by Roger Bourke White Jr., copyright Dec 05
Like many who have gone to see the movie Chronicles of Narnia, I read the book as a child.
What I remember of that long ago reading was that it was competent fantasy, but not exceptional or memorable. I remember that there was a family of children, most of whom acted conventionally heroically, but one was benighted because he'd met the evil White Witch first, and she initially treated him well.
I also remember being quite disappointed when at the denouement, the White Witch pulled a "PFA" (pluck from air) and told the Lion, "This boy is mine because he is a traitor, and according to the old laws, I'm the God of Traitors." Hmm... she had been transformed from a powerful player in Narnia to a pillar of Narnia -- someone who was partly outside of the laws of its universe. I felt that as a reader I had been cheated -- the writer had pulled a dux et machina. From there it got worse. The Lion says, "OK." to this preposterousness, and agrees to die for this benighted little kid who had done nothing for him. Then comes the most memorably bad part of the book in my mind: a battle between the Witch and the Lion over who remembers the older law. At the end of that battle Alsan, the Lion, says in essence, "Ha, ha. My law was older than your law. I win; I come back to life." What happened after that was pretty meaningless, and using that device pulled the story from pretty good to meaningless.
On to the 2005 movie. I find it ironic that what I consider to be a big plot hole is the center of the current hype about the movie being a Christian allegory. It is Christian because it features the resurrection of a creature willing to sacrifice his life for someone he doesn't know well. But, I get ahead of myself.
First off: the movie is fun to watch. Tilda Swinton plays a delightfully exotic and ruthless White Witch. She manages to be both regal and graceful in the outlandish costumes she wears, and does more than credibly at weapon-wielding during the final battle scenes in yet another outlandish costume.
The other magic creatures of Narnia are depicted in state-of-the-art CGI, and they come across as mostly quite believable. One minor problem I had was that the talking animals "over talked" a bit -- the mouth actions were a bit too large for what was being said.
That said, the same plot holes that bothered me as a child were back, plus a few.
First off: Alsan says he was there at the founding of Narnia, implying he had much to do with its creation. If Aslan created Narnia, why was he letting the White Witch run the place and put it in winter for a hundred years? Was he absent minded? Was the White Witch a cofounder, as she seemed to indicate by her, "I'm the Matron God of Traitors." assertion? Was she a crafty usurper who waited for Aslan to go on a hundred year vacation? Was Narnia going through a hundred years of misery just to provide a Christian experience for four bored English children? This question of a hundred years (Narnia time) is not answered.
Then there's the problem of the prophecy. Prophecy in stories is something I've been developing a lot of discomfort about. What is the purpose of a prophecy in a fantasy story? Of late, I've noticed that many writers use it as a sneaky way to give their readers a preview of the story. Some character early in the story intones, "The prophecy says [fill in the blank] will happen." and the rest of the story is about twists and turns that will make the prophecy come true. It is a plot device that allows the writer to tell the reader where the story will go, without giving them an outright outline.
What I find fascinating is that few "Christian" writers, such as Lewis, see the strong link between the prophecies they develop in their books and predestination. In Chronicles of Narnia these kids are supposed to have free will. Yet, their choices are framed by the prophecy into simple "either-or" choices -- either I stay and fight for Alsan, or I go home. And, in truth, not even that much choice. The kids are constantly told, "You must stay if the prophecy is to be fulfilled." As I grow older, I find it odder that people who embrace a religion that puts so much emphasis on free will are also so attracted to strong prophecy in their fantasy stories.
Compare how resurrection is handled for Aslan in Chronicles of Narnia and Gandalf in Lord of the Rings.
Aslan goes to his death knowing that he will come back. He knows when and how he's going to die. He suffers an evening of humiliation and death, but comes back in tact the very next morning. He's lost none of his abilities, nor gained any, he's the same old Aslan. All-in-all, this is a very comfortable resurrection.
Gandalf dies after a surprise confrontation with a monster he previously knew only from rumor. (In the book version, that is. The movie changes this; Saruman's monolog intimates that both he and Gandalf knew what lived in Moria.) He fights desperately for hours or days over unknown ground to an unknown result. He knows of his resurrection only after it happens, after he has been judged, and sent back to complete more of his quest. And, he comes back transformed. He's not the same Gandalf that went into Moria. This is quite a different style of resurrection than the death-and-rise-by-appointment that Aslan went to.
My feeling is that Aslan's resurrection was close to meaningless -- so meaningless it made me uncomfortable watching it. Since he knows the "deep laws", and he knows he's coming back, he is sacrificing nothing but a bad night, so why make a big deal of it? Even the humiliation part is really a pseudo-humiliation because the evil beings that are watching the supposedly humiliating process should not be beings that he pays attention to. Think about this: do you feel embarrassed walking naked in front of a mannequin? The White Witch's minions would be mannequin-class beings to Aslan, so what humiliation is happening?
All in all, the Chronicles of Narnia is a watchable and enjoyable movie. The CGI is well used to support the story, and Swinton makes a memorably exotic White Witch. But, like Lord of the Rings, I did not get too excited about the story's allegory. There are too many inconsistencies in that part of the story telling for it to be satisfying technofiction.
-- The End --