GREAT MOVIE!

Some of my thoughts,

The Witch was not ugly, but beautiful, just as satan is as the current prince of this world.

The Witch (satan figure) entered the boy's life, tempted him, and caused him to sin at a very young age, while he was most vounerable and stupid, just as he has done with all of us (or at least me, with pornography, etc...)

It is amazing to me, that if you take the "Jesus" story, and repackage it so the Lamb of God, Jesus, is a lion and the spiritual battle between satan and Christ is an earthly battle, then everyone loves it, and it is acceptable to the world, but it is like Jesus said,


"The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.

From Wiki,

The Chronicles of Narnia contain many allusions to Christian ideas which are easily accessible to younger readers; however, the books are not weighty, and can be read for their adventure, colour, and mythological ideas alone. Because of this, The Chronicles of Narnia have become favourites with both children and adults, Christians and non-Christians.

Although he did not set out to do so, in the process of writing his fantasy works, Lewis (an adult convert to Christianity) found himself incorporating Christian theological concepts into his stories. As he wrote in Of Other Worlds:

"Some people seem to think that I began by asking myself how I could say something about Christianity to children; then fixed on the fairy tale as an instrument, then collected information about child psychology and decided what age group I'd write for; then drew up a list of basic Christian truths and hammered out 'allegories' to embody them. This is all pure moonshine. I couldn't write in that way. It all began with images; a faun carrying an umbrella, a queen on a sledge, a magnificent lion. At first there wasn't anything Christian about them; that element pushed itself in of its own accord."
Lewis, an expert on the subject of allegory, himself maintained that the books were not allegory, and preferred to call the Christian aspects of them "suppositional". This is similar to what we would now call alternative history. As he wrote in a letter to a Mrs. Hook in December of 1958:

"If Aslan represented the immaterial Deity in the same way in which Giant Despair [a character in The Pilgrim's Progress] represents despair, he would be an allegorical figure. In reality however he is an invention giving an imaginary answer to the question, 'What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as He actually has done in ours?' This is not allegory at all." (Martindale & Root 1990)
New Yorker essayist Adam Gopnik recently suggested that, as a strict Christian allegory, the The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe is not especially accurate. Specifically, he points out that

"a central point of the Gospel story is that Jesus is not the lion of the faith but the lamb of God, while his other symbolic animal is, specifically, the lowly and bedraggled donkey. The moral force of the Christian story is that the lions are all on the other side. If we had, say, a donkey, a seemingly uninspiring animal from an obscure corner of Narnia, raised as an uncouth and low-caste beast of burden, rallying the mice and rats and weasels and vultures and all the other unclean animals, and then being killed by the lions in as humiliating a manner as possible—a donkey who re-emerges, to the shock even of his disciples and devotees, as the king of all creation—now, that would be a Christian allegory. A powerful lion, starting life at the top of the food chain, adored by all his subjects and filled with temporal power, killed by a despised evil witch for his power and then reborn to rule, is a Mithraic, not a Christian, myth" (Gopnik 2005)

I was dissapointed in the film.

Of course, trying to tell that story in under 3 hours is impossible.

Read the book.

Great movie, even for us non-Christians.  

I completely emjoyed the film, even though I have not read the books in many many many years (nearly a decade at this point)   I was impressed at how well they portrayed the characters, they all had their foibles...

I think the greatest message though is the story of Edmund, who unwittingly betrays his family and the innocent alike as he succums to his own ego and earthly desires (in this case: Turkish delight), before comming to realize that in accepting a seemingly easy path, he has sown the seeds of his own doom, and repents, ultimately by offering his own life in the defense of others.   Fortunately, Lucy had that potion... eh?

Quoted: I was dissapointed in the film. Of course, trying to tell that story in under 3 hours is impossible. Read the book.

I have not read the book, so I was not aware of what they deleted, maybe I should read the book too

"I hope you've been good because there's somebody here to see you."

I loved the movie and my wife and I have already agreed that we're going to own it as soon as it comes out on dvd.

Quoted: GREAT MOVIE!

+1

Multiple parallels/symbols of Christ, the Atonement, repentance, influence of Satan, releasing imprisoned spirits, faith in things unseen, becoming as a little child, etc.

I really enjoyed it.

Quoted: During the movie I was trying to see the connection.  At some point I realized that from my opinion it is much like the bible, an entertaining fairy tale.

Quoted: Multiple parallels/symbols of Christ, the Atonement, repentance, influence of Satan, releasing imprisoned spirits, faith in things unseen, becoming as a little child, etc. I really enjoyed it.

You really nailed it with your description.

Quoted: Quoted: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" ~Title of Liberty 72 B.C. Shane, what can you tell me about this?

IM sent.  I dont' want to take this topic into a big tangent.

