There are some concerns about Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, specifically the consumption of alcohol in the film by characters who are supposed to be 16 years old.
In one scene, Harry, Ron and Hermione order butterbeers at the pub, and Hermione ends up with a frothy mustache. While it's never been entirely clear whether butterbeer is alcoholic, it seems to have an effect on the normally uptight Hermione, who acts tipsy walking home as she throws her arms around the boys.Another scene portrays the aftermath of a party at which the Hogwarts students are shown downing shots of goblinrum and gnomeJager: Ron is slumped in the corner, soaked in urine, while Harry sodomizes an unconscious Hermione, who is covered in her own vomit. Harry takes a brief pause to consider the situation, and Hermione opens her eyes and slurs, "Did I tell you to stop, motherfucker? Pound me like the deluminator that I am, because I PUT OUT!"*
Naturally, some parents worry that this might send the wrong signal to their easily-influenced children. But it's not entirely bad news.
Alcohol experts say this does not mean that children shouldn't see the new Harry Potter movie. It actually presents an opportunity for parents to talk to their children about alcohol, says Dr. Christopher Welsh, a University of Maryland psychiatrist and addiction specialist.That's right, parents, lie to your children! Drinking is never fun! Alcohol is only acceptable for consumption when it's enhancing the appreciation of a meal or providing the lubrication for a national conversation about race."I hope parents can talk to their kids and tell them even though Harry Potter made that seem fun, that it isn't O.K.," said Dr. Welsh, the author of a 2007 article about alcohol use in the Harry Potter series, published in The Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse.
*Thanks, Wikipedia!
Wait... alcohol can be used as lube?
You bet your ass!
tee hee.
Pretty sore ass if you're using alcohol as lube...
Parents could also use this as an opportunity to explain to their kids that the lower legal drinking ages in Europe, as well as a more open imbibement culture, result in more responsible and less binge drinking and drunk driving among European youths than their American counterparts.
But that ain't neva' gun happen.
Ah yes, the responsible European youth: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1182373/Welcome-binge-Britain-Polish-photographer-documents-years-drunken-revelry-Cardiff.html
I think I meant Continental, but touche.
Hot Damn! I have got to get me over to Cardiff for some of that sexy, posed, fashionably dressed debauchery. Just one negative observation about these photos: not enough vomit.
"less binge drinking"? Uh, you know that the Harry Potter movies take place in Britain, right?
I mean, I'm all for more relaxed drinking ages and an end to hypocracy, but the UK is one of the binge-drinkiest places on earth.
Actually it takes place in a weird, parallel, and somewhat backwards Britain, also known as Ireland, where there is also terrible binge drinking.
Y'all, Harry Potter takes place in Scotland, where you can walk through an airport see tens of people clustered around any given airport bar getting their drunk on. At 7 am.
Except for the London parts of HP, which take place in London, where people are still emerging, blinking blearily, from clubs at 9 or 10 am on any given weekday, to buy cans of cider at local off-licences and then fall asleep in pools of their own vomit on the tube on the way home, during the morning rush hour.
God bless you, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland!
Indeed. Way way too clean. And not enough brawling.
You did mean continental. The UK is famous as the place that cannot handle liquor, (or sex, or pot, or just about anything else that is fun).
Yay Puritans.
I lived in France for a year and the kids there weren't exactly master liquor handlers, despite all that early training.
This nation once had lower drinking ages. And then Mothers Against Drunk Driving changed the laws in every state so that people who can legally change the course of history through voting, or firing intercontinental ballistic missiles, can not make mature decisions about their own behavior. Because we're nothing if not a nation that over-responds to symptoms, rather than causes.
yeah, and fewer dead kids on the road is such a terrible thing. Also.
Ok. So I'm a huge freaking Harry Potter nerd. Sad tragic freak flag is flying strong over here.
Unfortunately, I can point out the following things:
1) Harry's been drinking butterbeer since book 3, when he was 13, when a professor gave him some. The professor later turned out to be a werewolf, but that is immaterial.
2) Butterbeer is said to "not be strong". Winky the house elf (who's maybe 3 ft tall and teensy) gets plastered after having 3 bottles over the course of a day.
This stuff is clearly so mildly alcoholic that it makes Budwiser look like Delirium Tremens.
Perhaps Hermione's throwing her arms around Ron and Harry has more to do with the fact that she's 16 and horny, not 16 and drunk.
3)No, I don't live alone in my parents basement, and lost my virginity at a perfectly respectable age, thank you.
Also! I have thought of more things! In Half Blood Prince, Ron nearly dies from drinking mead given to him by a professor, which is a pretty strong anti-drinking statement. The entire cast of characters in the books repeatedly talks about attempting to get their hands on "firewhisky", albeit unsuccessfully.
And, um, I spelled Budweiser wrong up there in my previous comment.
My third grade teacher taught us this great old mnemonic device, "I before E except in Budweiser". Thanks Mr. Malloy!
And also -- in the book when Slughorne and Hagrid are getting loaded and Harry is looking to get the hidden memory from Slughorne, Harry refuses to drink (the felix felicis is "telling" him not to) in order to stay on top of his game. So there too!
Enhancing the appreciation of a meal made up of more alcohol? Agreed.
Well, it could be worse:
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2009/200907/20090720/article_407995.htm
Megan Fox is to blame for that one.
Oh, they're European. Come on.
Jesus Fuckiing Christ, are you all blind? The world of Harry Potter is immersed in black magic, witchcraft, demon shenanigans and Satan worship! Who gives a shit if they are drunk, drugged, hopped up and horny? They Are All Gonna Burn In Hell! Parents should take this opportunity to tell their children they will beat them senseless if they ever catch them studying the Black Arts! In fact, if a little underage drinking will keep lil' Johnny and Janie from falling into the service of Lucifer, then bring on the booze. If Harry Potter and his fantastical adventures were just works of fiction, that would be different. But we all know this stuff is for real, right?
I would also like to add:
"Alcohol experts"? Oh you mean: me.
Ha, helicopter!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD3-fu-OazY
Drunken sodomy is a teaching moment.
Well then I know a lot of geniuses.
Oh, these targeted ads. Stop drinking? Only 10 MINUTES A DAY!?
There are two more morally approved uses for alcohol.
Cleaning out the gene pool & Advancing the cause of procreation. Be sure to tell your kids how a night of Clamatoe and Clamazipan lead to the god given miracle of birth.
i read that as "stop drinking alcohol for 10 minutes a day"
Harry Potter and the .10 Blood Alcohol Content Prince
My favorite part of the movie is where Harry is all, but I gave her my grandmother's Holocaust ring! And his friend is all, I didn't know they gave out rings at the Holocaust. Good times.
My kind of parenting: “That’s because these children are very talented. They can do magic. Johnny, can you do magic? No, I didn’t think so. Apple juice for you!”