Disney pitches ‘Lion’ to Christians

[beam me up scottie]

Disney pitches ‘Lion’ to Christians
Evangelicals who rallied behind ‘The Passion’ courted for new Narnia film

By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR


The novel is more than 50 years old and Disney’s live-action adaptation won’t hit the big screen for nearly three weeks, but The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is generating quite a buzz these days.

***

Some moviegoers may not see past the surface story to discover any underlying religious messages, but Mr. Cameron said the subtleties and symbolism offer golden opportunities for Christians to “connect the dots” for those who don’t see the parallels.

“It’s being billed by some groups as the largest evangelism tool that ever hit America,” said Mr. Cameron, Mr. Teal concurred that the Narnia movie could be an effective tool for evangelism.

***

With seven books in the Narnia series, there is strong potential for sequels. The key factor will be how the box-office numbers stack up, said Mr. Dergarabedian.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051119/NEWS10/51119020/-1/NEWS

[undergroundpanther]

1. My school showed a film

of the lion the witch and the wardrobe in 6th grade.I read the entire chronicles of Narnia. I was pissed off that Aslan died.I could not accept that story as good sane just,I didn't like it.

But one new series worth checking out is His Dark Materials.
It is deeper,better and without the Christian propaganda hidden within it.It encourages readers to explore.And it explains things in a way that is more genuine and less about faith than the chronicles of Narnia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials
http://www.hisdarkmaterials.org/

[beam me up scottie]

2. I'm not a fan of Lewis.

But it is funny watching the fundies drool over the bone that Disney threw them.

[unschooler]

10. They're sooooo proud of themselves for "getting rid" of Eisner.

Since, of course, the shareholders went after him because he was too nice to gays. ;)

http://www.family.org/cforum/citizenmag/webonly/a0038639.cfm

The Dobsonians are drooling over the chance to spend their cash on endless sequels to "Left Behind." :boring:

[beam me up scottie]

11. How long before they turn on Disney and boycott them again?

My guess is the next time Disney makes an animated movie, they'll be back to obsessively pouring over every bit of film looking for gay characters and/or slutty heroines.

[unschooler]

12. Or the wrong "worldview."

:crazy:

[catbert836]

7. HDM is excellent.

Spoilers!
Its viewpoint of the church is that of an evil, controlling entity that controls that world. God is really an evil dictator, who gets killed by the end of the series.

[Dufaeth]

8. Nice spoiler warning there!

EOM

[beam me up scottie]

9. Don't worry.

There's a lot more to the story if you're planning on seeing the movie.

[shenmue]

3. Well it is a metaphor...

considering Lewis' conversion story, but when I read it as a kid, even though I saw the parallels, I just took it as an adventure story. I think a lot of people will go see it as an exciting story for the kids. That won't stop the fundamentalists from claiming people really want to see the religious angle, though... They'll try and turn it into something like those stupid self-help pop psychology preacher books that come out every few months... They'll ruin the fun. Oh well, if I go see it I'll try to just enjoy myself.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Lewis himself admitted: his works were Christian apologetics

When you look at his total body of work, C. S. Lewis was first and foremost a Christian theologian. The three works aimed at youth -- the Chronicles of Narnia, the Space Trilolgy ("Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", "That Hiddeous Strength") and "The Screwtape Letters" -- were written specifically as theological works for kids, by his own admission.

Speaking specifically of the Narnia books, "The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe" is one of his most Christian books. The parallels between Aslan's death and Christ's crucifixion is undeniable: the whole premise is that the voluntary (if reluctant) death of a divine being for the sake of "the world" would therefore save the world from evil no matter how much a triumph for evil it may appear. Heck, Aslan lays dead in a tomb for three days before he appears again, alive and whole.

Similar themes appear in all of the other Narnia books. In "The Magician's Nephew", we learn about how Narnia was created by Aslan and how evil came in to this world when an escapee from justice in another world, Jadis (latter known as the White Witch), broke Aslan's law, stole a magical apple growing in a sacred garden and ate it, giving herself magic power and immortality. In "The Last Battle", a talking ape (Darwin reference?) creates a false god ("Tashlan", a syncretic fusion of Aslan and the god of the Calormen, Tash) who seduces many Narnians from the religion of Aslan. Aslan himself shows up and declares the end of Narnia. He sends all of the faithful through a magic door to the place where all faithful Narnians go when they die (ie they are bodily assumed in to Heaven) with everyone else being destroyed.

That Disney is marketing "The Chronicals of Narnia" to Christians should come as no surprise. It is, start to finish, Christian theology dressed up as kids' fantasy.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

5. I don't think "admitted" is fair.

Lewis wrote fairy stories with an intrinsically Christian message and subtext. This was not something he admitted, freely or otherwise, it was something he set out to do.

I'm not sure "dressed up" is fair, either - it's kid's fantasy (and extremely good kid's fantsy, in my view) dressed *with* Christian theology, if anything.

[catbert836]

6. Lewis should have stuck to real fantasy

Although there is one thing I can say about his Christian Lit, "The Screwtape Letters" was the book that heralded me discarding my Christianity.
Chronicles is certainly a good piece of writing, but he would have done a lot better if he had only used the Bible as inspiration, rather than making the whole series allegorical to it.