Narnia

[vaneramos]

Let me start by explaining I’m jaded about C.S. Lewis. As the child, I was unaware of his Christian references. Narnia inspired much of my early creative writing. In fact the seven lost lords from Voyage of the Dawn Treader became central characters in my imagination. Later, during my evangelical sojourn, Lewis’s work assumed deeper meaning. But nowadays, I agree with Phillip Pullman’s estimation of it as Christian propaganda.

But most classic Western art was. To discount it as such is naive.

This masterpiece of children’s literature was due for contemporary cinematic treatment. The movie neither embellishes nor waters down the Christian allegory, although witches and other pagan elements of the evil army were replaced with dangerous mythological beasts. A good-versus-evil dualism was unavoidable, although the elaborate glorification of war, Hollywood style, seemed unconscionable.

It gave a picturesque, generally faithful retelling of the adventure. The child actors were outstanding. One magical aspect was witnessing Lucy’s character, a small, terrified child in our world, evolve into a valiant human in Narnia.

Mid-way the plot departed trivially from the original. Some silly Hollywood sensationalism ensued. But cheesiness was inevitable with this fantastic, somewhat inconsistent tale. Overall it was worthy of Lewis’s original.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, I had the same problem with some of the violence in LOTR, and indeed the force of evil was absolute. However the ambiguity of Tolkien's protagonists (and some antagonists) renders them more credible and human. It's also noteworthy that in Middle Earth things don't necessarily work out perfectly for the "good guys," that even the strongest and most beautiful things can die or fade, some worthy things are lost and not all endings are happy.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Oh, absolutely. As I said in another comment, I don't really know the Narnia books, but from everything I've read they're nowhere near as nuanced as Tolkien's stuff.