Recycled Message Board Rant

Nobody responded to my criticism of the film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe over at the message board I frequent, so I'll put it here, where it can do double duty - since my brain is shot from the Floyd practice earlier.

Someone asked who had yet or was going to see Prince Caspian, and I am not.

I loved - and still love - the books. The first film was a huge disappointment in a way that almost no other property adaptations have been - and, curiously, it's in the misinterpretation of Lewis's allegory that it falls down, bad. And it's odd that I feel this way, because I'm a secular Jew, but it was so painful to see the filmmakers miss the point entirely.

I guess you could say that the Christianity of the book has been 'Americanized' for the first film. Sure, the plot is hewed closely to, but only the dark and dutiful aspects of Lewis's thesis on faith are in there.

Sure, good is to fight and defeat evil. But isn't there anything else to a life in Christ? Joy, perhaps? The book gives us Aslan taking a moment and playing like a kitten after his resurrection, taking joy in new life. The film goes right from the moment of resurrection to the battle. The book shows Narnian creatures celebrating the arrival of Christmas after so many years with a huge feast, then they're visited by Santa Claus and given gifts. This is gone. Now, Santa Claus just shows up as some grim dude to give the kids the weapons they need to fight the 'good' fight.

Fight, fight, fight, fight. Blah. Why, exactly? Lewis says that faith is sometimes a struggle, but those who prevail will find joy in Christ. The film says that faith is just a dreary, endless battle (with bad CGI) against the forces of evil. Feh.

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BTW: The Floyd show is this Friday, at the Bruckner. I'll put up details tomorrow.

D.