Absolutely ridiculous. It did not have a “starring role”. There was occasionally a little drinking, but that’s all! People can be so uptight :\

Oh ffs – because little precious has never ever before been exposed to alcohol. /sarcasm. Give it a rest. Next time, mumsy dear, screen the movie yourself BEFORE you take your kid to it to see if there is anything objectionable (to you) in it. It’s called parenting, try it, it’s your job to do so – not anyone else’s.

jeeze people make such a big deal out of nothing. its all comical…hermione drinking that butterbeer was hilarious. and of course hagrid and slughorn drinking and singing that song haha classic

Um, is it just me? I assumed that butterbeer was non-alchoholic. Like “root” beer. Are these people serious?

Wow… As many others have pointed out, I’m a bit surprised that they’re making such a big fuss over the “drinking” scenes when there was torture, murder, and maiming about. Also, I was always under the impression that butterbeer was simply a delightful drink for people to enjoy, though with an ingredient that produced a drunken result in house-elves. And if it does contain alcohol, it’s clearly made out in the books to be completely neglible and ineffectual to people. Out of personal preference, I hold there is no alcohol, but that’s only my opinion.
The “tipsy Hermione” scene that they reference, I interpreted completely differently. The times I’ve seen the movie, I took Hermione’s actions as a sign of her exasperation at Ron’s and Harry’s discussion. They’re walking behind her talking about what she said in the pub about kissing Ron; and considering how far along the trail they are, they’ve been discussing it for a while now; I can understand Hermione feeling a bit exasperated. To show she was “only joking,” she puts her arms around both of her friends. Of course, Hagrid’s and Slughorn’s drunkenness is canon, but it’s always been clear in the books that Hagrid likes his drink.
I really didn’t see a serious drinking problem in the movie; it’s not like they come out and yell, “Hey! We’re going to get drunk now! You should all do the same. Got it?” If they feel like this is a legitimate problem of course, I’m glad they’re taking a stand for their views even though it does seem a bit extreme to me.

Most underage persons, and young adults, do drink. That doesn’t mean they get wasted… and even if someone did get wasted in the film, how about just trying to portray realistic teenage situations? And it’s not about portraying it as something good or something bad, but just about portraying reality.

Here in the flatlands of the US, they are running ads that basically attack parents who teach there children to drink responsibly. Apparently, once one turns 21 they magically can handle alcohol with no prior training. Of course, if they step out of line as an adult the punishment will be severe.
Whatever.

That’s really ridiculous. It actually offends me very much that someone would take one butterbeer to such an extreme view. Besides, if your child is so impressionable as to take ONE SCENE in which the main characters have ONE DRINK and go home to become an alcoholic because of it you should probably not be taking them to see the movie in which an evil overlord uses DEAD BODIES and a teenager tries to kill a professor.

LOL I had to laugh at this!!! I grew up having the last bit of my Dad’s beer since I was 2 years old. However I never saw my parents drunk. I am an adult now, and guess what? I hardly drink at all! The parent’s influence is much more effective than anything else. If you don’t want your kids seeing it…don’t let them…but I saw anothing wrong with it. If you’re worried, TALK to your kids! Discuss it with them! Be parents! (and I am one, so I can say that!)

Erin

Oh, and Butterbeer has just enough alcohol to make a House elf tipsy. Mead is stronger. It’s really good too. I had a bottle this last weekend with a friend while camping out in the countryside.
But I would say it only played a ‘supporting role’ in the conversation. (heavy sarcasm intended)

Yes, I will agree that the drinking that the movie featured did seem excessive. However, I believe they incorporated it to reflect the environment in which most teenagers do live. The movie depicted it with the assumption of realism, with portraying with fidelity the lives that students do live. Some may not like what they see, but J.K. Rowling did not idealize the universe in which her characters lived – why should the movies?

Has anyone seen anyone at hogwarts drunk?????? Apart from winky….Come on people get a grip

So Hermione downs a butterbeer, and somehow that means it gave her the courage to put her arm around Ron? I didn’t see it that way at all, especially since they were hanging out at his house all summer. They’ve been best friends for 5 years. You think that’s the first time she threw her arm around him or hugged him during that time? As for Slughorn and Hagrid, I don’t see how the way they acted promoted alcohol use. As a coping mechanism? Sure. However, I think having a couple glasses of mead after your best friend dies doesn’t make you an alcoholic.

Also, why aren’t parents upset that Harry seriously injured Malfoy without any sort of repercussions? In America violence is cool, beer and sex, not so much.

What a dingbat this writer is… I mean really… Here you have underage children brewing up “Draughts Of Death”, and love potions, and handing out lethal cursed necklaces, and you are worried about BUTTER BEER??? What a dumb ass!!! Oh, BTW would someone please hand me the bottle of Old Ogden’s? Thanx & cheers!

By the way…butterbeer does have alcohol in it…Ron says so in GOF, but it is a very small amount. I don’t think you would be able to fit enough in your stomach to get tipsy. Hey, I’ve served my kids chicken marsala…am I a bad mom?!!!

Erin