Drinking Scenes Pervasive in New Harry Potter Movie

Alcohol use is highly prevalent in the latest Harry Potter movie, with characters frequently quaffing mead and other forms of alcoholic beverages in key scenes, the New York Times reported July 28.

Key figures in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” are shown drinking, including a scene where Harry himself engages in celebratory imbibing with his professors. Hermoine, Neville, and Ron are also shown drinking at various points in the film. Hagrid, their mentor, gets drunk and passes out.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books and films follow these characters from a young age, but the latest installment depicts them as 16-year-olds coming of age and enjoying some new freedoms — including an unchaperoned trip to a pub near their school. After drinking at the bar, Hermoine is shown to be tipsy, putting her arms around her male companions.

Some criticized the film for portraying alcohol use as a way to deal with stress and sorrow. “Hermoine is such a tightly wound young lady, but she’s liberated by some butterbeer,” said Liz Pearl, editor of Common Sense Media, which provides reviews of children’s’ movies, books, and online content. “The message is that it gives you liquid courage to put your arms around the guy you really like but are afraid to.”

But Daniel Issacs, a New York parent of a nine-year-old Potter fan, said, “The Harry Potter universe is not our own. Trying to put 2009 American norms into play seems kind of silly. Plus, in a world where dark wizards are kidnapping or killing people on a regular basis, a little underage drinking is the least of their problems.”

In the U.K., where the film is set, 16-year-olds can order alcoholic drinks if they are eating a meal, but the Potter characters were not shown eating at the pub.

Warner Brothers studio said their intent was to remain faithful to the Rowling books and said the scenes shown in the film “should not be held to the same standards as the real world.”