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Harry Potter, the Closet Wizard

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Posted Tuesday, Oct. 26, 1999, at 8:30 PM ET

In South Carolina, the state board of education is considering whether the popular Harry Potter children's books should be banned from school libraries because of their upbeat depiction of witchcraft, wizardry, and other dark arts. Some parents there fear the books could stoke interest in violence and Satanism. In August, Polly Shulman and A.O. Scott discussed the subversive themes of the Potter books--including whether Potter's wizardry is a metaphor for homosexuality--and predicted the current brouhaha.

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