Posted by Helen on: 05.19.2008 /
I went to see this movie yesterday with my children. Overall it was better than I expected.
I read all the books in The Narnian Chronicles several times when I was growing up. In recent years I’ve found them too moralistic and too weak on such things as character development to consider them great children’s novels. But I was still curious to see the movie. My 12 year old wanted to go. My 15 year old was ambivalent but decided to join us.
Based on my memory of the book, the movie took some liberties with it – which I thought were improvements, on the whole. The book is a little hard to read because after an intro with the four children it jumps back and gives several chapters background about Prince Caspian. The movie avoids this by starting with a few key facts and a dramatic scene including Prince Caspian and then introducing other key facts here and there along the way. I found it more exciting than the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe movie, which I didn’t expect.
The movie avoids some of the sexism of the books (which are quite sexist in my opinion) by having Susan as involved in battle with her archery as her two brothers are with their swords. (I would say Lord of the Rings has helped this be a different but equally important and brave role in battle, by making it the elves’ special skill.) Lucy isn’t in the battle but that’s as much because she’s off rallying more fighters for their side – which are critically needed for battle. As I recall the first book indicates that battle is for boys not girls and I’m glad to see that not upheld by this movie.
In the Prince Caspian book, Susan is depicted as having lost interest in things that really matter – she’s into clothes and boys instead. And she has a mean selfish moment in the middle. The movie presents a different Susan. She notices boys and is noticed by them but that is not presented as a character flaw that pushes all important things out of her mind. It’s presented as appropriate to her age and does not detract from her character like it does in the book. Rather than being fed up with Narnia, Susan is presented as ambivalent about being back only because it was so hard to get used to life back in England after their first adventure. I was pleased to see Susan presented very positively, unlike in the book.
Peter is the only one portrayed significantly negatively. For much of the movie he’s an egotistic jerk – moreso than I remember in the book, although I think that does come up in the book. In this book, in contract with the first, Edmund is the brother whose character shines throughout.
Prince Caspian makes some similar mistakes to Peter but they seem more excusable based on ignorance/environment in his case than in Peter’s.
Aslan has a much smaller role than I remember from the book. His main role is to explain his absence for most of the movie (twice) with “Things never happen the same way twice” and to help in battle. And he doesn’t help by getting involved himself. Rather by joining with Lucy in rallying more troops. He possibly helps the four children find their way at one point, but less obviously than in the book.
The mystery of Aslan’s absence in time of need is emphasized in this movie – moreso than in the book, I think. God’s absence in time of need is one of the real mysteries believers struggle with. I was pleasantly surprised to find something so real in this movie which I was expecting to be full of too easy answers. I don’t expect all Christians to be happy at the small role Aslan has, although I could be wrong.
I thought the movie worked dramatically but from an ethical point of view I really didn’t like how the solution to the problems in Narnia was battle. Or – what I didn’t like was the sense that, war is ok as long as you’re on the winning side. Yes, you’ll lose some people but it’s a necessary evil. Handily the main characters don’t die, so we can feel sad for a moment about the rest then forget about them. The lives of the non-main-characters seemed too cheap in this movie.
In Narnia the children have difficult, exciting, important roles and learn about values. I wish that didn’t have to happen so much through killing other people.
I think the movie producers did an excellent job of making a relatively exciting children’s movie including some interesting themes out of a book which (in my opinion) has some weaknesses.
Comment by: Jamie Arpin-Ricci
1 05/19/08 8:54 AM | Comment Link |Well said on all points.
Comment by: Helen
2 05/19/08 9:02 AM | Comment Link |Thanks Jamie!
