AUTHOR: Robin Dugall DATE: 8:25:00 AM ----- BODY:

I'm not going to say anything more...I'll let you see what the Internet Monk has to say about the coming Narnia picture. Having LOVED the Narnia series, I am inclined to agree with him. Am I excited to see the movie? Yes. Do I have apprehensions about the massive marketing efforts that will soon be producing everything from Narnia keychains to bumper stickers to board games? Yes. Anyway, I'm sure I'll have more to say on this issue later...for now, here's some good thought and perspective. Shrinking Greatness To Fit The Screen :What worries me about evangelicals and the Narnia films www.internetmonk.com In December, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (LWW) will be released to the big screen. Probably no single piece of Christian literature has been enjoyed and passed on by so many people, Christian and not, as LWW. The expectation among lovers of the Narnia books and C.S. Lewis in general is strong. Frankly, I'm worried. And I want you to be worried too. Evangelicals are starting to get some practice at having movies pitched our direction. I remember when Chariots of Fire was about to be released, and someone organized a meeting of ministers and talked to us about the possibilities of using the film for evangelism. (Ironically, Chariots of Fire was produced by a Muslim.) No Eric Liddle running shoes appeared at Lifeway, however. The phenomenon of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ convinced Hollywood that directly providing the Christian market with films they can embrace would make big money. The intensity with which evangelicals owned that movie surprised everyone. In fact, evangelicals embraced the film with more devotion than most Roman Catholics. How many buses did St. Boniface Church bring over? How many Catholic churches showed the film in the sanctuary during worship? Was it possible to get too much of The Passion of the Christ? I think it has increasingly become clear that there has been a strong reaction against the innundation of the culture and the church with the film, and that many Christians have stepped away from the film, its violence and its truncated portrayal of the totality of the significance of Jesus. For example, even though the DVD sold well and many Christians purchased it, I see very little use of the Passion in its DVD form by churches. A major campus ministry at a large state university nearby sponsored a showing of The Passion of the Christ during Holy Week last year. Almost no one attended, even among Christians on campus. It was not just a case of bad scheduling. There was simply no desire to repeat the experience. I know that my own reaction is not necessarily typical, but I find my appreciation for The Passion of the Christ considerably diminished over time. There are strengths to the film that I frequently point out in discussions, but I also now always mention that isolating the cross from the totality of the incarnation distorts the Passion story. Gibson makes some attempts to remedy this, but they fail. No one can imagine the film, standing alone, communicating the Biblical portrait of Jesus as well as, for example, The Gospel of John film. A good portion, however, of my diminished appreciation for Gibson's movie is the awareness of how the marketing and promotion of the film took on a life of its own, and brought the distinctly secular, cynical, unholy forces of marketing to bear on some of the most sacred of all Christian imagery and story. I resent the commodification of the Passion of Jesus by those who wanted to make a dollar and draw a bigger crowd. I am fearful- almost certain, in fact- that the beloved story of Aslan is about to be plunged into the same baptism of profiteering and evangelical, church growth driven manipulation. I am afraid that the story so many Christians have loved, will never be loved the same way, because so many of us will be sick of those children and that lion, courtesy of marketing maniacs making sure we all have the "Narnia Experience" until we're tired of it. Pre-movie marketing has been considerable, especially in Narnia related books. Because the Narnia stories can be appreciated by all ages, and have few serious concerns with violence, we can expect marketing of products of all kinds to all ages. With seven books to work with- and the possibility of more Narnia books produced in the future- marketing possibilities are endless. Churches are, of course, going to be able to use the Narnia movies for evangelism, and there is nothing wrong, inherently, with this kind of ministry. I will take students to see the movie and discuss its themes. (I will have those students read the book beforehand, and be looking for differences.) I have to wonder if we really want to repeat the kind of hyper-enthused phenomenon we saw for The Passion. Will we lose Lewis's book as we've known and loved it, trading it in for a film that will never come close to the greatness of the book? We've already been through this, in some measure, with The Lord of the Rings. Did the films present the books well? I say yes, but I also want to immediately say that the greatness of the film's visual artistry cannot, in any way, be compared to the universe Tolkien created in the novels. If all future generations know is the movies, they have been cheated. I am afraid future generations are likely to be cheated by films that will be excellent, but which cannot put the magic on the screen, no more than the magic of Harry Potter can be portrayed in the excellent films made from those stories. Despite the evangelical fascination with film, especially in the emergent church, an evangelicalism that trades books for movies will be diminished. Film cannot take us inside the human experience in the same way as literature, and the recreation of beasts and battles with CGI is a purely temporary pleasure. What we will miss most is Jack Lewis himself. It was his delight in children and in the telling of these stories that has given the books the seasoning of joy that is the trademark of Lewis's best writing. I am afraid that the playful nature of the personality of C.S. Lewis, so much a part of the Narnia stories, can never be translated to the screen. His wit, his eye, his turns of phrases, his complete naturalness and "at homeness"....can these ever live in a film? What we will have may be good, but it will be entirely different. It will likely be absent what makes the stories truly special: Lewis's ability to make the stories work entirely and completely on two levels at once, without insulting either. If what we have reduces the readers of Narnia books to watchers of Narnia movies, we will all be cheated, no matter how good the films are (and I expect them to be very good.) I hope I'm wrong, and that after the Aslan stuffies are off the shelf, Peter's sword has gone out of stock at Toys 'R Us, and the Wardrobe is no longer available at Target, the Narnia books will survive and be read more than ever. I hope that after Narnia youth rallies and Narnia church growth emphasis and Narnia sermon series, we will have more people reading Lewis than ever. Lewis never intended the Narnia books to be evangelistic tracts. It will be a perversion of the stories of the allegorical elements are forced to the front and rammed down the consciousness of unbelievers. Lewis was an apologist with a gently and respectful touch. Narnia lives as Narnia, and it lives as Christ's Kingdom. You can see both, or you can see either. Whatever you see will be a rich and wonderful experience...if you see them through Lewis's prose. Can these wonderful touches be translated to the movies? I am skeptical. I hope for the best. I will be satisfied if we simply do little harm.

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