Mirror of Erised

[Tim]

No: HPFGUIDX 154576

Tim

I thrust the last two posts into one because bot replies came to 
me at the same time so here goes. And

 > Tim wrote:
 > Now the point is for me that JKR is using the Mirror of Erised to
 > illustrate the dependence some have on external thing (TV, et al.)
 > to remove them from reality into their desires

 > Mark:
 > Do you think the HP books could be considered one of these external
 > things? The HP books themsleves are like the mirror; everyone sees
 > what they want to in them (I think this list proves that) and it's
 > best not to spend all your time reading them. The HP books "give us
 > neither knowledge or truth. Men [and women] have wasted away before
 > [them], entranced by what they have [read], or been driven mad, not
 > knowing if what [the books] [say] is real or even possible."
 >
 > Those were definitely my feelings after HBP!


Tim:

In short yes. But the books give us understanding if we read them with 
the right filters. The content of the list shows us this; people debate 
the ethics of different actions in context. But to me it's stating the 
dangers of mirror of erised (tv etc) because people are not critically 
engaging with what they are seeing. Yes the HP books could be seen this 
way, yet to me the way people are engaging with the content of the HP 
series shows that this is slightly different as some people will always 
remove what is said, written, or displayed from the context intended and 
create catastrophe for those who don't.
Why yes? Well, all mediums presented to the public offer a kind of 
alienation from reality. TV does it, movies doe it, books do it, most 
do. They set about creating a believable reality the audience can by 
into, and frequently believe. To me it all depends on the way an 
audience member interacts with what they are "seeing", we (on HPFGU) no 
matter how obsessed with the books generally strip the reality from the 
series and view it critically reflecting on the content rather than it 
possibly being a fantasy or possible for us. I think the illusion of 
MTV, Hollywood, movie star, is the most apt for what I see as an 
illustration of the mirror because of the illusion of possibility that 
is presented - an illusion that for many especially those of us from 
less than well off families will never know, and that illusion creates an 
obsession that becomes destructive. A destructive force that I don't 
personally think the HP books have because the illusion presented isn't 
as close to that presented by the everyday visual ones.

 > houyhnhnm:
 >
 > I see the Harry Potter books as being more like a Pensieve.
 > Thoughts about RL people and conflicts can be put into the
 > Potterverse, examined with greater objectivity and analyzed
 > with greater detachment. Then, hopefully, one comes out
 > with fresh insight.
 >
 > Like lately I have been thinking a lot about the
 > characteristics of the four Hogwarts houses, their
 > strengths and weaknesses, and why they don't get along.
 > In the real world (of an urban school)I don't have to
 > deal with Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff,
 > but I do have to deal with four cliques-Latin, Asian,
 > black, and white. The conflicts between them are very
 > similar to what occurs between opposing house members at
 > Hogwarts. Even the stereotypes that each group has about
 > the others are similar. I don't think it is time wasted at all.

Tim:

Personally I think what JKR is saying is that people have defined their 
lives around what they have seen on TV, and in various other media and 
it has kinda destroyed who they really are. Yes it the mirror (and tv 
etc) does create an opportunity to consider what is occuring around us - 
after all that is what many, if not most of the people involved believe 
they are doing, and independantly they are, yet cumulatively they are 
creating worlds that people escape where they are, who they are, 
alienating themselves from the reality that they are in (which is not 
necessarily a bad thing until it comes to dominate a persons identity).

The parallel is I think, that sense of restraint, and caution, is 
required in out interaction with our interaction with such things. If we 
know what it truly is, what is actually showing us then we can better 
understand what is being presented to us. It is not the content but 
what we do with it that is being warned against.

And in response to the conflicts: yes, I see similar ones as well. Being 
involved in a political party in New Zealand I see the Gryffindor, 
Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff characteristics all the time. I 
myself swing between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin depictions of character 
most frequently, although most in my position do also.

My question remains are there any other things displayed in the HP 
series that reflect things in RL that we could learn from? To me the HP 
books offer loads of allusions to RL scenarios, trends and issues.

Tim