This is in regards to the film (and book)'Harry Potter and the Prisoner
of Azkaban'.  I believe most people reading the past posts on the FML
about Harry Potter can see both sides of the issue.  Of course there will
be people who are shocked to see representations of their furkids treated
in such a manner.  Don't belittle them - their anger is not outrageous
(maybe how the anger is expressed is outrageous, but not the anger
itself).
 
The books are intended for older children - not young ones.  The movies
are as well.  I believe (and this is only my belief) that J. K. Rowling
would not have included the ferrets if her target audience was young
children.  I would never let a 4 or even 6 year old see the movies -
they were scary for that age group and many topics throughout the books
and movies would not be comprehended by those youngsters.  This is NOT a
condemnation of those who DID take their wee ones to see the movies or
read the books to them.  Age is not the only factor in maturity and many
young ones can have things explained to them.  J. K. Rowling added
gorey incidences throughout the books, as this is what grabs many older
children's attentions.  Does anyone remember 'Garbage Pail Kids'?
 
Saying that, there is a social issue here.  Why do many people find
destruction of life interesting (especially when it's gorey)?  Why are
we ok with letting kids find this sort of behaviour interesting?  Why do
we regard animals such as ferrets expendable (present company excluded
of course) and not dogs or cats (well, most of us anyway)?  Did anyone
notice that the movie did NOT include Aunt Marge saying that she breeds
dogs and to keep the line pure she has the inferior puppies DROWNED?
Perhaps this was left out for the sake of time and relevence, but I have
a feeling it didn't make it in the movie because it was socially not
acceptable and because of the possibility of major complaints.  Oh, and
because they knew there were many kids with dogs watching.
 
We also must remember that the author is British and the British
certainly regard ferrets in a different manner.  Of course not all
British - but the majority.  In the United States, ferrets are pets.  In
the UK, ferrets are often working animals that live outside and rarely
are treated like other pets.  Generally they are kept by farmers, never
see the inside of a house, and only get basic veterinary care (as working
animals often do).  For those of you who are British, or who are
Anglophiles, I mean no disrespect.  I am an American who, along with her
two Yank ferrets, has moved to the UK.  I have met MANY wonderful ferret
owners on this side of the pond (and I do mean WONDERFUL), but most
people I come across are surprised to hear I have ferrets and even more
surprised that they live IN our house!  A few people believe they are no
different from wild polecats (and thus it's not nice to keep these wild
animals as pets).  The British are not bad with animals generally, so
please don't get me wrong.  If I were a cat or dog, I'd much rather be
one in the UK than the US!!!  Point is, there is a cultural difference
playing a part and Rowling may have believed that using 'wild' animals
as food for the hippogriff would not raise many eyebrows.  I mean, you
can see how desensitized we are when other animals are used (as one
FML-er brought up, snakes, spiders, and rats).
 
My worry is that the ease of putting such horrid things in children's
books desensitizes little readers.  As a whole, we should be moving
to fight things like this.  Yes it may be seen as 'pickey' and
'super-sensitive', but the fact is that the Harry Potter world was
created for CHILDREN.  And children pick up on things.  If they read
and see animals treated so carelessly and malevolently without it
specifically made out to be 'bad' (within the storey), what is this
teaching them?  And even worse, what if nobody tells them this is
abnormal and wrong?  So yes, fight this!  Let kids know you are upset.
Let writers, publishers, movie makers, toy makers know that you think
this is wrong for kids.  Let your kids know you are fighting this.  Move
the vision of animal treatment (within the real and fictional worlds) to
a humane one!!!  New ideas are often critised and feared, then accepted.
Look at seat belts.  How many of these children will grow up to have
pets?  And how many of them have been taught the proper care and
treatment of animals?  Learning is an accumulative process and if what
is learned is negative (or if the negative is not countered by the
positive), the child will likely not gain an understanding for animal
care.  Unfortunately we are at a time when animal rights are just
begining to become mainstream (one reason for the need of so many
shelters).  So of course fighting the good fight will be seen by others
as 'revolutionary'.  In time, hopefully, it will become the norm.
 
Even though many will say it is just a course of nature - some animals
eat other animals - could you imagine if Buckbeak ate dogs?  And Hermione
was throwing dead dogs to him?  That would be seen as distasteful and
would not be accepted by the public.
 
In all, it is hard for many (me included) to read and even harder to see
animals treated in such a manner.  I can't imagine how heartbreaking and
scary it would be to a child who has a ferret in the family.  However, I
still love the books and will continue to read them.  By the way,does
anyone know what was used for the ferrets in the movie?  They did a great
job of making them look real.
 
elizabeth
with Isabelle and Oscar (the Yanks), and Antonio (the Brit)
[Posted in FML issue 4539]