Howl's Moving Castle (and is magic ok or not.)

This topic does not really fit with Holy week (which at the time of writing this, it is) but I’m going to write about this anyway. I said I would next time, and I should while the iron is still hot.

Howl’s Moving Castle. A rather fun children’s story. I have listened to it once and read through most of it again.

First off I want to talk about something that is not about the story but is related to the storytelling, magic. Now I grew up in a very conservative household where most forms of magic in storytelling were looked down on. My mom does not even like a lot of classic Disney movies because of the heavy magic use and influence. After a recent conversation with her, I can see her point. If you have a child who is interested in magic, and they start looking for it in the real world, what are they going to find? It ain’t good, I can tell you that. In stories, we like to say there is good and bad magic – black magic. But in the real world, there is no good or bad magic – it’s just magic and to my knowledge, it’s all along the lines of dark. If you’re messing with magic, you’re getting into the spiritual realm, in other words, you’re getting involved with demons. Angels, and anything of God, does not involve magic. You don’t use spells or divination or anything like that to commune with God. You can pray, but God does the work, it’s nothing you do.

So in your story, you have people casting spells, making magic potions, or saying magic words. Well, the real-world equivalent is not something you want to touch with a ten-foot pool. Demons and the spiritual world is no joking matter. I have even talked to people who did dabble in it, and they were quick to say you don’t want to anger a spirit, and interesting/funny enough they said if you did get yourself in trouble, your only hope was to go to a church and pray!

So why are we normalizing this for our children? We fill books and movies with magic and act as if (and may probably think) there is no harm in it.

And yet the flip side is almost right there too. People have always been interested in things that are different than reality. Any child with half an imagination can come up with many of the concepts that are in “magical” stories. Flight, invisibility, even resurrection, and otherworldly powers. We love fun and exciting stories, full of things outside of reality. It’s a way to escape reality. And this is not new. Any mythology from anywhere is full of this, whether it be a supposed god, or a child of a god, or someone just favored by the gods. These unearthly powers or gifts are in essence, magical powers. I talked about reading Brother Grimm’s Fairy tales. Those are full of magic. Most fairy tale stories have magic of some sort. I would argue that for most of history, magic was more commonplace. It was normal in most places, and they probably better understood what it was too. I’m not saying that makes it ok or any less dangerous. The real stuff that is. But I think it’s almost human nature to make up things that are “magical.”

Whether it was the Puritans or the Victorians, or (more likely) modernization and a better understanding of how the world works, and things that could not be explained, now understood, that for a time, magic became used less and maybe more of a taboo. In more recent years it is coming more and more into popular culture again. Maybe it’s the influence of other cultures, or maybe people being thirsty for some sort of spiritual connection and magic being a byproduct of that. (I could go into a whole discussion about a lack of spiritualness in the church and how people are seeking it, and because they can’t find it in the church they are looking else were, but that’s a whole nother discussion.)

So what this boils down to is, is magic dangerous, or am I overthinking this? Here is the conclusion I’ve come to, you need to be aware of what you can and cannot handle. I think this is important for more than just magical matters. There’s a lot in our world and culture that we have let in, or have come to accept because it has slowly seeped in (that I think we need to be more aware of) but, again, that is a discussion for another time. You need to be aware of what you, and your children, can or cannot handle. If your child is likely to take a strong interest in magic, and everything they do is going to be wrapped up in magic. And especially if they are going to start looking up what things are like in the real world, or how they can get involved with it, you should put on the brakes. A good talk/discussion with them, whether they are interested or not, might be in order. (Unless such a thing is going to just make them more interested, then you just may need to hold off.) Maybe explain that magic is just something used to make the story more exciting. Maybe even bring up how dangerous it can be in the real world.

In the end, I can only give you my suggestions and 2 cents. You are your children’s parent and your life is your own. For myself, I find a lot of magical stuff very interesting. But I also try to leave it as it comes. It’s a part of the story. Recognize it and leave it. (After all, I’m writing my own fantasy stories, but the true magical elements I try not to use or bring up much. I don’t think I even use the term “magic” in it.)

Anyway, this has taken longer than I thought it would, and I have not even talked about Howl’s Moving Castle.

Simply, I enjoyed it. There were some things that were not explained real well, or I would like a better understanding of (like Miss Angorian), but the story was fun and funny. I will try not to give any spoilers, not any more than reading the back of the book would give anyway. I particularly enjoyed Sophie, and how after she becomes old she has a lot of spunk and sass. She very much has the attitude of “if I do something you told me not to, what are you going to do about it? I’m a 90-year-old woman. You can’t intimidate me!” Her quick retorts were great. As a romantic, I wish the romance had been fleshed out a bit more, but it’s a children’s story. When I listened to it, near the end it felt like there was a lot happening at once, but when I read it, the passing felt fine.

The character of Howl being not such a great guy and having many faults was kind of refreshing. He’s not as bad as you first think, or he comes a crossed as, but he is still a foppish dandy.

I enjoyed it more than the movie, but the two were quite different. The first half was close, and then it changed. The themes and points of the stories were quite different. But interestingly enough, from what I could gather, the author was fine with it.

Slight Spoiler: The incorporation of the real world and dimension traveling took me by surprise. When I was listening to it, I was lost until the boy said to Howl “plug it back in.”Only then did I realize it was a computer and 2 and 2 came together. Maybe I’m just slow.

Anyway, after my dissection at the beginning and you are ok with magic, I would recommend the book Howl’s Moving Castle. There are two more books related to it too. I have listened to one. It was good, but Howl’s was better I think.

Well, that will be all for now.

God Bless