The Lion, the Witch, and the Thinly Veiled Religious Allegory

[madcapheathen]

Kelly and I saw Narnia yesterday. It wasn't terrible, mind you, but it had quite a few flaws. First, the things it did well: The White Witch was excellent. Tilda Swinton is absolutely awesome as an attractive yet androgynous and creepy bad guy (see the otherwise hilariously pulpy Constantine), although there were many, many moments during which she

Comments

[chrysochoma]

Have you read the books?

[madcapheathen]

Yeah, a long time ago. I didn't pick up on the allegory back then, but I seem to remember wondering why the kid deserved to die for being an unwitting participant in the bad guy's plans. It just struck me as a little heartless.

[chrysochoma]

Personally, i enjoyed the movie. Granted, the allegory is extremely evident in the movie, but i still enjoyed it. The books themselves are a bit LoTR-esque so i wasnt surprised by the similarities between the two. I wasnt surprised at all about the shunning of Susan; it actually occurred to me that she is the token atheist as shown in later books when she rejects Narnia and is therefore not allowed in the last battle. It was necessary in the movie for her to be seen as such because of the books, so i don't blame the movie, but instead C.S. Lewis for his insensitive and close-minded thinking/writing. And as for the merpeople, well c'mon, its Aslan. If he can come back to life and reanimate stone creatures, not to mention being the actual creator of the entire world itself, i think he can re-create the merpeople as well.