Comment by: mihee
3 05/20/08 5:14 PM | Comment Link |hi! i found your blog through emerging women, and i like this particular site. i have it on my blog. anyways, i like your review of the movie. i think the little soundbite aslan says a couple of times felt cliche to me. i do think it’s in general consistent with lewis’ representation of God through the figure of aslan in terms of unpredictability, but it took away from what i thought was aslan’s continuous presence throughout prince caspian [even if they didn't all see him right away]. this felt like it was a missing piece in the movie.
moreover, while the human relationships are key in lewis’ books, i feel like the relationship to aslan is more central. the movie seemed to focus a lot on caspian and peter, etc. the little romance between caspain and susan was cute, i suppose, but i felt like it was a little of a sell-out [like a movie needs kind of romance to be interesting or something?]…
i do agree that lewis’ portrayal of susan is disheartening, and i do appreciate the movie portrayal of her character as stronger and participatory. this book isn’t my favorite in lewis’ series, but i still felt some parts were glossed over in the movie. the overall point…i guess something about the difficult process of growing up, making choices about relationships, and trust is a prevalent theme, and an important one…i guess i see more theological stuff in the book, which perhaps can’t all be addressed in a movie.
thanks for the dialogue!
Comment by: David H
4 05/20/08 7:58 PM | Comment Link |Lewis wrote and spoke in fairly negative ways about pacifism. He seemed to sincerely belief that when faced by an enemy bent on your destruction the only reasonable option was to respond with the same force. Perhaps in Narnia this perspective can stand up. Things may be more complex in the real world where the public enemy declared by the state is not always simply and purely evil, where the cause and effect of harm followed by retribution can trace back millennia, when terms such as good or bad may depend as much on national interests (more, sometimes) than any actual acts.
Lewis was a soldier during WWI and spoke strongly against pacifism in the heat of WWII. He seems to have come honestly by his belief that sometimes right makes might. Sometimes I welcome the thought of such clear and pure purpose as Caspian had in fighting the Telemarines (many of whom probably weren’t bad people, they simply followed their leader). I try not to hold it against Lewis that I don’t see such clarity in the real world.
Comment by: joe
5 05/21/08 12:36 AM | Comment Link |I like the books, but I don’t think they’ve aged well. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to read them myself.
Leaving aside the content, it seems to me that this is just another movie created to extract money from Christians.
Comment by: Justice and Compassion
6 05/21/08 7:09 AM | Comment Link |[...] Y’see, I don’t believe this crock that says that implies there are certain spiritual movies which every Christian should attend faithfully and be inspired (especially when a honest reviewer says that the moral message isn’t so great). [...]
Comment by: Elizabeth Chapin
7 05/21/08 8:24 AM | Comment Link |Helen, I like your comments about the violence in the movie. I have been struggling with this thinking for a long time and with the Narnia books kinda wrote it off as allegorical of the spiritual battle. But, if there is a spiritual battle going on as Paul describes that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities and spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm, I’m curious whether those in the heavenly/spiritual realm die?
I agree wholeheartedly when you say, “The lives of the non-main-characters seemed too cheap in this movie.” I took my girls to see the movie and one of the first comments afterwards by my 13 year old was her sadness at all the animal characters that got trapped and left behind in the battle. It was en epic movie, but not quite what I expected, especially after just having played a part in a community theater production of the story. All in all, it was a fun family event but not one I would build my theology on!
Comment by: no offense
8 05/21/08 9:32 AM | Comment Link |In all fairness, Adolf Hitler’s march across Europe and subsequent persistent bombing of Civilian British populations in dense urban areas would persuade most people that there are appropriate situations for us to pick up a gun.
Of course, not all people will be so convinced, but try not to read Lewis as though he is a cushy and comfy US citizen of the 21st century. (Gotta watch you yanks!)
Comment by: Helen
9 05/21/08 9:51 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for your comments, everyone.
Joe, aren’t all movies made to make money? In some ways I like reading older fiction because it doesn’t ‘age well’ - that’s part of the fascination of it for me. On the other hand, I don’t like the sexism in the series, which hopefully CS Lewis would not have got away with today.
Elizabeth, the frequent use of the battle as a spiritual analogy has come to bother me more and more. Must challenge be depicted with violent analogies? Is that the only way? I suspect not. It was a horrible moment when those animals were trapped and left behind. It’s not very CS Lewis-like that the movie did that. But in a way it’s more real than to magically erase the consequences of Peter’s egotism, so I think it was justified as part of the story.
no offense, thanks for commenting. I’m not going to argue you should never fight back (some might; I respect their right to their opinion). I do think the Narnia series glorifies battle too much. That’s not unusual but that doesn’t mean it’s ok.
