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The Chronicles of Narnia are a complicated mush of fantasy, heroism and
weird Christian metaphors. They were written by C.S. Lewis, who was a close
personal friend of J.R.R. Tolkien and parallels have often been drawn between
The Lord of The Rings series and the Chronicles of Narnia. There are seven
Chronicles of Narnia altogether, but the most well known book among them is
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. This was the first book that
Lewis wrote, and although he later went on to write prequels, it is
recognized as first book in the series. So it makes sense that the first
movie to be made would be based on this book.
The story follows four children who have been sent off to live in the
English countryside during World War II as their native London is bombed. One
of the best things about the new movie is that it actually gives a bit of
historical context to the story by showing a little of the bombing and the
children being sent off with many others on the train. This was absent
from the book, and, as a child, I never really understood why they were
living with a random man who they didn't seem to know when they would also
talk about their mother who was still alive. The children move into a large
house with a kindly professor and his finicky maid. They find a way to amuse
themselves in the boring country when they discover that an old wardrobe in
the house, which is filled with dusty fur coats, is also a gateway into
the magical land of Narnia. Upon entering Narnia, they become sucked into a
world where it is winter all the time and where the White Witch reigns
supreme over centaurs, fawns, minotaurs and talking animals. The children
discover that they are part of a Narnian prophecy in which it is said that
two daughters of Eve and two sons of Adam will free Narnia from the White
Witch and will become the new kings and queens of the land. Already a
Christian alarm bell is probably going off in your head when you hear this
Adam and Eve stuff, but it only gets more intense.
The four children decide to stay and help, and they are brought to the
leader of the winter resistance movement, Aslan. His name may sound like the
name of an Aztec city, but he is really a Narnian lion, who speaks in an
American accent, as do many of the "good guys" on Aslan's side.
The White Witch claims Edmund's, one of the brothers', life, because he
is a traitor. But the lion sacrifices himself in Edmund's stead. The White
Witch kills him with a knife in a pagan-like ritual while frightening
creatures of all sorts mock the lion and cheer her on. This scene made me
doubt that this movie was really a children's movie, and I still am not
quite sure that it should be rated PG. Although, I have to hand it to them,
the scene was just as I had imagined it when reading the book as a child. I
had long forgotten the final result of Aslan's sacrifice and I was just as
traumatized by it last week as I was at eight years old.
The two "daughters of Eve" weep over Aslan's body all night
and, of course, Aslan does not ultimately die. When the two girls are walking
away they look back to see his body gone. He returns from the dead, stronger
than ever, and much to the White Witch's surprise, he is stronger after she
has killed him. He and his followers overthrow her in the war waged between
the good and evil forces. Does this sound familiar? If you know anything
about Jesus Christ and the spread of Christianity it probably does. Aslan's
death is only too similar to Jesus' crucifixion and that is why good old C.S.
does not spare us the traumatizing details, because Jesus died for our sins
just as Aslan dies for the sins of one of the brothers, Edmund. Every
child can relate to one of the siblings. Peter is the oldest and the
protector of his younger siblings. Susan is the second oldest and the smart
and practical one. Edmund is the bratty one. Lucy is the youngest and the
most Imaginative, creative and the cute one as well. It is a good way to make
children understand Christianity without even realizing that they are
understanding it. An Interesting comment came from the audience when the
camera showed a birds-eye view of the two girls lying on Aslan's body. A
child from the audience exclaimed into the silence, "What are they
doing?" Everyone laughed, but I think that many of us were wondering the
same thing. Would we have wondered it if it were Jesus, his mother Mary and
Mary Magdalene Instead of Aslan, Susan and Lucy?
The White Witch as the evil character was positively frightening. She was
not only a "witch" and appeared to be a pagan, but she was also, of
course, a woman. After all, what is more frightening to a Christian man than
a powerful pagan woman? Although her icy glances and dark, flashing eyes were
chilling, the scariest thing about her was her wardrobe. This was not the
same wardrobe through which the children came to Narnia, but rather I mean
the awful clothing that she chose to wear. For some reason her dresses all
had this strange collar that stuck out around her shoulders like a large
shelf. They looked as though they were crudely sculpted out of papier-mache
by a kindergartener. These clothes were somewhat menacing in appearance,
but more so because they hindered her movements and were impractical as each
entire dress seemed to be made out of the same material and was extremely
stiff. It was completely unclear as to why she was wearing them, and it
seemed that if she had all the land under her rule, she could command someone
more capable to make her some more comfortable outfits.
In the end she was defeated, maybe because of her inability to move
freely in her clothing, but more likely simply because she was the evil
character. The story then skips ahead many years, and the siblings, now kings
and queens, have grown up. They stumble upon the wardrobe, and end up back in
the English countryside where only a few hours have passed.
So the first story in the seven part series ends with only one question
remaining: Will there be another six?
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