Quoted: Quoted: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" ~Title of Liberty 72 B.C. Shane, what can you tell me about this?

Its from the Book of Mormon IIRC.

+1

-Foxxz

kinda like The Matrix then?  (agents representing demons, etc)


Guess now I'll have to see the movie.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" ~Title of Liberty 72 B.C. Shane, what can you tell me about this?   Its from the Book of Mormon IIRC. I was commenting on the use of "our god".  Was kind of an the assumption that there was no other gods.  Shane explained some of it in an IM.

Shane you mind posting that explanation or IMing it to me.  I'd like to hear your take on that.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: "In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children" ~Title of Liberty 72 B.C. Shane, what can you tell me about this?   Its from the Book of Mormon IIRC. I was commenting on the use of "our god".  Was kind of an the assumption that there was no other gods.  Shane explained some of it in an IM. Shane you mind posting that explanation or IMing it to me.  I'd like to hear your take on that.

I didn't want to take the subject on a tangent, but I'll give a quick explanation to appease everyone.

"our God" is a similar context as "he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God" (Exodus 12:2).  It recognizes that others might worship other gods, but the Lord is our God.

cool, thats how I read it in the first place, just wanted to see if there was anything else to it.

It was a great movie that had a real impact on me.

I liked the movie but thought the "balance" to be heavily shifted towards the witch/satan/evil.

Nearly all of the movie depicts the wonton brutalness of the witch including the drawn-out scene where she and her minions "kill" Aslan. But the final triumph of Aslan is so short that the lasting impression that good ultimately defeats evil is almost lost. Basically I just wanted that bitch to really take a good asswhipping and humiliating defeat, not just a quick chomp by Aslan.

But all-in-all I thought it was a pretty good show as far as movies go.

Quoted: I liked the movie but thought the "balance" to be heavily shifted towards the witch/satan/evil. Nearly all of the movie depicts the wonton brutalness of the witch including the drawn-out scene where she and her minions "kill" Aslan. But the final triumph of Aslan is so short that the lasting impression that good ultimately defeats evil is almost lost. Basically I just wanted that bitch to really take a good asswhipping and humiliating defeat, not just a quick chomp by Aslan. But all-in-all I thought it was a pretty good show as far as movies go.

That is a very distinctive difference between good and evil, between the witch and Aslan.

The white witch took great delight in the killing of Aslan.  Savoring the opportunity to humiliate and abuse him.  Aslan didn't savor the killing that was necessary.  He did was was needed and moved on.

Sure, it would feel great, from a carnal standpoint, for the witch to really get knocked around and torn up for a while before death.  However, Aslan represented a much higher standard.

Quoted: That is a very distinctive difference between good and evil, between the witch and Aslan. The white witch took great delight in the killing of Aslan.  Savoring the opportunity to humiliate and abuse him.  Aslan didn't savor the killing that was necessary.  He did was was needed and moved on. Sure, it would feel great, from a carnal standpoint, for the witch to really get knocked around and torn up for a while before death.  However, Aslan represented a much higher standard.

Yeah I know.

But still sometimes you just wanna see the baddie get hoisted up and squirm a while - at least in movies.

Quoted: Quoted: I liked the movie but thought the "balance" to be heavily shifted towards the witch/satan/evil. Nearly all of the movie depicts the wonton brutalness of the witch including the drawn-out scene where she and her minions "kill" Aslan. But the final triumph of Aslan is so short that the lasting impression that good ultimately defeats evil is almost lost. Basically I just wanted that bitch to really take a good asswhipping and humiliating defeat, not just a quick chomp by Aslan. But all-in-all I thought it was a pretty good show as far as movies go. That is a very distinctive difference between good and evil, between the witch and Aslan. The white witch took great delight in the killing of Aslan.  Savoring the opportunity to humiliate and abuse him.  Aslan didn't savor the killing that was necessary.  He did was was needed and moved on. Sure, it would feel great, from a carnal standpoint, for the witch to really get knocked around and torn up for a while before death.  However, Aslan represented a much higher standard.

Good take.

Taking another allegory from the movie...

The most meaningful moments with the Lord will be when we stand before him seeking mercy and forgiveness, much like Edward before Aslan.  Receiving mercy and grace will be more powerful than any exciting battle.

Being crowned with glory and abiding in His presence will provide greater happiness than any satisfaction of watching bad guys get their due.  


On the same token, if we give in to Satan's temptations, he will take great delight in tormenting us.  He is miserable and seeks that all of us be miserable like him.



Narnia portrays these things in wonderful ways.

Quoted: But still sometimes you just wanna see the baddie get hoisted up and squirm a while - at least in movies.

I just can't argue with that.

I'd love to see Osama hoisted up ...on the end of a rope.