Just Saw "Narnia"...it Sucked

n/a | 12-27-05 | Bob J

[napscoordinator]

That is good. I am glad that my figures were a bit off and the film will end up in the black.

[RainMan]

I dont recall implicitly. Go read The Magicians Nephew.

In regards to splitting hairs ... actually, no, I am not. Magic by definition is evil. God not only does not condone it, he forbids it. Therefore, there can be no such thing as "good magic"

[Bob J]

"If you are going to be a literary critic, you must learn to use English correctly:"

A "literary critic" reviews books and other writings. If you're going to be a critic critic, you must learn what the meaning of is is.

[Bob J]

From what I undestand, the original apostles did not venture far outside of Palestine, it was subsequent disciples, such as Paul, that moved the word successfully to other parts of the world.

BTW - I'm sorry about my use of the "b" word in my original post.

[Bob J]

"God not only does not condone it, he forbids it. Therefore, there can be no such thing as "good magic"..."

So the childrens acceptance and use of the magical tools and weapons they received from Santa was not "good magic"? I don't think you can casually brush this aside by simply claiming "I don't consider anything God does as magic".

It sure looked like magic to me.

[dfwgator]

Didn't Lewis write Narnia during WWII, and could it also have been allegory about the fight against the Nazis? I figured the witch could have been interpreted as a proxy for Hitler.

[RobRoy]

His Chronicles of Narnia is for children (although adults can enjoy it as I did). For adults, he wrote the space trilogy. It is equally chock full of Christian metaphore, which is EXTREMELY unusual in science fiction.

[RobRoy]

It is arguable that the professor represents Lewis himself. The books were inspired by the children Lewis billeted at his home during the WWII bombings of London and, specifically, one particular little girl who did crawl into a wardrobe and imagined it a sort of gateway to another world.

[Miss Marple]

Bob, we really need to get you some education on the early church. St. Peter was crucified upside down in ROME, and the site of St. Peter's basilica marks his grave.

Luke also travelled quite a bit, definitely to Greece, as did John. Bartholomew and Thomas are believed to have gone to India.

[BradyLS]

Didn't Lewis write Narnia during WWII, and could it also have been allegory about the fight against the Nazis? I figured the witch could have been interpreted as a proxy for Hitler.

Not sure if it was written during WWII, but that's when it's set. Given the Witch has a sceret police, she could represent Hitler or any oppressive g regime. But some another poster drew clearer paralelles between the Witch and Satan.

Ironically, it occurred to me by film's end that Mrs McCready's frosty attitude and confidence it laying down the rules for the kids in the old mansion were rather like the White Witch. When McCready and the old Professor come to meet over Edmund's upsetting the peace in the mansion by upsetting Lucy, Old Professor (with wild mane of hair and beard) reasserts who make the rules and kindly sets things right-- as Aslan might. (And to show that McCready ain't all bad, she helps Lucy to some cocoa.)

That scene isn't in the book, but small things like that that the director inserted (such as the horse-drawn carriage) draw some our-world parallels to Narnia.

[Bob J]

Ooops, that didn't come out the way I intended. The Apostles preached and established churches throughout The middle east and Asia Minor (and to Rome), but I thought the phrase "to the known world" which might have been an overreach. Whether or not Bartholomew or Thomas went to India is still debated and Luke was not one of the original twelve (Judas was replaced by Mathias).

[GretchenM]

BobJ was having a difficult time seeing the central appeal to the way children think and find this story "believable" and how they can easily accept the phenomena of entering an alternate world as Lewis scripted it.

I agree re the central Christian theme and would add that, as an adult, I enjoyed the movie immensely and found it engrossing.

[SubMareener]

"If you are going to be a literary critic, you must learn to use English correctly:"
A "literary critic" reviews books and other writings. If you're going to be a critic critic, you must learn what the meaning of is is.

I used the phrase "literary critic" because if one is a "movie critic" one does not have to know how to use English correctly. ;-)

[GretchenM]

I just re-read your post and realized I hadn't read this carefully enough: "Christian metaphor, which is EXTREMELY unusual in science fiction."

I had never really thought about that. I suppose it depends on the reader / viewer. I don't have a problem with the concept.

[dangus]

My favorite reviewer's comment:

"Lucy's wondrously expressive smile is an absolute triumph of British desntistry." :^D

[dangus]

My favorite reviewer's comment:

"Lucy's wondrously expressive smile is an absolute triumph of British desntistry." :^D

... Susan is beautiful, and will grow up to be quite the heart-breaker, but then her character actually was supposed to be very pretty, unlike Lucy.

[Guenevere]

"b" word....I must have missed that!!?

I was talking about your "S" word...!!

[Ditter]

I haven't seen Narnia but we did see The Producers last night and we were terribly disappointed. Has anyone mentioned it on this thread?

[Miss Marple]

Ten of my family saw it tonight. All LOVED it, from the grandkids to my husband, who had never read the book. My husband, an engineer, was moved to tears by a couple of the scenes. My son, who is 37 and has read the books multiple times since he was 9, thought it was excellent. The grandchildren (who have not yet read but the first half of this book) loved it and couldn't quit talking about it. My sister loved it, and commented on how much trouble they had gone to to make the scenery and the characters resemble the book, and how well done the battle scene was.

I must conclude, Bob, that you have had a glitch in your taste gene. I am sorry you hated this movie, but your opinion is just flat out wrong. You are a very nice freeper, but you just didn't see this movie with the same eyes as my family. I would recommend this movie to anyone.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Your main problems with the movie had to do with the story, characters, etc.

Right. Because Chronicles Of Narnia is actually the 2nd book in the series. Anyone who starts reading the entire series of books from book number two will have problems following the story, or understanding the characters.