January 1, 2006 - Happy New Year
Yeah, I know. I’ve only now just seen Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I’m not the biggest HP fan, having only read Chamber of Secrets. It was a passable who-dunnit, but I just haven’t had the desire to invest time into the more weighty tomes that followed. I’ve seen most of the films though.
Watching this one, I was struck by the apparent parallels between current political events and the events in the film.
For example, the Quidditch World Cup is attacked by hooded sorcerers who terrorize the countryside with fireballs and a glowing skull suspended in the sky above. The newspaper of the magical world, The Daily Prophet, reports the tragedy as an incidence of terror.
Harry in action in Tora Bora
Later it is leaked that owls (consider them wizardly e-mails) are being intercepted by the Ministry of Magic’s equivalent to the National Security Agency. One wonders if warrants were written prior to these owls being intercepted. Does the ACLU have a department of magic?
Finally, did you see that spikey Iron Maiden-like thing Karkaroff, the sorcerer accused of being a death-eater, was restrained in during his hearing?* What does magic world’s equivalent of the Geneva Conventions have to say about these methods? Is Azkaban the equivalent of Camp Gitmo?
This fourth book in the series was published prior to the much trumpeted War on Terror, proving that Rowling is either very prescient or she stole Dick Cheney’s crystal ball.
*It’s come to my attention that Rowling wrote this scene quite differently from how it appeared in the film. Apparently the terrorist was only in irons.