Last night I stole away from my sleeping family, drove down to the multiplex, and witnessed something magical. That would be the conclusion to Harry Potter's long running and beloved on-screen saga; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. The title is unfortunately long winded, and yet the movie doesn't feel nearly as drawn-out as the 130 minute run time would suggest. From curtain to curtain J.K. Rowling's latest Hollywood payday is jam-packed with both action and adventure, wizards and wands, love and loss; and I thoroughly enjoyed each moment of it.
But I was also happy to see the whole thing end, despite my affections for Harry, Ron, and a suddenly very grown up Hermione. I suppose in some way I was happy to hear a decade of magic talk come to a close. While the books and movies will live on in the cultural conversation for generations to come, and who knows how much longer after that, at least for the next little while we won't be hearing so much chatter about muggles and Hufflepuffs.
Magic is the central supposition of Harry Potter, but it's also the part of the story that routinely itches at me. See, I tend to like plausibility in my fiction. How are these little wizards making these things happen? When they wave their wands and say these magical words, who precisely is it that's listening? At least in science fiction attempts are made to explain why and how certain people have certain powers, but the best excuse in tales of sorcery is always the same. "It's just magic."
Now, before you roll your eyes keep in mind that I've already called myself a big fan. Obviously I can suspend my disbelief about the magic stuff, and indeed I could totally watch another movie or two if they were forthcoming. Nor do I begrudge the hardcore fans of the series their good times; many of whom were taught a love of reading by J.K. Rowling's imaginative books. Potter was a series I initially ignored but grew to love, and I'm not taking a single thing away from it.
All I'm saying is this; there's almost certainly no such thing as magic in this world, and now that Harry Potter is over, I'm happy to be finished talking about it for a while.
Ah, the party topic that everybody loves. The most controversial statement that a skeptic can utter to a mixed crowd. "There is no such thing as magic!" More so than specific beliefs about religions or various post-death survival schemes, the idea of some sort of magic existing somewhere is the one idea that most people desperately cling to. Yet to the skeptic it's one that we can't help but wholly reject.
According to (most) skeptics, we live in a Universe devoid of magic. A cosmos governed by physical laws, and nothing else besides that. That's because there's never been any good evidence for anything remotely magical, and skeptics tend to like that evidence stuff. To the rest of the world, that possibility seems to be a terrifying and vacant prospect. Plenty of people in today's culture have rejected formal religion, some of them as a direct result of learning about science. Many don't believe in a deity of any kind, but no magic? If that's the case, then what possible reason could there be to live?
Non sequiturs aside, keep in mind that I'm not suggesting your average person believes there's a Diagon Alley hidden in every mid-sized town. Rather it seems that folks are tied to the notion that in at least some abstract way, magic must exist; at least somewhere, at least in some form. But what does the word even mean? The Oxford definition is as follows:
magic |?majik|
noun
The power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces
Yet I think to many the concept is broader than that, or at least a certain degree fuzzier. The word magic doesn't necessarily have to be a magical act performed by a conjurer, but can also mean some special spark at the center of living things. In fact it's been given a million meanings beyond that. The only important defining characteristic of magic seems to be that it's something unconstrained by natural laws. It's the idea that some things can escape these laws and exist in a supernatural state. And by leaving the door open for the supernatural, all sorts of possibilities remain, well, possible.
If magic exists in any form, then anything is possible; maybe even the soul surviving death. And if the souls of the dead are still around somewhere, maybe we can talk to them? And if that's possible, why not E.S.P.? Or even 75 million year old dudes named Xenu? Despite the fact that every shred of evidence suggests that none of these things exist, the very concept of magic gives each one of them some intellectually lazy form of credibility. What possible argument could one make to defeat these notions when the words "it's just magic" are considered a suitable rebuttal?
People don't expect to see magic in their immediate surroundings. Sure, there are kooks everywhere, but keep in mind how many people there are on this planet. Very few of them insist that they've seen supernatural things first hand, and almost nobody's claimed to have done something magical themselves. You'd have to be completely batshit to invoke a supernatural excuse in a court of law. Why? Well because there's simply no evidence in our immediate surroundings of anything magical. When it comes to the likelihood of magic in their immediate spheres, most folks are dyed-in-the-wool skeptics.
People only really allow themselves the luxury of belief in magic when it's kept at a very far distance, be it in space or time. Or perhaps they posit that magic happens only in hidden places, or at very small scales. They therefore preserve their beliefs by storing them beyond the borders of observation. The only difference between skeptics and everyone else is that we tend to extrapolate the local trend of reality outwards to the Universe.
Sure, I could wax poetic about the magic of the real world, as I've often done in the past. Indeed this whole blog is aimed at highlighting the incredible things man can observe or create using the 'magic' of their own minds. The universe is, in some ways of looking at it, a magical place; and in those same ways we indeed are magical creatures.
I could draw that comparison, but won't be doing so today. Today's a day for something entirely different. I loved every aspect of the Harry Potter movies, and I wouldn't have changed a thing about them. But after a decade of having to suspend disbelief for the sake of a good yarn, today I'm feeling quite fond of reality.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/BradBlogspeed/~3/mmhHA00jII4/away-with-potter-and-his-magical-magic
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