Wizard Encounter

This afternoon, Mom and I were driving down 46 Avenue in Leduc when we spotted a wizard. We were driving quite slowly because there was a line of cars waiting to turn right, so we got a good look at him. He was a bearded white fellow in his 30s wearing black and red robes and a black hooded cloak. He was using a tall gold staff with a large disc at its midpoint, and on his cloaked back were written the words "Love Light." (I didn't see those words myself; Mom observed his retreating form as we completed our right turn.) 

During the encounter the wizard smiled and waved at us as if to reassure us that our eyes had not deceived us. I'm glad Mom was there, otherwise I might have feared I was hallucinating. 

Strange Days Indeed

A rich, arrogant genius with intimacy issues suffers a life-altering medical trauma and emerges as a better man by applying his innate skills to open up amazing new possibilities, step past his own selfishness and change the world for the better. Along the way he faces a forgettable villain who betrayed his own people and joins a wider community of fellow heroes. Yes, it's Iron Man all over again, except this time the hero is a doctor instead of an arms dealer and he solves problems with magic instead of technology.

There's a reason why the Marvel movies are accused of relying too heavily on formula, and Doctor Strange exemplifies the reasons why doing so can significantly hamper the meaning and impact of each successive film in the series. Yes, Doctor Strange offers amazing visuals, witty tongue-in-cheek humour and fine performances; it's a perfectly well-crafted film. But we've seen all this before. How difficult would it have been to join Strange in medias rez, facing a truly mind-bending magical problem? Why not tell the story through the eyes of Wong, presenting Strange as a truly strange and dangerous force of nature, a man ruthless enough to pursue a truly utilitarian worldview, sacrificing what he must for the greater good?

That's just one suggestion out of endless storytelling avenues. Surely with a canvas as rich as the entire Marvel universe, the various creators behind these films can do better.

Harry Potter and the Mid-Life Crisis

Several years ago, Sylvia presented me with a boxed set of the Harry Potter books for my birthday. I was delighted, for friends whose opinions I trust raved about the books.

I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone almost immediately, and while I was impressed by J.K. Rowling's worldbuilding and the sophisticated (for the genre) twist ending, I was left a little underwhelmed. It certainly didn't feel like a book that deserved such phenomenal acclaim. Perhaps I was comparing Harry Potter unfavourably to Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic, which had tread much of the same territory some years previously.

The next few titles left me feeling much the same way; I appreciated them, but I didn't adore them. In fact, I read the books at a very leisurely pace, cracking one open every couple of years.

It wasn't until Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that I started to feel truly invested in the characters and the main story arc. Even midway through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I began to feel as though I was simply too old and set in my prejudices to embrace the books properly - just as I felt about the latest Star Wars film.

But, determined to finish, last night I came to bed and resolved to wrap up the series. And then, at about the point when Harry and his friends were finally starting to turn things around, the magic happened - so to speak. Suddenly I saw how carefully Rowling had constructed her fantasy world, how skillfully she developed her characters, their relationships, and the themes holding the story together. And when Harry learns the truth about everything, I had to keep myself from a little cry of exultation lest I wake up Sylvia.

I'm very grateful I managed to finish the series unspoiled, so I won't go into much detail lest I ruin the experience for others. In the end, the series is a triumph of children's and fantasy literature, and stands as a compelling, cohesive work. Not only that, it reminded me of how exquisitely felt are the emotions of adolescence and early adulthood. There's nothing quite as sweet as the pain and joy of young romance and the quest to discover yourself, and Rowling captured that experience masterfully. For a couple of hours last night, I felt young again.

Perhaps in a decade or two I'll read the series one more time, start to finish, with less jaded eyes. I think I owe Rowling that much. 

Eldritch Blasts

By now regular readers will know that I get together with friends on a regular basis to play Dungeons and Dragons. Two of my friends, Scott and Mike, have characters who wield the fearsome "eldritch blast," a magic bolt of energy used to fell foes. In this panel from an issue of Marvel Two-in-One, a magical miscreant uses that very power to assault an innocent bystander.

According to the Oxford dictionary, eldritch means "weird and sinister or ghostly." The spell's name is therefore thematically appropriate for Dungeons and Dragons and comic books alike; on the other hand, I'd hate to have to tell an ER doctor that I was hit by "weird, sinister or ghostly energy." It wouldn't give her much to go on. D&D clerics, presumably, would know exactly what to do.