Porn in Harry Potter?

Are there hidden sexual messages in Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince? Consider these excerpts...
'There was no need to stick the wand in that hard,' he (Dumbledore) said gruffly, clambering to his feet. 'It hurt.' (p 64)
...a hole opened in the middle of all the tentaclelike branches; Hermione plunged her arm bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around her elbow; Harry and Ron tugged and wrenched at the vines, forcing the hole to open again... (p 281)
Lupin burst out laughing. 'Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my 'furry little problem'... (p 335)
'I dunno,' said Harry. 'Maybe it's better when you do it yourself, I didn't enjoy it much when Dumbledore took me along for the ride.' (p 355)
'You see?' Dumbledore said quietly, holding his wand a little higher. Harry saw a fissure in the cliff into which dark water was swirling. 'You will not object to getting a little wet?' 'No,' said Harry. 'Then take off your Invisibility Cloak... and let us take the plunge.' (p 556)

Double entendre..no?

"These passages should be read with their context in mind. Yes, when they are read in isolation, they sound like sexual innuendoes."
-- VK Kartika of Penguin India, distributor of Harry Potter books in India

"Yes, there have been instances where they have shown Harry growing up and how he is slowly getting initiated to sexuality. In case of Harry Potter, having double entendre to express sexuality will not have a negative impact on children. Showing their role model -- Harry -- as someone with natural urges will only make children consider sex as something normal."
-- Rimi Chatterjee, lecturer of English, JU

Children's literature might not be kidstuff after all. According to Fredric Wertham's 1954 book The Seduction Of The Innocent, it is replete with sexual innuendoes. Wertham also claims that comic characters like Batman and Robin are gay.


Are Batman and Robin gay?

Wertham's logic is that the two are unmarried males living together, that they sometimes sit close together on a couch in their shirt-sleeves, and that Robin's hand is sometimes shown touching Batman's arm. They slide down poles and try on different outfits. Like girls in other stories, Robin is sometimes held captive by the villains... Robin is a handsome boy, usually showing his uniform with bare legs. He often stands with legs spread, the genital region discreetly evident. Besides, Batman's lack of commitment to women is a recurrent theme. Using similar logic, critics allege that comic books like The Authority And Superman,

The Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight, The Flash, Tintin, Uncanny Xmen, Star Fleet Academy, The Darkness, Darkchylde and WildStorm promote the 'gay' agenda. Generations of kids have grown up reading Batman, Archie, Tintin, Noddy.

But is there any truth in Wertham's th eory? "Yes. A good part of popular children's literature is unsuitable for children, Indian or otherwise. Only few comic books don't have violence and sexual innuendoes. For instance, Barbie books feature scantily-clad females with unrealistic body proportions. Fairy tales perpetuate gender and social stereotypes," says Nirali Sanghi, editor of a parenting website. Here's more: Author Stephen King had once commented, "I couldn't believe that Archie could go on ignoring her in favour of that spoiled rich girl, Veronica. Betty was a blonde! And that figure!"

Archie & Co -- a bad influence on young minds?

"Countless strips feature Veronica in a revealing dress or bathing suit bringing boys to a libidinous swoon. And Betty, in her desperate moments, is also known to show off the goods," says Suresh Manchanda, an avid reader of Archie comics. According to Gulshan Rai, distributor of Archie comics: "Yes, many strips have characters in swimwear, but that's nothing compared to what the children see on TV, billboards, the Net and other media outlets."

Does that call for a ban on comics and fairy tales?

"Banning comics or any fairy tales don't make sense. Enid Blyton shows children as children. These books show children growing up. That's a better approach to reality," says Thomas Abraham, president, Penguin India.

Mae West, who mined the symbolic terrain of fairy tales, once quipped, 'I used to be Snow White, but I drifted'. These days, the social and sexual messages of fairy tales are no secret. Take Little Red Riding Hood.

An engraving with the first published version, in Paris in 1697, shows a girl in her dishabille, in bed beneath a wolf. In the plot, she has stripped out of her clothes, and the tale will end with her death in the beast's jaws. The message: In French slang, when a girl lost her virginity, it was said she'd seen the wolf. Penned by Charles Perrault for aristocrats at the court of Versailles, Le petit chaperon rouge dramatises contemporary sexual contradiction.