Non-Christian Opinion Roundup
The Houston Chronicle has run an article speculating that, regardless of the success of the rest of the Narnia franchise, The Horse and His Boy could never be filmed because it's just too doggone racist.
Kyrie O'Connor's recommendation for parents? Let your kids read the book if you must; but among other things, tell them, "In [C. S. Lewis'] time, people thought it was amusing to make fun of other cultures. We don't." No. Not at all. Today, we just look down at our noses at outdated authors whose works accurately reflect the times in which they wrote. Yes, we're soooo superior.
Here's a surprise for Ms. O'Connor and others of similar condescension: one of the story's heroes is a dark-skinned Calormene! And plenty of Lewis' villains are white, some even English: the White Witch, Uncle Andrew, Miraz, etc., etc., etc..
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Spero News is running a story on the fact that the Narnia film's Ocscar chances are slipping, according to bookies. The article is surprising rich, and looks at the full breadth of reaction to the film, including quotes from O'Connor's article and from more conservative sources.
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Richard Ostling at the Miami Herald's Religion desk does a nice job of analyzing the interest level in the upcoming film, but still manages to marginalize those who are interested. "Many mainline Protestants have moved beyond Lewis' robustly conservative brand of belief, Jacobs says, so excitement about Lewis' Christian books 'is largely a function of the evangelical and conservative Catholic worlds. But those are big worlds.'" Real thinking Christians, seems the implication, aren't so excited.
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The Independent (UK) really feels like it's on to something in going after Andrew Adamson about Disney's marketing of the movie to a Christian audience. Stephen Applebaum writes a really nice feature piece, then concludes with this exchange:
In an article that includes quote from HJ Senior Editor Greg Wright, AP reporter Colleen Slevin makes the case that Disney has bent over backward catering to the Christian community. A couple facts she gets a little skewed (and this is pretty typical of the secular press): first, events like the Focus on the Family promotion, which she mentions, did not include a screening of the full movie; and second, when she remarks, "Parishioners at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Denver are being allowed to see the movie a day early," she's implying that they're getting special treatment. They're not. ANY group that wanted to book a screening on the 8th would've gotten the same treatment. Christians haven't had access to anything that others haven't.
Kyrie O'Connor's recommendation for parents? Let your kids read the book if you must; but among other things, tell them, "In [C. S. Lewis'] time, people thought it was amusing to make fun of other cultures. We don't." No. Not at all. Today, we just look down at our noses at outdated authors whose works accurately reflect the times in which they wrote. Yes, we're soooo superior.
Here's a surprise for Ms. O'Connor and others of similar condescension: one of the story's heroes is a dark-skinned Calormene! And plenty of Lewis' villains are white, some even English: the White Witch, Uncle Andrew, Miraz, etc., etc., etc..
--------------------
Spero News is running a story on the fact that the Narnia film's Ocscar chances are slipping, according to bookies. The article is surprising rich, and looks at the full breadth of reaction to the film, including quotes from O'Connor's article and from more conservative sources.
--------------------
Richard Ostling at the Miami Herald's Religion desk does a nice job of analyzing the interest level in the upcoming film, but still manages to marginalize those who are interested. "Many mainline Protestants have moved beyond Lewis' robustly conservative brand of belief, Jacobs says, so excitement about Lewis' Christian books 'is largely a function of the evangelical and conservative Catholic worlds. But those are big worlds.'" Real thinking Christians, seems the implication, aren't so excited.
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The Independent (UK) really feels like it's on to something in going after Andrew Adamson about Disney's marketing of the movie to a Christian audience. Stephen Applebaum writes a really nice feature piece, then concludes with this exchange:
But didn't they hold special presentations, I ask Adamson, at least one of which he took part in, to assure Christians that Lewis's vision would reach the screen intact? (Interestingly, as well as the soundtrack, a separate CD of music performed entirely by Christian acts inspired by the Narnia stories has been released.) "We assured a lot of fans of the book, both faith-based and not," says Adamson, clearly becoming irritated by the subject. Whatever the truth, Adamson's film is a triumphant piece of fantasy film-making that even Lewis, who once wrote, "there is death in the camera", might have enjoyed.---------------------
In an article that includes quote from HJ Senior Editor Greg Wright, AP reporter Colleen Slevin makes the case that Disney has bent over backward catering to the Christian community. A couple facts she gets a little skewed (and this is pretty typical of the secular press): first, events like the Focus on the Family promotion, which she mentions, did not include a screening of the full movie; and second, when she remarks, "Parishioners at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Denver are being allowed to see the movie a day early," she's implying that they're getting special treatment. They're not. ANY group that wanted to book a screening on the 8th would've gotten the same treatment. Christians haven't had access to anything that others haven't.
posted by Greg Wright at 2.12.05
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