Straddling a broom on a balcony and ready to fly, a nine-year-old boy in Lanzhou of northwest China, is itching to have Harry Potter's magic.
If he had jumped out of the balcony on that broom, he would have died, said Li Ying, mother of the grade-three primary school student.
"I didn't take it seriously when he said he wanted to quit school and learn magic when we came back from the theater," She said.
"But it took me hours to get him to believe Harry Potter and his magic were all fictional," she said.
To get rid of her son's obsession with Harry Potter, Li talked about the many storybooks she had bought for her son and forbad him to emulate that apprentice wizard boy.
The resistance from the child was strong. Quoting his teacher's comments about the film's excellent plot design, the boy said that Harry Potter was brave and kind.
"Hadn't he used the courage and wisdom to beat down the evil? There's nothing wrong with me seeing the movie," said the boy.
Wang Sihua, an expert on child psychology, said that the film's worldwide popularity is proof of its value.
Since magic can also be found in Chinese fairy tales and myths, the best way to prevent children mimicking dangerous actions is to guide them when they watch movies and read novels, Wang said.
(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2002)
