Articles like this are so melodramatic, they make me want to set myself on fire!
For those of you who are too lazy to read the link, the gist of the story is that in the new Harry Potter movie, there are a lot of drinking scenes. As in, the kids are at a party where butterbeer is being served. Or they're sipping mead. And Harry purposely gets two of his professors drunk in order to extract needed information from them.
First, let's attack talk about the American drinking age. It's a common argument, but that doesn't negate its logic: at 18, you can legally drive a car, fly a plane, buy a shotgun, have consensual . . . children with another adult, and die for your country in the armed services. But you can't have a beer. Sorry. No other first-world country has a drinking age as high as ours, and only three others have one over 18. If you look at it that way, these kids (who are under supervision most of the time) are completely within their rights.
Second, as the article points out, butterbeer is never really explained in the books. It may be somewhat alcoholic (she mentiones that house-elves can't take as much as humans) but everyone drinks it, and no negative consequences ensue. People, this is how we should be teaching our children about alcohol. If we have no positive examples to offer them, they will learn the negative ones.
Third, I wonder whether copious amounts of alcohol would result in more state secrets than waterboarding? It worked on Professor Slughorn. And I don't think it constitutes "cruel and unusual," unless the alcohol in question was light beer. Just wondering.
For those of you who are too lazy to read the link, the gist of the story is that in the new Harry Potter movie, there are a lot of drinking scenes. As in, the kids are at a party where butterbeer is being served. Or they're sipping mead. And Harry purposely gets two of his professors drunk in order to extract needed information from them.
First, let's attack talk about the American drinking age. It's a common argument, but that doesn't negate its logic: at 18, you can legally drive a car, fly a plane, buy a shotgun, have consensual . . . children with another adult, and die for your country in the armed services. But you can't have a beer. Sorry. No other first-world country has a drinking age as high as ours, and only three others have one over 18. If you look at it that way, these kids (who are under supervision most of the time) are completely within their rights.
Second, as the article points out, butterbeer is never really explained in the books. It may be somewhat alcoholic (she mentiones that house-elves can't take as much as humans) but everyone drinks it, and no negative consequences ensue. People, this is how we should be teaching our children about alcohol. If we have no positive examples to offer them, they will learn the negative ones.
Third, I wonder whether copious amounts of alcohol would result in more state secrets than waterboarding? It worked on Professor Slughorn. And I don't think it constitutes "cruel and unusual," unless the alcohol in question was light beer. Just wondering.
