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All Muslims advocate terrorism.

All Mexican day laborers are illegal aliens.

All elves are blonde, fair-skinned archers.

Grand, sweeping statements about a particular class or genre inevitably prove false once a closer examination of the individuals within that genre is made. That is the nature of stereotypes.

The fantasy genre is not immune from stereotypes. If we were to play a little word association, and I said "fantasy," a common response would be "magic." The two words are so closely linked, they have become synonymous in the minds of many. The practice of magic is unlawful for the members of some of the major religions, and because of the subconscious ties between fantasy books and magic, the claim of sending bad messages is made.

Not all fantasy books deal with magic, however. The fantasy genre contains a wide range of stories that blur the lines between romance, history and literary. A book that depicts a dragon-based air force in early 19th century England can be labeled fantasy as easily as dueling wizards in a feudal land far, far away.

Fantasy books often personify the conflict of good versus evil. Personification does not constitute sending a message, though. Messages are shaped by the pen of the author through the themes they explore and the context they give. The genre of a story has little to do with it.

The Bible contains stories of people who use magic, but it isn't until we see who uses magic and how magic is used by those seeking to subvert the authority of God that we can understand the Bible's message.

In C. S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, "deeper magic from before the dawn of time" is responsible for Aslan's resurrection, yet the scene is an allegory for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The presence of magic in the book has no impact on the value of the message.

Harry Potter received his fair share of criticism for sending bad messages to youth. One of those messages was the promotion of witchcraft, but a lot of complaints dealt with young Potter's repeated breaking of the rules. A message of rebellion against authority is hardly constrained to fantasy books, nor is it necessarily a bad message if that authority is abusive or unjust.

Not all fantasy books are the same. A genre of books does not send messages; individual authors send messages through the books they write. To say otherwise creates a stereotype.

Learn more about this author, Kameron M. Franklin.
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