Hmm... I think we need to be VERY careful on this issue. It is far too easy to swing in one direction or the other on this, and I think the right area is a fine line between.
Let me explain a bit... Where I look is in the message of the story or the film, the point it is trying to make. A story, film or not, makes it's point through four elements: Protagonist (Main character), Antagonist (Villain, not always an 'evil person;), conflict (The primary problem of a story), and resolution (That is, how the conflict is solved).
The problem I have with such films as Harry Potter is it glorifies magic. It says that witchcraft is neither good nor evil, that it only depends upon who wields it. The primary(stated) goal of the children at Hogwarts is to become wizards and witches. This is CLEARLY against Biblical teaching.
But there are other areas where I think the line has been skewed too far in the other direction by our culture's understanding of 'Magic'. For example, The Lord of the Rings primarily portrayed 'Magic' as a BAD thing! Even the most magical character, Gandalf, was not a 'wizard' in the traditional sense, though that is what he was called. In reality, he was one of the 'Istari', a group of beings sent by the god of that trilogy to aide humanity. Gandalf, in both word and deed, is far more of a Christ or angelic figure than a 'wizard.'
Where I have a problem is where WITCHCRAFT, magics black or white, are glorified. Other forms of magic like fairies, super powers (Super man anyone? That is a form of 'Magic'), etc. are COMPLETELY fictional and are made as a means to tell the story. They are not the means by which the conflict of the story is resolved, and therefore, while they move the story along, they are NOT the point of the story.
Someone mentioned Narnia... Yes, the wardrobe was 'Magical', yet it becomes clear as one reads the series that it is Aslan who calls the children into Narnia by his own will. (As a side note: Though C.S. Lewis did NOT intend Narnia as an allegory, it quickly becomes clear that Aslan IS the Narnian personification of Jesus Christ. Such becomes evident in such complex scenes as the Stone Table, which is HIGHLY remniscent of the cross, or in such subtlties as his names, one of which is 'the king above all high kings'. At the end of the 'Voyage of the Dawn Treader', Lucy makes a remark, upon being told by Aslan that neither she nor Edmund will be able to return again, that it is not Narnia they will miss, but rather, it is Aslan himself. Aslan replies that he exists in our world as well, and that is why the children were allowed to visit Narnia for a time, that by knowing him there for a little while, they would know him better in this world.)
Meanwhile, the most 'magical' character of the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is indeed, the White Witch. And yet her craft is shown as the vile filth that it is.
Therefore, I do not believe that Narnia portrays magic as a desirable thing, whether in the books or films.
What is the lesson a film tries to teach? How does the hero of the story solve the conflict? In the Lord of the Rings (Sometimes oft rejected by Christians as Harry Potter), the hero, a plain-spoken hobbit named Frodo Baggins destroys the most sought-after power of that world, sacrificing his own life in the process. In Snow White, the heroine is saved by the courage of seven simple men, dwarves, and the love of a prince. These examples and be found all over the place, and I think we need to be careful about merely glancing the surface without delving down to see what a film or a book is truly trying to say.
Yes, as Christians we must use discression, but we should be careful not to judge a film or a book by what is on the surface, just as we should not do so when we face humanity itself. Thankyou.
