December 15, 2005
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THURSDAY WHATEVER
Aslan = Jesus??!!! What the heckins is going on? Who knew? I guess I didn’t read The Chronicles of Narnia as a child because they weren’t published until 1950, but I did read them to my children and what I remember is the awesome idea of the back wall of the wardrobe opening into a world of snow and magic and queens and lions and other odd little creatures. I don’t think it ever crossed my mind that it had Christian overtones. And being a spiritual/not religious person, it seems like I would have noticed. Maybe I was just too darn spiritual. Well, I looked up C.S. Lewis for a few facts:
1. C.S. stands for Clive Staples – good lord.
2. 1898-1963 (that makes him dead at 65)
3. Sickly boy who wrote stories about animals.
4. Mom died of cancer at 46 and Dad drank heavily.
5. Went to Oxford and then to war where he made an agreement with another solider to care for his mother if the man died, which he did.
6. At 21 began a relationship with Janie, 46, (the mother) which lasted 30 years and was a mystery.
7. Was a big friend of Tolkien.
8. Didn’t really like children but adored his fictional children.
9. Had a real marriage after Janie died to Joy Gresham who died of cancer four years later in 1960 leaving him broken.So apparently the dude was a Christian and now Disney is marketing the film heavily to Passion of the Christ folks who will be showing it at church like they did Mel Gibson’s movie. It’s all so bizarre. Has anyone seen it and would care to comment?
Deep Thought: “If you want to sue somebody, just get a little plastic skeleton and lay it in their yard. Then tell them their ants ate your baby.”
Today I am grateful for: Brains
Guess the Movie: “How ridiculous. They were just teasing you! There are wood ovens, but there are no people ovens. Putting people in ovens creates too much smoke.” Answer: Life is Beautiful, 1997.
Would C.S. Lewis Have Risked a Disney ‘Nightmare’?
by Jordan Ballor, Associate Editor
A newly published letter by C.S. Lewis shows how clearly he would have objected to a live-action version of his Chronicles of Narnia story, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Lewis writes in the letter dated Dec. 18, 1959, “I am absolutely opposed … to a TV version. Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare.” (Rest of article here.)
Comments (17)
Hey Lionne
I haven’t seen Chronicles of Narnia, but I’ve read the series. Clives Staples was an atheist until 30 when he began work on the Chronicles. This project “lead him to Christianity.” He definitely intented for his work to show his Christian rebirth. He went on to write Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and The Problem of pain, all of which are big named Christian sellers. I read the series when I was younger and also don’t remember reading any Christian themes ifrom it. But upon further research in the present, the Christian themes are definitely there. Although I’m not a Christian, I’m glad Disney has stuck with Lewis’s intentions.
Hope that helps explain things,
-Sean
Oh, I did hate the Pasion of the Christ. Mel Gibson did a great job of not sticking to a gospel and pressing his anti-semitic themes home.
There was a decent movie made about him and Joy called Shadowlands, with Hopkins as Lewis and Debra Winger as Joy. Dunno how illuminating it would be, but it’s an enjoyable movie.
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I read the books as a kid and again as an adult. I didn’t pick up the spiritual overtones until I was an adult. Then, it was quite a spiritual epiphany for me. I actually had to put the books down and resume reading after I digested for a bit, recognizing the layers and layers that can exist in a book that I thought I knew inside and out.
I don’t know about the wisdom of marketing it to the religious types. They might not approve of all the magical references, mythological references, etc. I don’t know how most conservative Christians view C.S. Lewis…. Like in A Grief Observed. He says things that I have felt and uttered in my own heartbreak…..but I was called blasphemous at my (former) church for saying them. Perhaps he was not much of a fan of organized religion either
Don’t know. Somehow, I don’t think he was.
I saw the movie. I thought it was beautiful. Just like I did when I was a kid, I cried over Aslan. I would like to see it again….and there are very few movies that I will sit through twice.
I love C.S. Lewis’ writings….both his fiction and his apologetics.
