Tell me what you really think.
:D
Just dropping by, to say, "hi".
I use them in my literature class and wonder when I will get the phone call from a parent who thinks I am touting The Bible in class.
Michele sent me.
Sheesh and right on. (Via Michele)
Thank you. Seriously.
Finally, some good common sense.
I saw the movie.
Never read the books.
I liked the movie. I'd take my kids to see it, though we'd have to talk about it afterwards.
What's the big deal?
Here I thought it was just a movie.
But I'm just a brown guy, so what do I know?
btw: michele did NOT send me. i got my own ass in here.
Hello, Michele sent me. time for downtime and relax for the rest of the week. Have a nice and warm weekend then. Cheers!
You rock dude!
I did NOT read the review, but based on your review of the review, I feel fully qualified, nay, compelled to comment on it.
Polly's review was totally predictible after the first sentence, she obviously had no clue what it was really about, had no idea what to say about a work which was so different from the usual Rug-Rats-Go-to-Paris kids' cliche-and-smart-alecky-remarks movies and Disney pablum, so she took a lot of cheap shots.
I, on the other hand, saw the movie, AND read the book, and can tell you that it was absolutely fabulous. I hope they make all 8 sequels and the Perecalandra series as well, AND the Screwtape Letters. Yee Haw!
I find that I put less and less stock in reviews. They always seem to have an angle. It's kinda fun to read them AFTER I've seen a movie and try and figure out why they said what they did.
Here's an example: last night we saw King Kong. Now, being a male, I'm fairly familiar with the source material (it's a movie based on a movie, or as some call it, a 'remake') and it's funny how one reviewer will say "it took a whole hour for Kong to show up! Too slow!" and another will say "He wisely held back and didn't expose Kong till the second hour, building suspense similar to how Spielberg did 'Jaws'"
Crap. Forget the reviewers.
Anyway, I'm DYING to see Narnia, and if there's a Christian slant my kids and I will talk about it, as soon as they quit asking why Kong had to fall off the building and did Anakin know that he had twins. You know, important stuff.
Interesting that she didn't know that the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in the Chronicles. The Magician's Nephew is actually the first book. I read all 7 books to my children and they just enjoyed some really good stories. It seems some reviewers just can't get past themselves to enjoy and/or understand a movie for children. Too bad.
I read a review by some dude on this movie, and pretty much all he did was complain about the Christian symbolism.
Hello? Anybody home?
C.S. Lewis is perhaps one of the greatest Christian theologians/apologists of the 20th century, and yet people are still whining about a little Christian symbolism?
Wow.
At least you have some common sense.
Well stated.
I read the books as a kid and enjoyed them. My daughter really wants to go see the movie. She knows my rule - read the book first- so she has been diligently working at it. I don't know if I want her to see it though. (She's 7) I can't remember the book in great detail and certainly don't want to take her if there is something I don't want her to see. The trailers did look kind of violent at parts. Many people have told me that it was good and that it followed the book. I guess I will just read the book again to refresh my memory.
We read the book and listened to the CD before we went to see the movie. (are you in shock that I took her on a date to see this? I bet you are!!)
I actually read, reread, reread, and reread the books as a child. Needless to say my copy of the series has issues but they are well loved.
Now my personal review....(I'm sure you are on the edge of your seat!)
I am normally not a person that enjoys books made into movies period. Generally, there is something lost in the interpretation that just rubs me the wrong way. This is a bit different.
With the book fresh in my mind I went equipped to handle any questions to fill in the blanks for HG. She is the book police when it comes to leaving something out. Honestly, I was impressed. It did follow close to the book. In the review of an 8 year old she stated, "WOW I never thought the creatures looked like that!!! What a magical place!" Being that we have not taken her to see anything like this before she was glued. She also stated that the context could be taken as to the battle of good and bad. Being that she understands individual's with hypersensitivity to Christianity she sees beyond the Christian overtones. (it's something they discussed in school that she came home and we discussed it at length)
Her point was that C.S. Lewis wrote the books with the intention of Christian overtones. That can not be taken away from it or it loses quite a bit.
The film making was incredible. Even HH was impressed and honestly that takes a lot with a movie.
So in our humble review...We were not only impressed but getting a sitter for Little Man, seeing it again on Saturday, going out to lunch and going ice skating afterwords!
Oh sorry I did rant a little!!
C. S. Lewis was a wonderful storyteller, the mark of which is evident in the fact that one can enjoy his writing even if the allegory is lost on the reader. The story doesn't beat anyone over the head with Biblical reference. It's a good story.
Some people just need to complain about something.
-G
OK, I just saw the movie again, (I have 3 kids, and yeah, it's that good), and I want to say this:
There was a certain amount of CATHOLIC (specifically Catholic, as opposed to "Christian"), symbolism in the book. I suppose it was on the author's mind, and maybe the way he preferred to explain the values on which his characters made their decisions. I don't know. As an American Catholic schoolgirl, I recognized the concepts and images, but did not find them at all heavy handed. They didn't get in the way of the story at all.
Now the movie, has if anything minimized the minimal amount of proslytising in the book. What IS there is British mythology, not so much religious. From Cerunos, to Boadicea, the Welsh Gryffth, the Crusades, the Lion-Hearted King, (Richard III, wasn't it?), Father Christmas, Nordic invaders, WWII Royal Air Force, it's all there. This movie is all about being a child of Britain.
One of my students went to see the movie and really liked it. We were kind of shooting the bull after reviewing for finals and she said, "But I never got the Christian thing in it. Is it a CHRISTIAN movie? Am I just dumb because I didn't get it?"
I then explain that it was an allegory. We then talked about what an allegory was--which for some reason is the fourth time this year I've discussed allegory with a class (this is a history class) and the last time we discussed Plato's Cave. So anyway, I ended up with saying that there are so many Biblical and even generally religious allusions used in literature and in public discourse that I would suggest that if my students wanted to really be literate people, they should read the Bible at least once, not to mention the Qur'an, the Buddhist Pali "scriptures," the Bhagavad Gita, and perhaps a stroll through the Book of Mormon might be enlightening too. They asked me, and I said yes, I had read all these things, and found it very interesting.
Disclaimer: I grew up in the big gaudy buckle of the Bible Belt, and mom believed in that Old Time Religion. I read the Old Testament TWICE in high school English class-- 9th grade and 12th grade. The first time, the old biddy tried to endoctrinate us, and Ms. Cornelius got an F for objecting when she picked on my Catholic and Jewish friends. The second time, however, the teacher helped illuminate all these great stories without any subcontext of faith and it was wonderful.
The phone may be ringing on Monday by that one parent that always gets a snootful of umbrage up to complain. I don't care-- it was a teachable moment. After all, if the mountain won't go to Muhammad.....
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