Family valued

‘Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban’

We’re big fans of the Harry
Potter books, and of the five, The
Prisoner of Azkaban is the best. It has the most depth of character and
genuine gothic quality. So when Chris Columbus started making HP flicks, this
was the one we were waiting for (goth makes good screen, you know). The first
film spent too much time setting up the characters and situations. The second
was actually an improvement on a fairly dull book. This one, directed by
Alfonso Cuarón of A Little Princess fame,
just rocks.

            One strength of the HP movie franchise over, say, the Spy Kids flicks, is the endless string
of truly interesting major-minor characters. In addition to Alan Rickman’s
sniveling Snape and Maggie Smith’s prim McGonagall, The Prisoner of Azkaban gives us three terrific new characters.
Emma Thompson’s silly clairvoyant, Professor Trelawney, provides some needed
comic relief. And Gary Oldman is as good as expected in the pivotal role of the
deranged, titular Sirius Black.

            But the movie flies largely on the basis of the moving
performance of David Thewlis as this year’s Defense Against the Dark Arts
professor, Lupin, a man with sadness and a secret. When you put a bunch of
great actors in a climactic scene together, it can go a few ways. The climax
here with Oldman, Thewlis, and Rickman, is as good as it gets, powerful, but
not cartoonish.

            Lila loved the movie, latching on, as always, to Emma
Watson’s scene-stealing as “the brightest witch of her age,” Hermione Granger.
But she had to hide several times. The Azkaban guards, the dementors, are
downright creepy, and a certain classic movie monster had her digging her
fingernails into my arm. We won’t take our five-year-old, and you’ll want to
think hard about bringing young children.

— Lila and Adam Wilcox

This week for families:

Cool
Kids Thurs, June 10, Mad Vocals, BHS a capella group, 7-9 p.m. | Fri, June
11, Dinner Dogs, 7-8 p.m. | Sagawa Park, Erie and Main Sts, Brockport, Free.
637-3984, www.brockportny.org.

Cumming Nature Center
6472 Gulick Rd, Naples. Native Americans and sustainability, Sun, June 13,
1-3 p.m. Tix: $10, $5 kids. | Sustainability in the small woodlot, Sat, June
12, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Tix: $15. | Hours: Sat-Sun 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tix: $3. 374-6160,
www.rmsc.org.

Eat Your Veggies Sat, June 12. Kids’ class, Bristol Garden Center, 7454 Victor Pittsford Rd,
10-11 a.m. Tix: $12. 473-5130

The Golden FishThurs, June 10. MCC Theater, Bldg 4, Brighton
Campus, 1000 E Henrietta Rd, 6:30 p.m. Free. 292-2534

High School Graduates
Banquet Fri, June 11. Puerto Rican Youth Development and Resource  Center, Casa Blanca Party House, 1270
Scottsville Rd, 6:30 p.m. 325-3570

Irish Traditions
Family Day Sun, June 13. Music, song, dance, stories, art activities,
Eisenhart Aud, RMSC, 657 East Ave, 1-5 p.m. Tix: $2. 473-4000,
www.irishrochester.org

RMSC Strasenburgh
Planetarium 657 East Ave. A Trip to
Saturn and Pluto, Saturdays 1 p.m. | The Sky Tonight, Sat 10:30 a.m. | I
See The Sky, for ages 3-5, Sat 9:30 a.m.| Dave Matthews Laser, Sat 9 p.m.
| Reserve seats. Tix: $4-$7. See “Movies” section for large-format film
showings. 271-1880

Rochester Boys Choir Now auditioning for 2004-2005 season, boys grades 2-7, Asbury First United
Methodist Church, 1050 East Ave. 381-9228, www.rochesterboyschoir.org.

Rochester Museum and
Science Center 657 East Ave. Surprise!
It’s Science, Sat, June 12, through May 2005. | Body Carnival: the Science and Fun of Being You, ongoing. | Rochester’s Frederick Douglass, through
Jan 2006. | Live Science Demos, Wed-Fri 3:30 p.m., Sat 2, 3, 4, Sun 1:30, 2:30,
3:30. | Hours: Mon-Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun 12-5 p.m. Tix: $5-$7. 271-1880, www.rmsc.org.

Seneca Park Zoo 2222
St Paul St. Family fun night, Wed, June 9, 6-8 p.m. Tix: $8.75. | Golden Link
folk singers, Sat, June 12, 3 p.m. | Mike Kornrich, one-man band, Sun, June 13,
12:30 p.m. | Hours: daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tix: $5, $4 seniors, $2 kids.
467-9453, www.senecazoo.org.

Stages Sat, June
12. Registration for summer theater programs, UpStage3, Auditorium Center, 875
E Main St, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. www.mjstages.com, 217-9491

Strong Museum 1
Manhattan Square. The Berenstein Bears
Celebrate: The Art of Stan and Jan Berenstein, through June 13. | Long-term
exhibits include National Toy Hall of
Fame, Can You Tell Me How To Get To
Sesame Street?, and Super Kids Market.
| Hours: Mon-Thurs 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Fri 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun
12-5 p.m. Tix: $7; $6 seniors, students; $5 children. 263-2700

Youth Talent Expo Sat, June 12. Baber AME Sanctuary, 550 Meigs St, 6-9 p.m. Donations. 544-0873,
461-1395

Immunizations,
historical blindness, and blame

When
our children’s grandparents were babies, every neighborhood lost children to
infectious diseases now prevented by immunization. There were no routine child
health visits. Children played in unsafe places, swam in creeks without adult
supervision, and labored in factories. This was a time before Lysol, air
fresheners, and reality TV. During that era more than 48,000 people in the US
contracted smallpox annually. Each year there were more than 170,000 cases of
diphtheria, 16,000 of paralytic polio, and 500,000 of measles.

            Times
have changed. In 2001, only two cases of diphtheria, none of polio, and 116 of
measles were reported in the US. The only smallpox in the world is in
laboratory freezers. Twenty years ago, when I was a resident at Strong
Hospital, children were admitted weekly with life-threatening Haemophilus influenza type b meningitis
and infections of bones, joints, and blood. Pediatric Department Chairman Dr.
David Smith developed a vaccine. Disease due to this germ plummeted 90 percent
in a decade.

            The
infectious scourges of the previous century are nearly extinct. Pediatric focus
has shifted to what Dr. Robert Haggerty called the “New Morbidities”: chronic
disease, stress-related problems, and learning and developmental disabilities,
among others. Prevention and treatment of these conditions seem as overwhelming
as those vaccine-preventable diseases did a century ago.

            Now
parents fear that vaccinations cause these modern diseases. Parents are alarmed
by theoretical links blaming immunizations for autism, diabetes, mental
retardation, learning disorders, and immune diseases. Rigorous studies of whole
populations have thoroughly disproved these associations between childhood
immunizations, various diseases, and immunological stress. The fears persist.

            What’s
the point? Times are still changing. We don’t seem to remember that infections
now prevented by immunizations used to cause pain, death, and heartbreak. We
want to blame modern diseases on the vaccines that prevent the old ones. If we
are victimized by this historical blindness in our longing to protect our
children, we put them at risk. It is time to move forward and look for more
responsible answers.

            Incidentally,
nothing kills more children than automobile accidents. Fasten your seat belts.

— Laurence I.
Sugarman, MD

This article appears in Jun 9-15, 2004.