Narnia Disney 2005, PG-13

 

  

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

 

From Book to Movie—by Rachel

 

While some of us may carry around leftover legalistic inner debates over whether or not cinema can ever live up to literature, Disney gives us another opportunity to examine a movie which dares to stick closely to the book on which it is patterned. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe based on the book by that same title by C. S. Lewis, and co-produced by his step-son, Douglas Gresham, captures the story of the Pevensie children who enter the magical world of Narnia through a wardrobe. They discover a wintry world ruled by a wicked white witch, and find that when one of them, Edmund, falls into an alliance with her, the true lion king of Narnia, Aslan, must die to save him—and then rise again to rescue the rest of Narnia.

 

Some have dubbed Lewis the “apostle to the skeptic” based on his nonfiction works such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. In these and similar works, he takes readers on a rigorous ride through logical apologetics which helps elevate Christianity in the minds of the intellectual. These books are no less valuable for those who have accepted Christianity on church/parental authority, only to find that a shaky foundation. Lewis is so celebrated among conservatives that many Christians forget that he does not fit the usual idea of evangelical or fundamentalist Christianity. Others, however, do not forget. Some find him offensive with his references to magic or with his less than complete belief in biblical inerrancy. His references in Narnia to the law as “deep magic” might cause some to shy away from him altogether and miss his fresh look at Christianity through story and enchantment.

 

Beyond his logical works, Lewis’ fiction dares to challenge the supremacy of logic. He employs story, impressions, images and characters to veil his sharp insights for the rational mind. On this very topic, when Susan tells the professor that Lucy’s finding of another world in the wardrobe is “just not logical” the professor opens her mind to the logical possibilities, one of those possibilities implying that logic itself is limited in some cases. Those who depend heavily on rationalism become trapped by their own system when it leads them to conclusions that they cannot accept. Yet, much of the impact of this conversation is lost in the movie.

 

For those adults who have read The Chronicles of Narnia thinking they were children’s books and finding a depth of insight for themselves, seeing the movie may be a letdown. The insights are still there, but are expected or diminished. Instead, the story turns back into a tale for children, with talking animals and clean (non-bloody) battles. The children, named and crowned by Aslan, seem like children at make-believe more than weak, immature individuals empowered and elevated by the Creator. Many of the ironies and insights of the book don’t quite receive the highlight in the movie that connect on the literary level.

 

However, the movie did have some advantage. It captured Aslan empowering Peter to fight his battle against the wolf, not stepping in, but instructing others that “this is Peter’s battle.” The boy stumbles into killing the wolf, with its body landing on top of him and his sword—a visual reminder that we can be victorious in a clumsy sort of way. The book falls short of such visuals.

 

For fundamentalists, Lewis challenges the self-depreciating, worm-like mentality which reminds us constantly of our sinfulness. While the movie takes Edmund’s offenses against the “deep magic” so seriously that he or the Lion must die, the focus is on redemption and authorizing the children to fight valiantly and to become rulers.

 

Lewis, a literature professor at Oxford, knew the value of the imagination over didactic, lecture-style communication. He also knew the irritations of allegory, of the overdone tactics of the morality plays from the Middle Ages. He rises to the top of Christian writers with his ability to effectively juggle a message and a method.

 

Can a movie be as good or better than the book? This isn’t the decisive movie to end that debate. After seeing the movie with someone who had never read any of Lewis’ books and who was unimpressed, my advice would be to love Lewis first. Then enjoy the movie as dessert, not as the main course. To love him, one must read the books. 

 

 

 

 

Promoting the Patriarchy?—by Rick

 

The holiday release of The Chronicles of Narnia guaranteed that I would be spending some time sitting in the theater with children too bored to sit around the house with “old” Christmas toys but not bored enough to go back to school. Nor was I disappointed by the movie even though I had the luxury of reading a number of comments from both fans and critics. My reaction was similar to watching The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. It was a realization that the same story can be told in different media and still be faithful to the original story line. I was very pleased with the result and applaud Doug Gresham’s efforts in getting his step-father’s work from print to the silver screen so remarkably well.

