riley_dude

or rather felt like you just came from a Bear Party.

skiblet

I hope your joking ?

The Antipodean

Sarcasm, eh?

Hokeyboy

Not true. He was an atheist who I believe embraced religion after his experiences in World War I (I am recalling this from memory, so I may be wrong on this). Anyway, his whole purpose of the book was to celebrate his faith and explore the "True Mythology" (his words) in a fantasy setting.


Although, I could

Hokeyboy

Narnia isn't Eden per se. Actually, in The Magician's Nephew, Lewis shows how Narnia came into being and uses Eden as allegory to present his tale. However, the Narnia of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe is no longer Eden, but the fully-formed world.

Its actually a quite beautiful story, and my favorite of the series after TLTW&TW. Lewis was quite adroit at conjuring up imagery that stays with you long after you finish the book.

slavetotherave

Personally, I have no problems with Christian allegory in movies. I'm not a Christian by any stretch of the word, though. But I think that the problem (and this is my opinion, I'm not singling out anyone or pointing fingers, especially not at the original poster).. but the problem with a lot of atheists is they get so hung up when religion is present in things. But likewise, the problem with (SOME) Christians is they have a problem when people around them don't believe in what they believe in. I work with someone who is Christian, and it bothers her greatly when she finds out people aren't Christian. She won't even help people find books in the occult and spirituality section. Personally, I feel like being so intolerant of people that aren't of the same faith is a sign of the weakness in said person's beliefs. They feel much better about them when they have a major consensus in their favor. But that's just my opinion.

By the way, I agree with the Lord of the Rings envy comment, earlier. I was reminded of LOTR as soon as I saw the trailer. It's the cinematography and look of the film, not necessarily the story. You know how it is... once a movie is successful in Hollywood, the clones come right after. I just think people got offended by the word "envy," and took it with its negative connotation.

Brent L

I saw this thread, then went to Yahoo, and saw this:

http://www.yahoo.com/s/264561

DAC

Is it a kid movie?

paradicelost

I guess this is a little off topic but from what i've read about C.S. Lewis is that Tolkien is that what that brought him to Christianity. I haven't read the Narnia books but i've read Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity, both favorites of mine. I'm looking forward to seeing the film though.

Jackskeleton

wouldn't that be Brokeback Mountain?


Hi-ooooOOOOOOH!!! I'll be here all night, remember to tip the waitresses.

calhoun07

Not to mention in other stories as well. ET, for example, makes a very strong Christ figure out of ET, and teaches lessons of good over evil and courage and sacrifice and love. Yet nobody complains about that movie in the same way they do Narnia. I guess just knowing the author was a Christian going in upsets some people.

Now I just hope somebody makes the Silent Planet movie trilogy.

Grimfarrow

That made no sense whatsoever.

GrimTangent

I'm a young Christian in the Reformed tradition, and something stressed in this school of thought is that nothing comes value-free. Any human creation is going to have some display of the values of those who created it. Granted, one creation's message will have been consciously thought out by the creators (like this movie) while others will bear a message solely as a result of the philosophical baggage that the creators--like everyone else--carry. Plus, different movies are going to manifest the creators' values more or less obviously, but then perhaps we should be grateful that TLtWatW is so open about it, so that if you are hostile to its message, you don't have to watch it in its entirety before being offended. Personally, I prefer movies where the writers'/directors' philosophies are implicit, so I can have something to chew on once the movie is over.

Jackskeleton

then you don't know anything about Big Bears.

Numanoid

I was going to mention E.T. also. There are a million other movies with Christ symbolism as well (Fearless, The Matrix, Cool Hand Luke, Superman, the list goes on and on). Who complains about those? I think you have it pegged - if some people know going in that the author was Christian then they are just looking for something to get offended by.

Cameron

I'm sure this will rock the foundations and everyone will stop reading the dozens of other books the man wrote...

I agree, that I think you had the movie pegged.

I'm glad that all of the overtones are there....i had worried they would cut them out to make it more P.C. Glad they left it alone.

Filmmaker

THE HOBBIT, the prelude, setup and unofficial fourth (first) entry in THE LORD OF THE RINGS saga, was written in 1937, so if we're gonna go for accuracy, let's go for accuracy. Frankly, as a non-theist, I really hope this film stays in a realm of moral allegory and doesn't cross into full-fledged propaganda...I'll be going into the theater this weekend with no small measure of trepidation...

Ky-Fi

Very well said. Just because an artist isn't communicating heavy philosophical/theological/political themes doesn't mean they're not communicating their own value system, either consciously or subconsciously.

Rocketdog2000

I think you nailed it in one. By the same token, I believe you could be an atheist, or non-believer for ANY religion, and still read any relgious story like the Bible, or see any religious based movie and just enjoy it for the story. Wether you believed in what was being told in the story, or not, shouldn't take away form your expierencing it.

For instance, I quite enjoy movies like The Ten Commandments and Ben Hur - yet I'm not a Christian, Catholic, or Jewish. I just think they are well told stories, and can enjoy them at that level. My personal religious beliefs don't play into them at all.

Filmmaker

See, I can't hang with that approach--it's all about moral allegory vs. moral propaganda. The films you mention aren't just allegories, they are actual Christian stories, based on Christian dogma; well made though they unarguably are, they exist to further a Christian agenda, and they are rather wanton about it, which disquiets me as a non-Christian viewer and prevents me from gaining any enjoyment out of them outside of an appreciation of their technical filmmaking accomplishments. I fervently hope NARNIA takes a more abstract approach. If the film is informed by a Christian sensibility, I can roll with that (many of the morals Christians purport to believe in are shared by many non-theists and alternate-theists), but if it outright proselytizes to me, I'll be one thoroughly irritated, insulted and disappointed moviegoer.

Numanoid

Why, are you worried that you'll walk out of the film as a born-again Christian, against your will?

calhoun07

Yeah, that makes about as much sense as Christian thinking they would walk out of Harry Potter a satanist!

Filmmaker

Not at all, I just don't relish the idea of having 2 hours of my life pissed away by worshippers of the great celestial Santa Claus...

William Fuld

Does that apply to all religious art or just film?

Dorsalphin