Comment by: joe
10 05/21/08 1:04 PM | Comment Link |Helen - well, given the expected wall of publicity from churches, and people already talking about it being a movie with a ‘transcendent message’, I’d guess that many people will have forgotten that the primary purpose is to make money. Just as they did with a lot of other films - Passion of the Christ, Amazing Grace, et al.
It has got to the point that people can’t watch it on its own merits, but have to be force-fed morality. As I said, I like the Narnia books, but I’m unlikely to watch for the very reason that I’m made to feel like I should.
Comment by: Helen
11 05/21/08 1:49 PM | Comment Link |Good point, Joe. I haven’t heard Prince Caspian pushed by Christians like I heard Passion of the Christ being pushed. Maybe that’s partly because I’m not going to church anymore.
My response to that pressure was not to go, so I agree that it’s not helpful :) Actually, the reason I didn’t go was because I heard it was full of graphic violence and I find that distasteful.
Comment by: joe
12 05/21/08 2:02 PM | Comment Link |Yes, it was a bizarre thing when Church - which is normally against sex and violence on screen - suddenly decided it was OK to watch this particular gorefest.
Comment by: Helen
13 05/21/08 2:05 PM | Comment Link |Exactly. It’s probably the only R rated movie they’ve ever recommended.
It’s sad that anyone would think gore is redemptive.
If it was, the Bible presumably would have included more details about the cross instead of the disappointingly little that Mel Gibson had to fill out.
Comment by: karen
14 05/22/08 3:28 PM | Comment Link |I agree. Maybe I’m misremembering, but it seems to me that when you got to the end of the series, Susan didn’t even make it into heaven because she was “too distracted” with boys and nylon stockings and makeup - or something like that. I can remember being horribly disappointed by that, being that I was a teenaged girl at the time myself.
Ditto. I don’t see extremely violent movies in the first place, and the fact that I kept hearing “You have to see it!” made me less interested.
Comment by: Helen
15 05/22/08 5:04 PM | Comment Link |Karen, you’re right - one of the things I liked about the movie version of Prince Caspian was that it presented Susan in a much better light. She was noticing boys and they were noticing her but that was presented as a natural part of growing up which didn’t diminish all her good character qualities like her bravery and loyalty.
Comment by: patrick
16 06/3/08 3:35 PM | Comment Link |the makers of Prince Caspian kept to the original story in some ways and strayed in others… i heard they were going to make it into a silly pure-action flick, but thankfully this was not the case
Comment by: Helen
17 06/4/08 9:23 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for your comment, Patrick.
Comment by: marion
18 08/4/08 11:49 PM | Comment Link |I think spiritual battle and attack is more than ‘challenge.’
It can feel very violent - you can feel violated when something anti-God snarls at you [even if it's a hateful fundamentalist].
Going through it [painful spiritual battle] now in a very deep way [to do with a loved one].
I think it’s more than ‘challenge’ [real spiritual battle] as often you can detect a malevolent force that wants to take your life [spiritually if not physically as well]…
I’m also thinking of the kind of spiritual battle that Paul speaks about with his ‘hard pressed on every side etc etc’ statement..
Prince Caspian is allegory, and even if Lewis didn’t intend half the parallels [as he is sometimes quoted as saying], I see many that apply to my life [is that Lewis' skill, gift? Or is it God's Sovereignty and love for me that He can use these books?]
As for the ’sexism’ and other stuff…it has to be read/viewed realising the times it was written in I guess [I would be classed as a feminist by many]. I don’t find Susan’s archery less than the boy’s sword fighting…even the archery has spiritual parallels…
and I wouldn’t be ashamed to be trusted with Lucy’s ‘gift’ of healing. So needed - not masculine or feminine.
Yes, you probably realise…I love Narnia books :) The more I read them as an adult, the more depth I find in the childlikeness and apparent simplicity.
Comment by: Helen
19 08/13/08 5:20 AM | Comment Link |Thanks for your comment, Marion.
I think The Lord of the Rings has helped archery seem as important and noble as sword fighting. But as I recall in the book (but maybe I’m not remembering correctly), Aslan gave Susan arrows for emergencies. I think he only intended the boys to be fully engaged in the battle?
I liked the Narnia books better when I was younger. Now they seem too simplistic to me. But, each to his own; I know lots of adults love them.