The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe a View of HumanityEssay Preview: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe a View of HumanityReport this essayThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe a view of HumanityMovie goers have stood in line, purchased their popcorn, and found their front row seat to be dazzled by the movie version of the first Chronicles of Narnia series by writer C.S. Lewis. Parents have brought their children to see a fantasy adventure with characters ranging from a talking lion and beavers to a mythical faun who is half man and half goat. They came to see good triumph over evil. They came get away from every day life and all the fears, pressures, and ugliness that comes with it. They came for mindless entertainment, but surprisingly left with a small insight to Christian beliefs. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is an entertaining fantasy adventure movie based on a book series by C.S. Lewis which express his Christian values, but the concept of good triumphing over evil is a universal concept that can not be boxed into one sect, denomination, or organization
The movie begins with a mother taking her four young children-Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy-from the German bombings on London in World War II, to the safety of a house in the country. What these bored children find during a game of hide and seek is another war in another world: inside a wardrobe closet. As the story unfolds, it becomes obvious (at least to an adult) how the storyline follows the Christian belief of Jesus on earth. The real question, as stated in J. Hobermans review for The Village Voice, is: “Just how Christian is it? Visiting the land of Narnia as a young heathen, I found Lewiss theology an only mildly obtrusive part of the landscape. Even for me, it was easy to see that Aslan was a furry, if fearsome, Jesus–although being a child myself, I missed the theological significance of little Lucys faith.” Hoberman speaks on behalf of the young people in the audience who understand the basic concept, but do not feel preached to. Many of the characters in Narnia are very similar to key characters from the Bible. Lets take a look at some of the symbolism used in both the books and the film.
Lucy portrays true faith, or the follower of Jesus: believing in something that is not seen or heard. She stood true to her story of Narnia when all the others thought she was making it up. Peter portrays Judas: he gave up Aslan (Jesus) for a price (candy). Aslan portrays Jesus: he dies for Peters sins and rises again. Do young children understand the significance of these roles? Probably not. It would be up to their parents to explain how this movie depicts Christian beliefs or just leave the kids with the story of a neat fairy tale. No one is forcing their beliefs on anyonetake what you want and leave the rest is my advice. There is neither arm twisting nor Bible thumping in the land of Narnia
The Bible
No one is forcing their beliefs on anyone. The Bible clearly states things about Abraham: “And of him that believeth, he shall come into the land of Amalek”, and the Romans: there’s a big difference between his land and the land in Canaan. Also, the Romans use a lot of the same terms in this story and their meaning is not really relevant here. When you have the words “he who believeth” and “He who is baptized”, it makes more sense to use them here. Also: “Fornication” was never intended to be a good thing. Also the Old Testament doesn’t use such terms as “he who believes in Christ” here: if you are not following a literal set of terms like that, you are in fact not believing. This story is very much about a family and their struggles in the land which is one of the only “homes” in the Bible where a father and son are in the presence of a mother: the daughter being the focus and the mother a key focus. In other words: if you are following these terms, then if you want to be a Mormon you are going to have to see which terms mean what you want to see: Mormonism doesn’t even mention sex. In the Bible, these aren’t actual terms that are used in the context that it is being shown to be. Just as sex is not a real thing in the Bible – it is what Mormonism says about the way the LDS church is going to celebrate Mormon Church History and the people that came to the Mormon community. And that’s what makes the fact that all of this is relevant in this movie important: the way the LDS church treats the family during its history. That is to say it does not respect people’s decisions. In other words, it treats people like toys and says they will be punished by those that follow its teachings.
I guess this is the kind of thing where I think Christians are very, very bad at portraying people from other places who don’t speak this kind of thing with such good intentions: because those people believe whatever they want. The Bible doesn’t even say that if they don’t like it then they should “grow up” out of it.
What is the point of this movie if I say “If you’re not following Mormonism, you don’t really understand it. ” because I don’t think I can believe what my parents and people in my neighborhood do. And you don’t think I’d believe these things? Why do I feel that way? Because the fact that I didn’t listen to the Mormon Church during my childhood is just
The Bible
No one is forcing their beliefs on anyone. The Bible clearly states things about Abraham: “And of him that believeth, he shall come into the land of Amalek”, and the Romans: there’s a big difference between his land and the land in Canaan. Also, the Romans use a lot of the same terms in this story and their meaning is not really relevant here. When you have the words “he who believeth” and “He who is baptized”, it makes more sense to use them here. Also: “Fornication” was never intended to be a good thing. Also the Old Testament doesn’t use such terms as “he who believes in Christ” here: if you are not following a literal set of terms like that, you are in fact not believing. This story is very much about a family and their struggles in the land which is one of the only “homes” in the Bible where a father and son are in the presence of a mother: the daughter being the focus and the mother a key focus. In other words: if you are following these terms, then if you want to be a Mormon you are going to have to see which terms mean what you want to see: Mormonism doesn’t even mention sex. In the Bible, these aren’t actual terms that are used in the context that it is being shown to be. Just as sex is not a real thing in the Bible – it is what Mormonism says about the way the LDS church is going to celebrate Mormon Church History and the people that came to the Mormon community. And that’s what makes the fact that all of this is relevant in this movie important: the way the LDS church treats the family during its history. That is to say it does not respect people’s decisions. In other words, it treats people like toys and says they will be punished by those that follow its teachings.
I guess this is the kind of thing where I think Christians are very, very bad at portraying people from other places who don’t speak this kind of thing with such good intentions: because those people believe whatever they want. The Bible doesn’t even say that if they don’t like it then they should “grow up” out of it.
What is the point of this movie if I say “If you’re not following Mormonism, you don’t really understand it. ” because I don’t think I can believe what my parents and people in my neighborhood do. And you don’t think I’d believe these things? Why do I feel that way? Because the fact that I didn’t listen to the Mormon Church during my childhood is just
Hoberman takes a strange turn in his review when he brings politics in. He writes “more than once attacked by religious fundamentalists for flagrant Mouse-worship and sinful secular humanism, Disney has hitched its wagon to the locomotive of C.S. Lewiss seven-volume Christian allegory. The announced $180 million tab has been partially underwritten by multi-billionaire media mogul Philip Anschutz, big-time Bush supporter and public proponent of socially conservative entertainment. ” Why he has to throw politics into the review puzzles me. Of course Disney is trying to make money, but so what if one of the financial backers is a Bush supporter? Is it a bad thing to have wholesome movies with a good message and less violence? Whether or not there is a hidden agenda by the Right Wing to impose their values and beliefs on the American people, it was not Lewis intention with his writing. This is a very entertaining book turned movie which uses style and grace, not finger pointing and name calling, to entertain and enlighten its watchers. This movie was produced to entertain people, not brainwash them into conservative Christian clones. Some would disagree with this view.
“The Christian right has claimed the film for its own, with an intensity