The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

[snugglekitty]

I haven't read the Narnia books since I was a kid. Once I saw the Christian undertones, I found them a little hard to take. (Not because I object to Christianity, but because I don't like children's books that are thinly veiled moral lessons. Adult literature of that nature we call propaganda, and I think it's demeaning to kids that we expect them to swallow such things without noticing they're there.)

The movie was quite true to the book. It was indeed full of thinly veiled symbolism and morality, but they can't be blamed for that. I thought it was well-acted. And then there was Tilda Swinton... OMG. Now I want to be the White Witch when I grow up. Which is kind of cool, since I was already on the "wrong side." It works out.



About the only thing I didn't like about it was the ending. Not, you know, Lucy trying to get back into the wardrobe. But Aslan walking down the beach. I saw that, and I moaned into starkeymonster's ear, "Not the footprints! Anything but the footprints, please!" but my prayers were not to be answered. *sigh* Of course, this got her started with, "One night a man had a dream that he was walking on the beach with the Lord..." and then the hellishness was complete.



Anyhow. To anyone who has seen or is planning to see the movie, or enjoyed the books, I strongly recommend Neil Gaiman's recent Narnia retelling, "The Problem of Susan." It's amazing and creepy and makes you think. You can find it in the new fantasy anthology Flights. I own a copy, so leave a comment if you want to borrow it.

Comments

[lady-anemone.livejournal.com]

but maybe being ineffective at its specific aim is exactly what's disappointing about propaganda.

I think it might be. When a work of fiction or piece of art convinces us totally of something, we're probably less likely to think it's propaganda. Part of what I object to about the Narnia books is the way they hit you over the head with their message.