Monday, December 05, 2005

The Chronicles of Narnia - thinly disguised allegory of Christianity

Well... so what? I fondly remember reading The Chronicles of Narnia as a child. They were simple and direct, yet very entertaining. If I remember correctly, I tore through all of the books, one after another, in a period of ten days. I loved them. Of course, I was about 12 at the time. On a lengthy car trip last week I had occasion to listen to the four hour unabridged audio book. I hung on every plot point as did my 10 year old son. As an adult I found the Chronicles of Narnia simple – as if written for a 12 year old. It did not stop me from enjoying the story, if fact, it was great fun.

The Guardian finds that “Narnia represents everything that is most hateful about religion”, even though I am an Atheist, I could not disagree more. Narnia is a Christian allegory, it painfully obvious. That does not make it bad by itself. In fact, it falls into category of prejudging. If the film is anything like the book, my son and I will love it. The films Producer even says that Disney effort toward marketing directly to Christians was a small thing. If the movie is a Christian allegory – why shouldn’t it be marketed to Christians?

The Chronicles of Narnia hits the big screen in a few days. I’ll take my son, I can’t wait. Will it affect my atheism – no. Will it affect my son’s faith – I dunno, did Star Wars?.

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1 comment:

Johnny C said...

I havent read the books, but the movie looks fun. Whether its christian allegory or not doesnt mean it will be a bad story.

I read the article and he makes some good points, but unlike the people who wont watch a movie about athiesm because of thier beliefs, I would watch it, because it is a story, and I am intrigued by imagigry just as much as anyone else. But I understand the difference between myth, and truth.