“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is, by far, the most disturbing of the three movies. It emphasizes the occult far more and its plot – pursuit by a convicted murderer – is scary. With beautiful but frightening music, the colors, costumes, and themes of the movie are foreboding and eerie. The acting, directing by Alfonso Cuarón ("A Little Princess", "Y Tu Mama Tambien), sets and cinematography are of the highest quality, however, even if the plot is confusing and flounders. Overall, the film is a cinematic success.

Though perhaps assisted by the very forces she unveils in her novels, Rowling’s success with children is a sign of the times. After all, Harry Potter is an emotionally abused orphan – a scenario that resonates with an astonishing number of children today. There are more than 500,000 children in foster care in this country, with 18,000 being “emancipated” into adulthood every year. That number increased 35 percent during the 1990s and continues to rise. Single-parent homes, where children experience the emotional and/or physical abandonment of one parent, have also grown dramatically, as have sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children. Kids live in a violent, volatile, desperate world, and it is the rare child who has two emotionally stable, nurturing parents to protect him.

The goal of magic and witchcraft is to thwart the natural world, manipulating people and circumstances according to our own desires. For children who feel helpless to change their circumstances – and who are angry at adults – the anti-authoritarian, supernatural power in Harry Potter’s wand must be incredibly enticing. Can we blame them for being fascinated? Rowling allows children to escape, if only for a few hours, from abandonment and alienation into a magical place, a bewitching world of the 21st century mixed with the past (castles, candles and carriages) inhabited by interesting, powerful characters who control the world they live in.

A strong message in “Harry Potter” is that children are inherently superior, or at least equal in knowledge, to adults, which gives them the right to disrespect authority – something that Rowling’s characters do with great regularity. The occult world of Harry Potter also offers a dangerous message about overcoming the natural world with magic, which has the potential to ensnare children and adults. This is another sign of the times, and a hallmark of postmodernity.

The greatest danger with Harry Potter, however, lies in our own world: the world where children are abandoned to babysitters, daycare centers, mismanaged schools and television every day. There, as they face long hours without loving, human interaction and supervision, they may well conjure up a “magic” all their own, using drugs, sex, crime and old-fashioned rebellion to escape their pain. 

Parents are right to be concerned about Harry Potter. But of far greater concern is the way we influence our children, long before they ever get to a movie theatre or a bookstore.