Oh, Come ON!

Posted 20 July, 2007 in Unbelievable |

Just when I thought it couldn’t possibly get any worse, I read this in the Guardian:

As a trickle of leaks and early reviews lends rising weight to the rumours that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will see the demise of several of the series’ key characters, ChildLine has announced that it will be laying on extra staff to cope with an expected surge in calls from grief-stricken fans.

The helpline, which offers a free and confidential 24-hour counselling service to children and young people, has asked its volunteers to take on extra shifts over the coming days, on the grounds that the death of a well-loved character could spark feelings of “loss and bereavement” among younger readers. Waterstone’s, which is hosting a glittering launch party at its flagship store on Piccadilly this evening, is making a donation to ChildLine to help alleviate the burden of the anticipated increase in caller numbers.

“For many children, Harry Potter and his friends have become a major part of their childhood,” explained Kate Trench, a senior supervisor with ChildLine. “Death and loss of any kind can make children feel upset, angry and afraid. The story could bring back unhappy memories for children who have lost friends, relatives or pets.” The helpline took calls from a “significant number” of children when boy band Take That split up.

Jesus wept.

Has it really come to this? When children’s distress lines feel the need to augment their staff in preparation for calls to help deal with the grief caused by the deaths of fictional characters (or the breakup of a boy band, for that matter), something has got completely fucked up in our society. If children or adolescents can’t make the rudimentary distinction between fictional characters and real people, does no one else see this as a danger sign? Does no one else consider this an indication that something in our culture has gone seriously off the rails?

Rather than publishers and their author making platitudinous comments about maintaining a bizarre and hubristic marketing-oriented sales embargo to prevent leaked plot details prior to a book’s onsale date, and claiming that they are going to such lengths “for the children,” perhaps their energy would be better directed towards considering how as a society we arrived at this point.

If J.K. Rowling and the folks at Bloomsbury, Scholastic, and Raincoast really want to do something “for the children,” perhaps they could start by explaining to them the difference between fiction and reality.

We have to do something. If the above isn’t a clear sign that our culture needs a very large wake-up call, I’m not sure what it’s going to take.

Christ almighty.

Your comment: