Orson Scott Card’s written a thoughtful piece about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that I believe deserves to be broadened a bit. While I wouldn’t go as far as he does in his paen of praise for J.K Rowling and Harry Potter, he does make key observation:
Literature matters only to the degree that it shapes and changes human behavior by making the audience wish to be better because they read it.
It becomes importantly bad only to the degree that it entices the audience to revel in actions and memories that debase the culture that embraces it.
Indeed. And not just because such a statement runs completely counter to the subliterate views of American English departments and hoity-toity “lit-ra-chure” critics. No, that statement deserves attention because it is true not only of the written word but of music and all the other arts as well.
Crap music is crap as much for the content of its lyrics (and underlying musical structure–such as it may be) as because the performers can’t find or reproduce pitches. Crap (graphic) “art” is indeed crap as much for its content (such as a crucifix in a jar of urine) as for the lack of ability of its “creators” to draw a straight line… or a beautiful one.
And Card’s comment reminds me yet again of the much-neglected (actually, more offten sneered at) Principles of Classicism that embody precisely the ethoc Card evokes:
- balance
- clarity
- accessibility
- expressiveness
- edification
It is, of course, the last element, edification–Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement–thatCard alludes to. Face it: not only is there a great lack of beauty in the arts today, but the very idea of contributing to the “Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement” of one’s readers, listeners or observers just doesn’t seem to enter into the minds (or hearts, if such there may be) of the fake “artists” that populate the wasteland of literature, the graphic and performing arts today.
Actually, one of the reasons I so appreciated “So You Think You Can Dance?” and dubbed it the best TV of the season was because every single show offered something of beauty–not all the routines were beautiful, but many were. And it also offered me lessons weekly in appreciating dance, as the judges proffered their mini-tutorials in dance form and performance. So, along with some truly beautiful performances, I gained some insight. Now that’s not exactly “Intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement” but it’s certainly better than 99.99999% of the crap that’s available as “art” today.
As to the Harry Potter books, well, I think Card accords them much more greatness than is their due largely because the wasteland of literature nowadays offers so little to compare them with in contemporary writing. So what if they all have the same plot and same tired old devices? At least, as Card clearly points out, there’s a grand moral theme running through them all (even the silliest early ones) and characters we can admire and despise, and we can be better persons for emulating Harry or Hermione or Ron or …Neville (and perhaps especially him).
That’s more right there than can be said of almost all of the “great” literature of the 20th Century… *sigh*