To millions The Chronicles of Narnia are a childhood tale of wonder and triumph now made into a film that could inspire millions of children to read. To others, including the celebrated fantasy author Philip Pullman, they are stories of racism and thinly veiled religious propaganda that will corrupt children rather than inspiring them.
Either way, one thing is certain: this Christmas, and perhaps the next six, depending on sequels, everyone will be talking about Narnia. Disney is already in the middle of one of the biggest marketing campaigns in recent cinematic history. It is trying to lure both mainstream filmgoers and evangelical Christians, who will respond to CS Lewis's parallels between his characters and the Bible. HarperCollins is set to publish 170 Lewis-related books in more than 60 countries, many of them Christian-themed works. Disney has hired Christian marketing groups to handle the film.
For Pullman, who is an avowed atheist and a critic of Lewis, that is bad news. 'If the Disney Corporation wants to market this film as a great Christian story, they'll just have to tell lies about it,' Pullman told The Observer
Pullman believes that Lewis's books portray a version of Christianity that relies on martial combat, outdated fears of sexuality and women, and also portrays a religion that looks a lot like Islam in unashamedly racist terms.
'It's not the presence of Christian doctrine I object to so much as the absence of Christian virtue. The highest virtue, we have on the authority of the New Testament itself, is love, and yet you find not a trace of that in the books,' he said.
The Narnia books, Pullman said, contained '...a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice; but of love, of Christian charity, [there is] not a trace'.
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There's not a trace of love in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? This type of fabrication is truly breathtaking. Aslan lays down his life to redeem Edmund the traitor. That's not love? There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for another. That Biblical passage has sufficiently pervaded the pop culture. You'd think Pullman would've heard of it.
Then again, consistent with pop thinking, maybe Pullman is referring to intercourse. There is none of that in The Chronicles. Kinda reminds me of Sam Malone in Cheers. When asked whether he could care for a woman he hasn't slept with, he responded, "How can I care for a woman when we haven't done the thing I care about most?"
In any event, when you hear criticisms of C.S. Lewis and Narnia, remember Pullman and chortle.
