Pretending does not bring power
No, they can’t make you buy more popcorn at the movie theater by flashing the subliminal message “BUY POPCORN” on the screen. And watching Harry Potter movies will not turn your child into a wizard. But they will make your child think about bing one…
What mass media does is to set the agenda. Everything your child sees, everything your child hears, becomes something that your child has to think about. A certain music culture (a dying one, I think) proposes this agenda: will you dye your hair pink? Or blue? Or orange? It doesn’t propose the question of whether it’s stupid (and bad for your split ends) to dye your hair at all.
Responding to major cultural pressure, Strollerderby dutifully provides instructions on how to make your own wizard’s wand. It doesn’t ask whether our culture needs more magic wands. It doesn’t tell your children to become magicians. It simply helps them to pretend that they are magicians.
There is no similar site, I hope, that provides instructions on building a miniature stake on which to burn pretend witches and heretics. Or little white sheets and a toy cross to help the little ones pretend to practice old-fashioned racial bigotry.
When I was a boy, I made a wizard’s staff for myself. I know why I did it. And it wasn’t for happy reasons. We have all heard the reasons why so many people related to Harry Potter: because so many people feel misunderstood and lacking in wonder. When your child feels misunderstood and lacking in wonder, pretending is not the answer.
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