Narnia- The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

strange blend of magic, myth and Christianity.
1. Disney promoted it as a religious film and also used a evangelical publisher
  1. churches being urged to run narnia themed services as well as being given tickets to see the film
2. Andrew Adamson said that the Christian themes were 'open for to the audience to interpret'
3. Lewis wanted the Chronicles of Narnia to be mythical so that children would want to read/watch it.
  1. "The one true myth" -Lewis talking about the first Easter
  2. A child was concerned that the loved Aslan more than Jesus after watching the film but Lewis said that
    1. "So that when Lawrence (the child) thinks that he loves Aslan, he is really loving Jesus even more"
4. Celtic, Roman, Greek and Norse mythology.
four children enter Narnia through a wardrobe and find themselves in a land which is frozen and always winter because of the evil ice queen Jadis. Jadis tempts Edmund by giving him chunks of Turkish delight, to betray his brother and sisters.
Character representations.
1. Aslan-Jesus Christ
  1. "They shall walk after the Lord. He will rule like a lion. When he roars, then His sons shall come trembling from the west" Isiah
  2. "See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed."
  3. Sacrifices himself for Edmund just like Jesus sacrificing himself for humanity so that they may be saved
  4. Queen Jadis mocks him before killing him. Aslan is shaved and whipped just as Jesus was stripped naked and whipped. When he was put on the cross, there was a banner at the top of it which stated" Here is the King of the Jews!" just like when Queen Jadis mocks with "behold, The Great Lion!"
2. Jadis the white witch-Satan
3. Edmund- Man
  1. Queen Jadis tempts Edmund into befriending his siblings via being tempted wth turkish delight and the promise of being King
    1. Similar to when mankind is tempted by the Snake in the Garden of Eden to eat the forbidden fruit with the promise of great knowledge.
4. Tumnus-Judas
  1. Tumnas Betrays Aslan just as Judas betrays Jesus.
5. Peter-Peter
  1. First King of Narnia. Just like Peter The Apostle being the first leader of the Church
6. Susan-Mary
7. Lucy-Childlike faith
  1. Lucy is the first one who ventures into Narnia. After her experience with Tumnas, she comes back into the real world and tries to tell her brothers and sister but they do not believ her becuase they do not have the childlike faith that she has,
    1. "truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" -Matthew 18:3
  2. Lucy and Mary are the first ones to Aslan's grave. this is simillar to Mary and Mary Magdalin mourning Jesus' death
8. Santa Claus-Holy Spirit.
  1. Gives gifts to the children so that they may be successful in their travels.
    1. Just like the holy spirit is deemed within Christianity to give gifts such as speaking in tounges and preaching.
      1. Epesians 6:10 talks about how Christians should wear l 'the full armor of God'.
Differences from the Bible.
1. Jesus is raised to life by the power of God, Aslan is raised by 'Deep Magic'
2. Aslan is a lion however Jesus is described as "the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world' John 1:29
3. Polly Toynbee wrote in The Guardian about the film and said that Aslan was representing something which was not like Jesus
  1. "heavily laden with guilt, blame, sacrifice and a suffering that is dark with emotional sadism"
  2. "Children are supposed to fall in love with the hypnotic Aslan, though he is not a character: he is pure, raw, awesome power. He is the emblem of everything an atheist objects to in religion."
    1. Jesus is a man of peace, Aslan is a warrior.
4. Even trying to represent God and Jesus in a simpler form can be considered blasphemy
Is representing theology in film good?
1. Pope suggests that animated films (like Narnia) allow for more escapism than other types of film.
  1. "It releases its audience into a fairy tale, make believe world where the usual laws of cause and effect are suspended"
2. Telford suggests that film is open to individual interpretation and says that if you go in looking for theological themes in a film, you are more likely to notice them than if you're going into the cinema to watch the film for fun.
3. Cather Weaver " They will all fall short of being Christ in some way"
  1. Weaver thought that eisegetical interpretation 'controls' our interpretation and that it causes us to ignore the 'art within the film'.
  2. "films, especially with explicit religious content, can be manipulative and convincingly terrifying for people who have not developed a mature of their faith"
  3. "Film is an illumination of religious meaning..." it "adds meaning to biblical and sermon themes, doctrines and moral lessons, as well as social and global concerns"

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Narnia- The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe.

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	Created by Celeste Drouin-Davis over 7 years ago