Chronicles of Narnia Trailer

Ant writes "After United States' broadcast debut of the "Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" trailer on Saturday, May 7th during ABC's network premiere of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets", Ain't It Cool News posted AOL's link to the QuickTime movie (direct link to download the 56 MB high quality trailer file)." Fix yourself some turkish delight and enjoy.

Comments

Christian propaganda...?

[Anonymous Coward]

Anybody else get a little creeped out by the possibility that alot of what CS Lewis was doing with his fantasy writings was really Christian propaganda? I know this sounds terribly like a troll, but it's honestly not meant that way.

I originally liked the stories as a kid, but then I read The Screwtape Letters, and while I thought it was a neat exercise in combining Christian morality with fiction (the story is about one devil advising another devil on how to corrupt a soul), I also got the vague feeling that CS Lewis was out to manipulate the readers. Then THAT got me thinking that maybe he might be trying to do that with a lot more than just TSL...

Anyways, just wondering.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[Anonymous Coward]

And The Lord Of The Rings isn't antimodernist propaganda? A book is going to reflect the author's beliefs in some way unless it's very superficial.

LOTR is subtle where Narnia is obvious, but both advocate their author's views on life, because that is what literature does.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[brokeninside]

The Screwtape Letters was supposed to be a morality tale. If it disturbed you because it was trying to get across a fairly orthodox Christian point, that's because it was. Lewis wrote a few other `fictional' books with the same idea such as The Great Divorce. That said, I don't think it fair to saying that he was trying to manipulate his readers. It isn't his fault that most readers today aren't cognizant of the original context that The Screwtape Letters originally appeared in. His target audience was fully aware of what he was doing.

But neither The Chronicles of Narnia or his space trilogy was written for that purpose. The Chronicles were originally conceived as bedtime stories for his nieces and nephews that eventually poured themselves out into a series of novels. His space trilogy came out as his attempt to get into that new fangled new literary genre.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[henrywood]

Yeah, but let's face it every book can be looked upon as some sort of propganda. If an author doesn't set out to manipulate you in some way, even if it's just to manipulate your emotions, then his work probably isn't worth reading.

Are "Animal Farm" or "1984" any less valid because they are anti-communist propaganda (no my US friends, that isn't meant as flame bait!)?

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[Trillan]

No, not really. I don't believe in censoring those willing to bear the social and monetary cost of bringing a story to life. (Piggybacking on someone else's infrastructure and budget is another matter entirely.)

For example, were I offended by the passionately atheist, I might view Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as atheist propaganda. Although I'm not sure the movie maintains the book's stance, the book was very hard line against religion.

There's certainly room enough in my philosophy for both stories, and room enough on the video store shelves for both movies.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[Jerf]

Along with the other comments you've recieved to date, I'd like to ask you something: I believe that when a person criticizes someone for something, they should have a plausible alternative in mind. Otherwise they are just whining.

What is the plausible alternative for C. S. Lewis? Authors write things that are true to themselves, be it Christian, Pagan, Materialist, or what not. Any author who tries to be inauthentic to themselves generally turns out garbage; even if you can't put your finger on why, you'll not like it. A lot of young writers make this mistake, by trying to be someone else, instead of themselves.

Was he supposed to write non-Christian stories? But that's not who he was. And it's hardly like the Chronicles of Narnia are blatent propoganda; instead, it's simply that they are set into a Christian framework. I've read things set into Buddhist frameworks, oodles of things in strict materialist frameworks, things set in a Victorian framework, various philosophies, etc. Do you blame any of those authors for their frameworks?

Was he supposed to not write stories, because they bother you?

When it gets down to it, at the level you're talking about, every story "pushes" some worldview at you. Why is it you're only bothered by this one?

The most likely reason is that you don't realize that you're getting many other ones pushed at you, all the time, and you've only been sensitized to this one. In that case, the problem lies with you, not CS Lewis, and you're probably getting yourself nicely manipulated by other people without even noticing it. Everyone has a worldview that colors everything they do and everything they right. (In fact, Christian writings seem one of the best places to pick that up, regardless of how you feel about the rest of them; see Lewis' non-fiction writing and the works of Francis Schaeffer.)

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[MythMoth]

That said, I don't think it fair to saying that he was trying to manipulate his readers

I think that's an important point. Lewis was writing at a time when being a Christian was the norm. His books were written to put across Christian morality, not Christianity in and of itself.

I remember being upset when I found out that the Narnia books were about Christianity; I felt tricked. But really the parallels are so blatent that there's no way he was trying to sneak anything past anyone. It was just his inspiration for the stories.

As for Screwtape, well, it's a story written as letters from a senior to a junior devil - if you can't spot the possibility of a Christian message there, then you can't really blame the author!

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[JanneM]

Why is that Christianity is the only religion it is still ok to hate?

Huh? Like many agnostics and atheists I dislike all religion. Christianity certainly doesn't have any particular prominence in that respect.

What does raise my hackles more than other is prozelysation, though. This of ocurse includes some Christian evangelcal sects and writers, but I am just as annoyed by prozelytising Hindu and Islamic sects as well. Hint: if I'm interested I promise to come over to your church/synagogue/temple/kiva/bloodstained sacrificial altar and discuss it, but knocking on my door, pushing leaflets in my hand or harassing me on the town is making me less - not more - likely to have a kind thought about what you believe in.

Converesly, among religions the one I dislike the least is Buddhism and especially quiet, contemplative variations of it. It tends to be philosophy as much as religion (no father figure in sight), and they never bother you unless you actively want to be bothered.

