Narnia films

[Jubal]

I was discussing these with a friend recently, since the third one's coming out soon.

Who's seen them, and what did you think of the two so far?

[Silver Wolf]

I've seen the first one, I think ... It wasn't bad...

[Jubal]

I've been rereading the books; they're hilarious, it's basically Christian Apologetics for Children. The stories are good, but there's too much biblical influence on them really.

[debux]

The stories are good, but there's too much biblical influence on them really.

Could you please give me an example? I don't remember much, and your statement surprised me a lot.

[Marcus]

If you read through them again, an obvious example is Aslan.

But yeah, the new films are good. They aren't brilliant, but they're better than the ridiculous stuff the beeb came out with before.

[comrade_general]

Never bothered to see them, just like Harry Pothead. Give me LOTR or give me death.

[Jubal]

The stories are good, but there's too much biblical influence on them really.

Could you please give me an example? I don't remember much, and your statement surprised me a lot.

Aslan is Jesus, the Emperor over the Sea is god.

In The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Asland gets sacrificed to save a man and returns from the dead. Deja vu much?
At the end of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, he actually turns into a lamb (common Christian symbol) in front of the characters.
As to The Last Battle, it's basically just all about Judgement Day, where the Calormenes are unbelievers and the Dwarfs are damned for being atheist.

[debux]

Wow, nice metaphors. Never occured to me. Although I might consider reading them again (don't remember the one about the lamb in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, nor did I read the Last Battle.

[Jubal]

Oh, and much of The Magician's Nephew, about the start of Narnia, is to do with apples and sin. There's a whole 2 or 3 chapters of Prince Caspian where the characters realise they could have solved their problem if only they had believed in Lucy's visions of Aslan, too.

[Marcus]

Yes, C.S. Lewis ladled the biblical references on with a shovel, but they were still good stories, providing the blatant biblicalism didn't irk you too much.

[Andalus]

The analogy is actually what I like about them. Because this is the point - the Bible wasn't written by wicked men. It has some objectionable things in it, but the teachings of Christianity are good values that apply to everyone whether you believe in God or not. I was raised a Christian, and am now atheist, but still I take much of my inspiration from Christian teaching. I will quote the Bible as readily as I will any philosopher.

Many people are put off the good teaching of the Bible by the fact it is tied to religion. What C.S. Lewis did with Narnia was to present those values and messages in a way that was accessible to all. I loved the latest Narnia film not only because it was a great film, but also because it has a message that is a message for everybody, not just those who believe in invisible masters. It's a more overtly analagous book/film than the others, because it lacks an antagonist. The enemy is the characters themselves. All of what is said in the film about temptation, self-worth, conquering your darker side, all these things are true to life, so do not dismiss them just because they are also true to religion.

[Jubal]

I agree with that - I'm from a fairly christian background, not family-wise but I went to a C of E school. Where it begins to rankle is only where Lewis moves from teaching the virtues of Christianity to declaring for things I disagree with. For example, the virtues of blind faith over logic (Lucy arguing with the others in Prince Caspian), or the horrific treatment of the Dwarfs in The Last Battle - they were being little armadillos, yes, but I feel Lewis directly links that to the fact they represent atheism and as an atheist with fairly strong moral views that rankles rather.

VOTDT is absolutely my favourite book though, and the idea of a book about conquering your own problems (which as you rightly point out is what it is) is a brilliant one. The Horse and His Boy is very good along similar lines.

[debux]

About what Andalus says, yeah, there are a lot of virtues in each religion. I adire many of the things that muslims have, like giving money to the poor, and other thing I can't remember right now

my 10 cents (in comparison to the super analistic comments made by the 2 past posters)

[Jubal]

I think you mean analystic? I noticed very few butt jokes in my own post, at least.  

[debux]

Well, yeah sure. zetaboards didn't correct me so I supposed it was alright

Since when do you make butt jokes? I must be checking the wrong threads.

Or maybe it's the hidden megadux thread *hmm*