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Latest Harry Potter film wins Vatican approval
2009-07-15
VATICAN CITY (AFP) - The Vatican on Wednesday came out in favour of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" after Pope Benedict XVI criticised earlier films in the boy wizard series. "The mixture of supernatural suspense and romanticism sets the right balance, making the adventures of the protagonists more credible," wrote the Vatican mouthpiece Osservatore Romano, calling the film "the best of the series." In 2003, Cardinal Joseph Ratziner, the future pope, voiced fears over "subtle seductions" in the saga that could undermine children's religious development by blurring the line between good and evil. The Osservatore Romano, in January 2008, published two opposing views on the runaway best-selling series. Under the headline "The Double Face of Harry Potter," an expert in English literature, Edoardo Rialti, argued that Ratzinger was right to worry, while Catholic essayist Paolo Gulisano wrote that "behind the fabulous adventures of the different characters you can see the author's anthropological vision." Author J.K. Rowling, writing for a "post-modern" and individualistic world, "wants to help the young reader understand that 'doing good' is the best thing to do," Gulisano wrote. The Osservatore Romano said Wednesday that in the sixth instalment, "everything seems to prepare and lead to the final confrontation between good and evil, which remain the real protagonists of the saga." The paper recalled its fear that earlier episodes could "incite young people to escape reality, making them believe that supernatural powers exist." It said the series was "harmful to education and even anti-Christian." But in "The Half-Blood Prince," the paper said: "The line between those who work for the good and those who do evil seems quite clear, and the spectator and reader have no trouble identifying with the former." "The Half-Blood Prince," which opens around the world on Wednesday, sets the scene for a looming final battle between Harry and his nemesis Lord Voldemort.
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