every country. While the films were nothing short of amazing, the books give readers more insight into Harry Potter 's thoughts. The reader really sees the “Wizarding World” from Potter’s eyes. It’s very
Disney has made it his life 's goal to create home entertainment for both young and old. From the creation of Mickey to his work in films, Disney had made it clear that happiness is something that everyone should have. Disney had also know that animations is not just for the imagination of the children. Early movies such as Snow White and Pinocchio have clear messages for the younger views. “In Snow White- the main characters are victims of injustice who are eventually restored to their rightful place. In Pinocchio, the characters Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket and Geppetto are faced with dilemmas, and their own actions result in them becoming victims of ev...
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
Nowadays, children books are full field with morals and lesson to teach children how to behave and react in real life situations. A classic subject that teaches children is the rivalry between good and bad, where good defeats bad after a battle. An example of a children novel that explores in different ways the good versus the bad is The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, written by C.S Lewis. The author of this novel uses literary elements to demonstrate the idea of good and evil, an example of which would be characterisation. Aslan and the White Witch embody the characteristics of the good and the evil, two of which are their physical and psychological descriptions and their actions in the novel.
The kids innocence, and them being naive leads them to believe that most everyone is good, because they have never really encountered evil before. When they are encountered with evil, the evil of racism and things being so unfair, and whirls them into an adulthood state of mind. They both have to balance the ideas of good and evil that are in a person, they used to believe you could only be one or the other, but in reality, the good is within the evil and vice versa. Even the good main character, Scout, has some evil within her, she constantly gets into fights. The theme is displayed heavily through Boo Radley, a man who they believed was evil, bt really was misunderstood and showed himself to be good. Then Tom Robinson, a man who is believed to be evil based off his skin color and the evil accusations made about him, but who is reality is good. The kids can see he is good, because the ideas of racism haven’t infected their innocent brains yet. But they encounter evil when an innocent man is punished, and the evil man who is racist and lying gets away with
The wildly popular Harry Potter book series by J. K. Rowling has caused controversy for many families over the past five years. These novels according to some critics are harmless, adventurous, children's tales. Others choose to portray them as stories that inspire children to become involved in the occult and serious witchcraft. The Harry Potter novels chronicle the life of a young wizard whose wizard parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldermort. On his eleventh birthday he receives invitation to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each of the five books represents a year of his life there (Walker). This essay will discuss whether the Harry Potter novels are a suitable read for children and why despite what some critics portray, Harry Potter can be a positive role model for youth.
One of the most read series in all literature is Harry Potter. The seven-book succession has sold over 400 million copies and has been translated into over sixty languages. What is it that makes this series so wildly famous? What is it about the boy who lived that makes frenzied readers flock to their local bookstore at midnight on the day of the release to buy the latest installment? How is a story set in a world that doesn’t exist about wizards, witches, magic, and mystical creatures so popular? The series has been able to earn its spot on the New York Times Bestseller list and has granted author J.K. Rowling multiple awards because it is relatable. It is not the setting or the events in the plot of the story that we relate to. We relate to what Harry, his friends, mentors, teachers, caretakers, and even enemies feel. Harry is in a lot of ways exactly like us. He represents some of the good characteristics that all of us have as well as the bad. The series as a whole, is about one thing that is stressed over and over again in the novels, love. The Harry Potter series is one of the most read sequences of novels because the central theme is love and self-sacrifice, and readers are looking for a novel that shows them just that.
The first Harry Potter book came out in 1997, and no one at the time could imagine that in the 10 years that followed, it would become the most read children’s book and a $6.4 billion worth film franchise. The aim of this essay is to try to explain the reason for the popularity of the Harry Potter books. The aim is also to show the changes that the series caused, how they influenced the people who read them, how they had an impact on literacy and overall, on British popular culture. In the first part of the essay I will briefly explain the beginning of the Harry Potter phenomenon and its growing popularity in the countries all over the world. In the second part I will deal with the character of Harry, explaining why he has such an appeal to the readers and how come people identify with him. In the third part, I will explain the impact Harry Potter books have on society, how they influence young adults and children. The fourth part will deal with the controversies about Harry Potter, the views and thoughts of religious people who see Harry Potter as a book that should be banned. In the fifth part, I will mention the difference the phenomenon caused when it comes to the book business and the film industry of Britain.