alextoh (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} alextoh) wrote,@ 2006-02-02 20:04:00 |
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Narnia: After the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
As most kids are nowadays, we are heavily influenced by popular culture. I started off reading Harry Potter due the Hollywood remake of the first book. Now i'm reading Narnia because of the first movie.
As you may know, or not, that CS Lewis is not only famous for the Chronicles of Narnia but also for his book on christian apologetics. I was surprised while reading the first chapters of Narnia to see so many references to the bible. So much so that I was inclined to think that this really read like a children's bible rather than a work of fiction. For instance, all the human beings are refered to as children of adam and of eve and the lion which created Narnia was killed by the evil witch but was resurrected to save Narnia again. This is all already a movie, the next book in the Chronicles will turn out to be controversial.
Titled, 'The Horse and his Boy' the book caricatures the land of Narnia to be a little haven of justice and peace away from the scheming diabolical minds of the land of Calormen. The people of Calormen are darker skinned, wore turbans and carried scimitars and every reference to their king would be followed by "may he live forever". This must naturally be a reference to the Islamic Moors. After some Wikipedia-ing, it turns out that the spread of the Moorish influence to the north was halted by the Franks in the Battle of Tours. It involved the islamic Army moving northward but stopped by the christian Charles Martel in Tours, France. The Moorish forces were largely cavalry and notably the Berbers were most famous for their horses. In the CS Lewis' book, the antagonistic forces consists of 200 cavalry who advance north to invade Narnia. The moors are caricatured as people of riches but vain to excesses and of questionable morality.
The most controversial theme of the book in this era will turn out to be the reference of the people of Narnia as 'free'. Therefore, the attack of the Islamic army on Narnia is to be viewed as an attempt on the free world. The aftermath of 9/11 was to polarise the world into factions, many along religious lines. Many of you would note that in 2002 Bush coined the now infamous term "axis of evil" and that his re-election was largely attributed to the vote of christian groups. Now consider the fact that the next instalment of Narnia will be produced by America. I think it is easy to see how the controversy is turning out. I predict that the idea of Narnia being a country of the free will be played up and the islamic elements and vainty of the Moors basterdised. The free will naturally win the war, in fact CS Lewis' says that the leader of the invading army is turned into a donkey or "ass" and sent back to his kingdom.
Narnia, is a children's book and Narnia is a children's film. I find it hard to accept the idea that kids from such a young age should be inculcated with the prejudices of the polarised world. I sincerely hope that they skip this instalment of CS Lewis' book altogether. For the sake of young minds everywhere, not to grow up thinking that they are all inherently good and the rest of the world inherently bad. For those are prejudices which eventually lead to honest intentions to save the 'rest' but not realising that they don't require saving. The evil is not across our borders, rather is it there in our minds.
As most kids are nowadays, we are heavily influenced by popular culture. I started off reading Harry Potter due the Hollywood remake of the first book. Now i'm reading Narnia because of the first movie.
As you may know, or not, that CS Lewis is not only famous for the Chronicles of Narnia but also for his book on christian apologetics. I was surprised while reading the first chapters of Narnia to see so many references to the bible. So much so that I was inclined to think that this really read like a children's bible rather than a work of fiction. For instance, all the human beings are refered to as children of adam and of eve and the lion which created Narnia was killed by the evil witch but was resurrected to save Narnia again. This is all already a movie, the next book in the Chronicles will turn out to be controversial.
Titled, 'The Horse and his Boy' the book caricatures the land of Narnia to be a little haven of justice and peace away from the scheming diabolical minds of the land of Calormen. The people of Calormen are darker skinned, wore turbans and carried scimitars and every reference to their king would be followed by "may he live forever". This must naturally be a reference to the Islamic Moors. After some Wikipedia-ing, it turns out that the spread of the Moorish influence to the north was halted by the Franks in the Battle of Tours. It involved the islamic Army moving northward but stopped by the christian Charles Martel in Tours, France. The Moorish forces were largely cavalry and notably the Berbers were most famous for their horses. In the CS Lewis' book, the antagonistic forces consists of 200 cavalry who advance north to invade Narnia. The moors are caricatured as people of riches but vain to excesses and of questionable morality.
The most controversial theme of the book in this era will turn out to be the reference of the people of Narnia as 'free'. Therefore, the attack of the Islamic army on Narnia is to be viewed as an attempt on the free world. The aftermath of 9/11 was to polarise the world into factions, many along religious lines. Many of you would note that in 2002 Bush coined the now infamous term "axis of evil" and that his re-election was largely attributed to the vote of christian groups. Now consider the fact that the next instalment of Narnia will be produced by America. I think it is easy to see how the controversy is turning out. I predict that the idea of Narnia being a country of the free will be played up and the islamic elements and vainty of the Moors basterdised. The free will naturally win the war, in fact CS Lewis' says that the leader of the invading army is turned into a donkey or "ass" and sent back to his kingdom.
Narnia, is a children's book and Narnia is a children's film. I find it hard to accept the idea that kids from such a young age should be inculcated with the prejudices of the polarised world. I sincerely hope that they skip this instalment of CS Lewis' book altogether. For the sake of young minds everywhere, not to grow up thinking that they are all inherently good and the rest of the world inherently bad. For those are prejudices which eventually lead to honest intentions to save the 'rest' but not realising that they don't require saving. The evil is not across our borders, rather is it there in our minds.
