Chronicles of Narnia movie
A post from Alexander on the Chronicles of Narnia
I'm sure you have all seen the movie "The Lion, The Which, and The Wardrobe" by now, if not...GO SEE IT! As a follower of Christ this is one of the most important movies of the year. My mom used to read the book to my brother and I (non-Christian family) at bedtime, yet I hadn't read or even picked up the other books in the series until lately. I went with a bunch of friends and my brother and step-sister (neither of them Christians) on opening day to go and see the movie. If you've seen it you know it's pretty incredible. Anyway, for some reason I just kind of assumed that this whole series, and C.S. Lewis in general was held securely in the Christian community and nobody in the "Secular world" would be interested in it at all. Soon realizing that this was going to be a cultural phenomenon I got thinking about how important the movie is.
The movie gives the story of sacrifice straight-up as plain as it gets, and less gorey than "The Passion" which makes it slightly more inviting for the public. I almost feel as though it's tricking people, they get involved in this incredibly fun and exciting "children's" story, then are hit with the reality of what the true king of the land would do for even the smallest human.
Walking out of the theatre, my brother turned to me and asked "so was there really a lot of Christian imagery in that like I've heard there is?" WOW what an opportunity this was to explain the story deeper, explaining Aslan the lion as an image of Jesus and that Jesus was actually the one who gave himself up for all of humanity.
The books are magical in the way that they can simply be taken as great fantasy books, or looking deeper into them can have such a significant meaning reflecting the truths of the Bible, and God's relationship with his creation. Without sounding like I'm giving a review of the movie or the books I guess I am trying to get the point across that everything about this story and the fact that it was probably the most popular thing this Christmas season is absolutely nothing but helpful for the Kingdom of God to prosper.
Youth, heck everyone, is sometimes afraid of things that will shove some sort of "religious" ideas down your throat, but the beauty about this is that it's fun, exciting, and the message is plainly out there, actually in the script, word for word "the true meaning of sacrifice...", yet not at all "in your face religious".
-alex street
I'm sure you have all seen the movie "The Lion, The Which, and The Wardrobe" by now, if not...GO SEE IT! As a follower of Christ this is one of the most important movies of the year. My mom used to read the book to my brother and I (non-Christian family) at bedtime, yet I hadn't read or even picked up the other books in the series until lately. I went with a bunch of friends and my brother and step-sister (neither of them Christians) on opening day to go and see the movie. If you've seen it you know it's pretty incredible. Anyway, for some reason I just kind of assumed that this whole series, and C.S. Lewis in general was held securely in the Christian community and nobody in the "Secular world" would be interested in it at all. Soon realizing that this was going to be a cultural phenomenon I got thinking about how important the movie is.
The movie gives the story of sacrifice straight-up as plain as it gets, and less gorey than "The Passion" which makes it slightly more inviting for the public. I almost feel as though it's tricking people, they get involved in this incredibly fun and exciting "children's" story, then are hit with the reality of what the true king of the land would do for even the smallest human.
Walking out of the theatre, my brother turned to me and asked "so was there really a lot of Christian imagery in that like I've heard there is?" WOW what an opportunity this was to explain the story deeper, explaining Aslan the lion as an image of Jesus and that Jesus was actually the one who gave himself up for all of humanity.
The books are magical in the way that they can simply be taken as great fantasy books, or looking deeper into them can have such a significant meaning reflecting the truths of the Bible, and God's relationship with his creation. Without sounding like I'm giving a review of the movie or the books I guess I am trying to get the point across that everything about this story and the fact that it was probably the most popular thing this Christmas season is absolutely nothing but helpful for the Kingdom of God to prosper.
Youth, heck everyone, is sometimes afraid of things that will shove some sort of "religious" ideas down your throat, but the beauty about this is that it's fun, exciting, and the message is plainly out there, actually in the script, word for word "the true meaning of sacrifice...", yet not at all "in your face religious".
-alex street
posted by blair at 1/22/2006 05:32:00 p.m.
5 Comments:
I will have to agree with you Alex---This movie was amazing! I watched the movie couple weeks ago, and I thought "what a great way to share key points of the Truth Of The Gospel with people who don't want to hear about Jesus, The Bible,and Church plainly/boldly"---I hear people say all the time "why do Christians always speak like they are preaching--forcing?"
I am happy at the fact that people can have great cinversations around this movie without sounding like a sermon is being preached or cutting peoples throats (?). I believe that Disney did a great job bringing out the true essence of the well written novel by C.S. Lewis, and many children can benefit from watching the movie along with reading the novel (which is part of the school curriculum in many Canadian school boards). I also heard many comments by fellow co-workers and class mates that they thought it was going to be more gorey/have more fighting. My question is: What did you really expect to be shown by a Disney Movie,which is based on a novel geared towards children?
What a great response your family had, Alex! I plan to hear more stories like yours within the next little while. Overall and my final comment, when you have a chance whatch this movie-- it is a movie (story)that will impact your life!
God Bless, Caterina
A Joint In The Body of Christ
I saw this movie over the Christmas holidays, and I loved it. When making movies based on books, especially good one's like Lewis', it can be a tricky thin. I was a little nervous that the movie would take out some of the Christian imagry that is protrayed within the book, but I was pleasently surprised. It was so well done.
During my childhood, I grew up watching the BBC version of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. If anyone else has seen this version, they will know that this new movie is much better. ALthough the BBC version might have focused on other or more aspects of the book, the new one does an equally as good job at portraying the message of the story.
When I went to see the moive in December, I found myself crying by the end of it because the story is such a beautiful example of Jesus' sacrific for us. It was a touching and wonderful experience. Everyone should see it.
As great and wonderful as The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was I can't help but think that this movie was not made to further the kingdom of Christ as the number one objective. This was a major motion picture that took time, energy but most importantly money. The makers of this movie and the people who produced it would not have made it if they did not want to make money off it. They found something that was popular and made a movie about it, and it just happened to be a Christian story. Nevertheless, it still would sell, so the producers poured money into it, dreaming about the money it will pour back into their pockets. Disney is a corporation that is not first and foremost about proclaiming the kingdom of God, their main goal it to make money. This is not to say that God cannot use a movie such as this to influence someone’s life. I think we have to be careful about how much praise we give the film. I give more notice to the books, they were written by a man after God's heart, who's first purpose was to further the kingdom of God. He wrote those books with every intention of changing lives of children and their parents. Disney was more interested in the sales of merchandise and the ticket sales. Who cares if people have a religious experience as long as we get them to pay $10.00 to do it? I enjoyed the movie and was pleased with the message but I couldn't help but feel used as a Christian. Our message about the King who died for the salvation of the world made according to http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=narnia.htm $634,881,289. How much of that money that was made off a message for the sick, poor and outcasts will make it to such people. Will this movie better the world by its gross income? The truth is it will make the rich richer and me and many people like me $10.00 poorer, and the sick, lost, hungry and outcasts will remain as such. I just hope that God uses the individual experiences to bring purpose to this film because God can use anything for good.
Jason, are you saying that because people were critical of the movie that they were reacting to the offensiveness of the Gospel?
The February issue of Christianity Today has an interesting article called the Marketing of Aslan. If you are interested in pursuing this any further, it might be a place to start.
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