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It will be interesting for you to reread or watch the movie now with your new perspective…I haven’t seen it yet but feel another trip to Cinetopia in the works as they have it on a digital format. Lewis has been a big influence on my “Christian” worldview…..and I really don’t think there are many fundamentalist that care for him….which makes me like him even more! ha He also wrote a great Sci-fi series as well as his apologetic work. Like the commentor above me, it amazes me that the right wing can embrace Tolkien & Lewis and dismiss Rowlings. I think Christianity in American has become so distorted and misrepresents God at just about every turn…now I think you’ve got me started! ha……….and I’m a Christian!! I can see how frustrating it must be for non believers….I still haven’t seen “The Passion”….have no desire…..so really can’t comment on it…..I just hope and have heard from several people that the digital technology used to make Narnia has done justice to Lewis’s vision….he didn’t want the characters to be trivialized or come off as cartoonish…..I hope it’s true!!
Want to go see the movie Andrea? I just reread the book. I love CS Lewis. Judi
I also recommend “Shadowlands”.
he sure had a lot of people with cancer in his life.
It was a very good movie, and the many who read the Narnia books without noticing the Christian overtones will be able to overlook them in the movie as well. I’m a big fan of Lewis, myself.
Also, regarding your Deep Thought, my great-grandfather actually experienced that. An extortionist buried a child’s skeleton in his backyard and attempted to blackmail him over it. He refused, and the miscreant managed to stir up the people of the town and he had to escape under cover of darkness. The extortionist was later caught and tried for the crime. This was a century ago in China, but I’ll bet you never thought it had happened. Um, there weren’t any ants involved.
Hi. Thanks for dropping by my site. I was tagged by MagathaLives to write a “5 Weird Things About Me” post and to pass it on to 5 more people. So I have just written mine, and I am passing it on the the 5 most recent visitors to my blog. To keep the ball rolling, it would be good if you could do the same – write the post then pass it on to 5 more Xangans.
Good luck.
lefthanded
I read the books as a 20 something and caught the Christian overtones and enjoyed Narnia. Haven’t seen the movie yet but hope to get around to it. My son says it’s great. The rising from the dead idea has pagan heritiage so perhaps that’s why some don’t see the book as overtly Christian. The local Christian bookstore is marketing the movie to the hilt.
Narnia rocks! LOL! Love the story but I have not seen the movie yet! Never saw the underlying Christian theme…but then again I read the books as a child
I have not seen it…but it is crazy!! I was just as stunned as you…My father kept commenting about listening to the, “Chronicles of Narnia” on cd in the car…I thought, “Yeah, That was an awesome colloection when I read it…”
Then I hear all this fantasy and it clicks! My dad is a crazy christian. Makes total sense now..sort of.
I love those books. I read them as a young adult the first time and the imaginativeness, the symbolism, and the fun really captured me.Since, I’ve read them many times. I’m so happy that we’ve come to a time in history when the books can be produced in the way they deserve. There are lots of Christian themes in the books, some overt like in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and some more subtle in other books. I can’t wait to see the movie, but I’m waiting till Shannon gets home because she wants us to go as a family.
I don’t think I’m saying anything new here, but I’ll put in my 2 cents anyway. I absolutely adore the books, and have read them many times over as a child and also as an adult. Since I was raised a devout christian (which has changed over the years to being very spiritual, less religious), the christian overtones hit me like a ton of bricks. However, I also can see that C.S. Lewis includes many other spiritual/religious analogies other than the christian tradition in his books. I think it’s interesting that so many christians are whole heartedly embracing this movie when there are references to other religions and mytholigies in his series. Although, I suppose if you go hunting for references to only one set of beliefs you will most certainly find them. I thought the movie was very accurate to the book save a few minor revisions, and was full of details that I thought would’ve been left out of the movie version.
He wrote a book about the first year after his wife died, called “A Grief Observed”. I read part of it after my wife died, and he pretty much nailed what it was like. I should go back and read the second half.
I read the books in my 20s and loved them. Saw the film the other day, and loved it as well. Especially the “fictional (!) characters and the animals. I didn’t relate to anything particularly *Christian* in Lewis’s tale, though I have read him in college in a religion course. My comment here is that I feel he writes about his truths, his moral code… and I question why this must be named Christian, for those of us of other belief systems also hold these same truths as well. Perhaps that is one of the things so endearing about CS Lewis. He goes beyond.
Peace. ~Paloma