It's both a warm and a fuzzy sentiment, but it's also a cliche, dammit!

[capri0mni]

You know, it seems nearly every time the American Broadcasting Corporation has nothing to do but throw in the towel when it comes to the ratings battle for Saturday night (as they did last night, when the NCAA Basketball "Final Four" games were running on CBS), they repeat broadcast the first Harry Potter movie.

I've never seen it in the theaters, but I've seen it, or at least, flipped over it, about four or five times on my small screen (and, omigosh! didn't they all look so young, back then?).

Anyway, I happened to flip to it toward the end, last night, when Dumbledore is sitting by Harry's bedside, in the infirmary, and explaining why that evil wizard, whazzisname, crumbled when he touched Harry's skin:

It was all because of the Power of Love; Harry's mother's mother-love, and her Most Noble Sacrifice[tm] impregnated itself into his very skin. And we all know that Evil cannot withstand Love.

Yeah... yeah. Yadda-yadda-yadda, and so forth. You know, just once (okay, to be honest, a dozen times or so would be nice, too), I'd like to hear, in all these stories, at least some explaination as to why love is so powerful, and why evil must crumble before it, even if that explaination is just techno- magi-babble. And I would give each writer shiny bonus points, and a chocolate chip cookie, if she or he could come up with a different answer per story.

Something like: "The bond of love unites people, so that when someone loves you, it's like you're fighting two-against-one. And people who choose the path of evil cut themselves off from everyone, so their powers are halved."

...Something like that. Love is more than a wishy-washy palliative against the world. There are real consequences to it, and real responsibilities that go along with it. It deserves to be treated with more respect than some warm-and-fuzzy deus ex machina.

You know?

Comments

[driftingfocus.livejournal.com]

"Love is more than a wishy-washy palliative against the world. There are real consequences to it, and real responsibilities that go along with it. It deserves to be treated with more respect than some warm-and-fuzzy deus ex machina."

Hear, hear!

In all seriousness though, I agree. I mean, I do like that at least it's not the 'puppies and kittens' version of love you often see in other books for children that age, but it does seem rather...undervalued.

Also, hi! I found you somewhat randomly, and you seem rather interesting. Care to be LJ friends?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Also, hi!

Hello there!

I found you somewhat randomly, and you seem rather interesting.

*Toddles off to read your profile, to see just how random "somewhat" is*

...Ah. Through quakers, mayhaps?

Care to be LJ friends?

Sure! Especially since you had the good form to introduce yourself...

[driftingfocus.livejournal.com]

It was indeed through quakers. I periodically go through and click on random members of communities I belong to, to see what sorts of people turn up. I've made many a good friend this way, actually.

Wonderful!

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

'Love' seems to be a one-word standalone substitute for 'God' in those cases. Similarly, so is 'good' sometimes.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yes, well. "Good" and "God" were once the same word... or at least, they sprouted off from the same root, very close to the ground...

BTW the Irish God Dagda was known as "The Good God" -- not good in the moral sense, per se, just very good at his job.

[indefatigable42.livejournal.com]

Ooh. This makes me really want to ask if there was also a Mediocre God. ^^

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

There may have been, but I don't think anyone would actually want to call him or her that, out loud. Even a mediocre god has more power than a really skilled human. ;-)