So no, Christianity is not special at all when it comes to general dislike. If you are Christian, though, you are of course a lot more attuned to criticism towards it than other religions (and more like ly to see it at all) and so it's of course easy to get the impression that it is singled out in some manner.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[feronti]

Oddly enough, when I first heard of the Narnia's ties to Christianity, I felt foolish for not noticing it before. I also found them even more interesting, because of how well written the allegory was. It wasn't so much that it was subtle (it's not) but that the story works well even if you are ignorant of the allegory! That is what I found most impressive about them.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[MythMoth]

Did his novels get a lot of coverage in India, Tibet, Japan, or "Arabia" ? I think not. So for his audience it was the norm.

Re:Christian propaganda...?

[Snocone]

look at the crusades if want evidence of the misery and suffering brought about by christianity.

Hmmm? The Crusades were a defense of territory historically owned by the Roman Empire peacefully for over a thousand years against its invasion and subjugation by Islamic hordes conquering and plundering their way out of Arabia.

If you think that an empire defending its territory against invasion is "brought about by christianity" ... you need to learn a little more history there, friend.

Re:Nerd/tech/science?

[stealth.c]

[some] Nerds like Tolkien. Tolkien and Lewis were part of the same gang of lit nerds in Oxford. Therefore Lewis is [somewhat] similar to Tolkien. Therefore Lewis has [some] nerd interest.

Anyway, it's a news item about a new fantasy flick. I think that's nerdular enough. I was glad to see the article.

Re:Nerd/tech/science?

[MythMoth]

No, that was Arthur C. Clarke, you idiot.

C.S.Lewis did write some "science fiction", but it was horribly inaccurate in all sorts of details, and like most of his writings it was a religious tract dressed up as a story.

Now that worked brilliantly with the Narnia stories, but in his science fiction (That Hideous Strength) it did not.

Incidentally, while I'm not even remotely religious, I think that his best writing was The Screwtape Letters. They're entertaining and they show his deep understanding of human nature.

You know, it's not like he *hid* that fact...

[cfalcon]

That's like complaining that the Fountainhead seems to promote individualism, or 1984 seems down on totalitarianism, or that Mein Kampf seems a touch racist. It's the goal of the author, and it's not hidden.

He's not out to "manipulate", he's out to convert, and then to improve the behavior of the converted. That might be the same thing as manipulation in the books of many folks, and I can definitely see how you wouldn't want that out of a fantasy series...

But honestly, CS Lewis pretty much wrote Christian propaganda, books on why he's not an atheist, etc...

It's just like complaining that when you went walking in the rain you got wet, is all.

Re:You know, it's not like he *hid* that fact...

[iabervon]

He's not really trying to convert anyone. The books are written with the assumption that the reader is already Christian of some sort. He is trying almost exclusively to improve the behavior of Christians. For that matter, the last book features fundamentalist Christians destroying the world, and nice pagans going to heaven.

In fact, someone reading the CoN without a Christian upbringing is unlikely to identify the Christian elements in it without having them pointed out, and is certainly unlikely to find any relationship between the events of the book and modern Christian practice. The message is really that you should have a particular morality, whatever your articles of faith happen to be. The Christian elements serve primarily to make this message more persuasive to Christian readers. It's actually more like complaining that The Fountainhead seems to promote architects than individualism.

Film/Book Order

[oboylet]

CS Lewis sort of jumped around in the timeline. Some of the books are prequels to others. Wikipedia has a comparison of the published order versus the story's chronology.

If Disney ends up filming each of the Chronicles, how do they manage to continuity? The characters are going to grow up and the boys' voices will predicibly change before they can film the prequels. Or are they going to hire different actors, breaking continuity.

I imagine it was a business decision. Everyone's heard of "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" but "The Magician's Nephew" might not be as well known.

Overall, I'd say the trailer shows promise, though.

Re:First book?

[wcb4]

and in spite of the usual low budge BBS production, those shows, (LW&W, Prince Caspian, Dawn Treader and Silver Chair) were all fantastic. With the exception on the city under the sea n dawn treader, I don't think they took any liberties with C.S. Lewis' books at all.... I am sure that DIsney wil not be as kind. Disney, the Politically correct mass marketting machine, producing what are essentially extended metaphors for Christian beliefs. I can't wait until it comes out to see how they butcher it. I am sure that Peter will not kill the wolf, (a child, kill?) I wonder how they will explain the magic deeper than the deep magic that states that if a willing victim gives his life, death will be defeated. OUtta be interesting.

Disney's Big Move

[TheFlyingGoat]

The other day on the radio they were discussing Narnia, and how it appears as though it's Disney's big attempt to revitalize itself in the movie industry. They're putting more money into it than any movie they've ever done, and some of the higher-ups at Disney have said they're expecting it to work for the company similar to how The Little Mermaid did.

If you compare it to any other Disney live action movie, none of the others come even close in terms of scope, story, budget, costume design, sets, CGI, etc. They're putting a lot on this movie.

Since both my wife and I are big fans of Lewis (my wife even more so), I hope Disney's gamble pays off. There's word that they're hoping they can do additional stories from the book series, which makes sense if the movie is profitable.

As for the few people that complain about it being a movie about Christianity, who really cares? Even though I'm considered a "Christian conservative", I still enjoy movies about other religions and cultures. They're not trying to hide what the story is really about, and there's people out there that actually ENJOY movies about Christianity (see the success of Passion of the Christ for an example). Just get off your anti-religious podium for a second and try thinking about it as just a story, similar to how some colleges will read portions of The Bible or Paradise Lost.