 

One of the critics I read who had panned the movie did so from an unusual perspective, or at least an unexpected one for me. She said that she was struck by how patriarchal the images were and how violent the movie was. She felt that it threw us back into reinforcing gender stereotypes of the past. The role of High King was given to the male. He had to “earn his spurs” through a violent confrontation. The climactic battle nearly omitted the girls and relegated them almost to bystander status with only a few bow shots from Susan. The critic was totally put off by all of this. Nor was she alone in her criticism of the movie’s “affirmation of the patriarchy.”

 

This highlights the degree to which radical feminism has infected the Christian community. A recent viewing of Adam’s Rib with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn highlighted how far America has come in granting equal rights. Women have made great strides in gender equality, fair wages and equal protection under the law. At the time Narnia was written, the book represented a progressive view toward gender equity issues, seen in Aslan/Lewis calling Lucy, “The Valiant,” among other indicators. This is akin to criticizing Paul’s views on women from a 21^st Century perspective even though his views were revolutionary for his time. Indeed, Paul’s views seem revolutionary for “our time” when looking as recently as a century ago at the status of women in 1906. It hardly seems fair to judge authors by the standards of our society when in a few short years our current society isn’t likely to measure up to the enlightened standards of 2106. Let us content ourselves with comparing authors to their own zeitgeist, whether it be the First Century Levant or wartime Britain. What the critic was opposed to, however, was not the book, but the movie which faithfully rendered the contents of the book. Even if Lewis was progressive for his day, it was inexcusable in her opinion, to make a movie that perpetuates patriarchal stereotypes.

 

Setting aside the argument that Lewis was portraying mythical archetypes rather than promoting the patriarchy and ignoring the prominent role of female heroines throughout the entire series and his seminal Till We Have Faces, the movie is a much-needed corrective to recent efforts to feminize men. Movies like What A Woman Wants portray the ideal man as a woman with an alternative anatomy. There is a decided lack of interest in what makes men masculine and antipathy for any male foolish enough to bring up the topic. Narnia draws fire precisely because it takes an unabashed look at the male mythos and affirms the qualities that make men worthy members of the human race.

 

Men find meaning in conflict and resolving conflict. Put two men in a room and in short order they will engage in a contest of some sort. Lewis elevates this tendency by framing it as a conflict of good versus evil, the cause that men most want to pursue. Men do not shrink from violent confrontation even though that goes against their natural impulse. Peter and Edmund both learn to overcome fear through facing violence. Men who don’t learn this are victims of fear all their lives and garner the respect of no one, least of all the women who deplore violence. Violence is never the preferred option, but protecting the innocent and those unable to protect themselves, is the noble cause men enjoy. Whether it is protecting lady fair by killing a spider or emptying the mouse trap or whether it is rescuing her from an evil ogre or vicious dragon, the impulse is genuine. Women seeking to ennoble themselves do neither sex a service by trampling male altruism.

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe may offend the more radical feminists, but men and boys will find inspiration and affirmation of the nobility of standing for the cause of right no matter what the personal cost. Women will also see that running from the bombs of war is no guarantee of safety and protection because there are plenty of conflicts inside the wardrobes of the most idyllic settings. Indeed, the conflict rests within all of us and until we come to grips with our own internal strife, we run the risk of being cold and wintry inside without any of the warmth of Christmas.

 

 

 

 

Additional thoughts from Mike Stidham who, over the last couple of years while the movie was being made,  followed comments on discussion lists, such as SpareOom, centered on the life and works of C. S. Lewis.

 

The Christian Narnia fans feared that Disney was going to turn Aslan into one of those goo-goo eyed critters as seen in "Bambi", and that The Mouse would denude any specter of Christian allegory from the films.  To which, stepson and "Chronicles" co-producer Douglas Gresham kept saying, "Trust me."

 

The trust was well-founded, as even Disney-haters in the Southern Baptist Convention saw fit to call off their boycott of Disney after seeing early clips of the film.

 

Gresham did add, however, that if moviegoers were looking for Christian references as heavy-handed as those in "The Passion of the Christ," they would be disappointed.  It was, after all, a story full of metaphor, not a full-bore allegory according to the textbook description of an allegory.