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harry potter - Are there movies and/or theatres in the wizarding world?


The wizards have their own equivalent of some Muggle entertainment/arts:



  • music - Celestina Warbeck and The Weird Sisters are professional musicians.

  • books - "The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore", "Armando Dippet: Master or Moron" and "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" are the known examples.

  • fine arts - portraits, paintings and sculptures are all around Hogwarts and The Ministry. Also rich families (like the Blacks) could afford to have personal portraits.

  • sports - Quidditch!


  • radio - Molly Weasley listens to Celestina Warbeck on the radio.

  • newspapers - The Daily Prophet and The Quibbler at least.

  • joke shops - there is at least one in Hogsmeade and the recently opened "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes".


Are there also any references to plays and movies?



Answer



Theatre - yes.


The Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts is mentioned in the Tales of Beedle the Bard. It is a wizarding school that provides education for young witches and wizards who seek a theatrical or performance career.


There are also a couple of mentions of ballet in the books: Barnabas the Barmy's attempt to teach it to trolls, and Malfoy's sneer to Harry during a Quidditch match in HP and the Chamber of Secrets.


Films - probably not.



This seems far too "technological" for the wizarding world. They don't have telephones ("fellytones?" - Mr Weasley) or television on the whole, so I doubt they'd have cinema or films either. Although it's possible, since Pottermore tells us of a precedent with television:



While they have no need of mundane domestic objects such as dishwashers or vacuum cleaners, some members of the magical community are amused by Muggle television, and a few firebrand wizards even went so far, in the early eighties, as to start a British Wizarding Broadcasting Corporation, in the hope that they would be able to have their own television channel.



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