Latest Opinion Roundup
The Guardian (UK) is once again taking up the harshest line of criticism possible with regard to Narnia, even taking the title of the column from the title of Philip Pullman's anti-Christian book series. This article is, at least, a full articulation of such criticisms, so even if you don't agree you can understand the points being made. So if you really want to understand why some people hate Narnia, this article will help explain it.
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The Seattle Times has patched together an article about the Christian enthusiasm over Narnia, pulling from various wire service stories and throwing in a little local flavor as a bonus. One major error in the article: Lewis did not describe "his writing style as 'sneaking the gospel past the watchful dragons' of the secular world." Rather, he saw fantasy as a means of sneaking the emotional power of the gospel story past the watchful dragons of the church: hushed voices and over-reverence. That's quite a difference!
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The Indianapolis Star is running a very nice original article by a staff writer about the Christian enthusiasm over the Narnia movie. By working in some good, new quotes from the staff of the Wade Center at Wheaton, Robert King manages to shed some light on Lewis and his intent with his books. It's a good news article that doesn't pander to anyone.
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Philip Marchand at The Toronto Star has written an excellent article about the recent trend of cinematic fantasy, and the role that it plays in our culture. It's not about Narnia per se, though it does touch on the subject; but it does put the discussion about the books and the movie in the proper context of the broader discussion. A good read!
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The Detroit News has posted an article about the Narnia phoenomenon which features some good quotes from Christian Lewis scholar Bruce Edwards. Among other things, he says: "In some circles, 'Narnia' is arriving self-announced as a Christian film that does X, Y and Z, and Lewis would object to that. If you can't enter into Narnia and enjoy the world for itself, then you're missing the point."
The article also makes an erroneous claim that Disney "gave hundreds of thousands of tickets to churches and Christian organizations for early 'Narnia' screenings." Nothing could be further from the truth. Only a scant handful of church leaders were screened the entire film.
The HTML for this article is also pretty garbled. If you follow the link, keep hunting: you'll find the article eventually!
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The Cincinnati Enquirer is running a fairly gentle and balanced analysis of the Christian reception of the Narnia movie. It reflects a genuine diversity within the Christian community—and the writer seems to have actually listened to Dennis Rice, Disney's marketing exec, when he explained the rationale behind the movie's promotional plans. Nothing earthshaking or new here, but pretty good journalism.
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Lousie Kennedy at the Boston Globe doesn't expect to like the film. And interestingly, she doesn't think the brouhaha about the Christian message plays into it one way or the other. For her, it's all about the magic of the literature iteself, which she can't imagine the film will capture.
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Chauncey Mabe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel takes a workman-like stab at a "culture wars" look at the marketing of the Narnia film. "Maybe the evangelical churches can count it a victory in the culture wars that Hollywood is at last taking their demographic, if not their theology, seriously," he offers. Not much new here, really, but if you haven't read a story from this slant recently and want to, you could do worse.
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A guest article at the LA Times by Alan Jacobs does a fantastic job of summarizing and analyzing Lewis' thoughts on the potential and shortcomings of the cinematic artform.
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The Seattle Times has patched together an article about the Christian enthusiasm over Narnia, pulling from various wire service stories and throwing in a little local flavor as a bonus. One major error in the article: Lewis did not describe "his writing style as 'sneaking the gospel past the watchful dragons' of the secular world." Rather, he saw fantasy as a means of sneaking the emotional power of the gospel story past the watchful dragons of the church: hushed voices and over-reverence. That's quite a difference!
--------------
The Indianapolis Star is running a very nice original article by a staff writer about the Christian enthusiasm over the Narnia movie. By working in some good, new quotes from the staff of the Wade Center at Wheaton, Robert King manages to shed some light on Lewis and his intent with his books. It's a good news article that doesn't pander to anyone.
--------------
Philip Marchand at The Toronto Star has written an excellent article about the recent trend of cinematic fantasy, and the role that it plays in our culture. It's not about Narnia per se, though it does touch on the subject; but it does put the discussion about the books and the movie in the proper context of the broader discussion. A good read!
--------------
The Detroit News has posted an article about the Narnia phoenomenon which features some good quotes from Christian Lewis scholar Bruce Edwards. Among other things, he says: "In some circles, 'Narnia' is arriving self-announced as a Christian film that does X, Y and Z, and Lewis would object to that. If you can't enter into Narnia and enjoy the world for itself, then you're missing the point."
The article also makes an erroneous claim that Disney "gave hundreds of thousands of tickets to churches and Christian organizations for early 'Narnia' screenings." Nothing could be further from the truth. Only a scant handful of church leaders were screened the entire film.
The HTML for this article is also pretty garbled. If you follow the link, keep hunting: you'll find the article eventually!
--------------
The Cincinnati Enquirer is running a fairly gentle and balanced analysis of the Christian reception of the Narnia movie. It reflects a genuine diversity within the Christian community—and the writer seems to have actually listened to Dennis Rice, Disney's marketing exec, when he explained the rationale behind the movie's promotional plans. Nothing earthshaking or new here, but pretty good journalism.
--------------
Lousie Kennedy at the Boston Globe doesn't expect to like the film. And interestingly, she doesn't think the brouhaha about the Christian message plays into it one way or the other. For her, it's all about the magic of the literature iteself, which she can't imagine the film will capture.
--------------
Chauncey Mabe of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel takes a workman-like stab at a "culture wars" look at the marketing of the Narnia film. "Maybe the evangelical churches can count it a victory in the culture wars that Hollywood is at last taking their demographic, if not their theology, seriously," he offers. Not much new here, really, but if you haven't read a story from this slant recently and want to, you could do worse.
--------------
A guest article at the LA Times by Alan Jacobs does a fantastic job of summarizing and analyzing Lewis' thoughts on the potential and shortcomings of the cinematic artform.
posted by Greg Wright at 4.12.05
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