Narnia Business?
Ouch! (Yep, that was really, really weak). So, how is the latest attempt at establishing a Hollywood franchise? 76% on the Rotten Tomatoes site (not great, but not bad), but John J. Miller walked away very impressed at NRO, while Catherine Seipp takes on the critics of C. S. Lewis…
I never read these books as a kid, but I’m reading them now. The fact that there’s any hoopla over the Biblical allusions shows how freaky people seem to get over the question of religion these days. I mean, in reading the books, the allusions are obvious, and clearly Lewis meant them to be there. But the thing is, the Christian themes of sacrifice and redemption are so infused into the bones of Western culture and storytelling that you can find them just about anywhere.
What if I described a movie involving a being who descended to earth, befriended a small band of followers, performed miracles, suffered and died, rose from the dead and the ascended into heaven? Well, I’ve just given you the plot for E.T. Yet no one is screaming that Steven Spielberg must have joined Jews for Jesus and is proselytizing. Similarly, no one is saying George Lucas is sneaking Sunday-school classes into Star Wars because it follows the career of a young man who lets his pride take him to sinful actions and eventually seeks forgiveness and redemption by rejecting his prodigal youth.
“You were the chosen one!”…I read the Narnia books, but as a schoolboy – I remember very little, other than that I enjoyed them at the time…
Dennis-
Ah, but C.S. Lewis was actually a Christian theologian, so his stories simply must be understood to come from that deeply evil, world-conquering barbaric ideology, rather than from an integral part of Western civilization.
Wierdest objection Cathy Seipp has to address (from the NYT magazine, no less): ‘the Narnia stories “are not nearly as well written” as J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books‘
I haven’t read the original article, but this seems like comparing apples to monkey wrenches. The fact that each is written for children and involves elements of fantasy is a very superficial hat to hang such a comparison on.