Has anyone out there been faced with the difficult topic of todays current crop of Fantasy movies based upon and/or inspired by litterary works? Some of those books are properly called "classics." I was diving down the link on one of Jak's recent posts, the target took me to Vision Forum. Maybe some of you have followed it also. When I got there, I saw that the target was in fact what I thought it was and Jak had already sent me that link in an E some weeks back. Instead of watching the short again, I scrolled down and found this, Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade. It piqued my interest, mainly because I had never heard of it. So like all good little lemmings I clicked on it and I am glad that I did.
There is a conflict in the Christian world over the "realm of fantasy." Some Christians absolutely abhor C.S. Lewis and his best friend J.R.R.R.R. . .R. Tolkien. Citing them as works of carnality and abhorrent evil; complete with talking animals, witches and wizards, magics, fantastic creatures, and so on. Other Christians blindly embrace J.K. Rowling and her like, claiming them to be "understandably fake." And I don't know if too many people, or Christians for that matter, know of George MacDonald, who wrote a veritable mountain of books. Most of them having to do with male-female relationships in the light of God's love. I am loath to call them romances, even though that is what they are; they're better than that. He also wrote many fantasies: The Princess and the Goblin; The Princess and Curdie; At the Back of the North Wind; Lilith; Phantastes . . . and many many more. What is most interesting about this man, who was a contemporary of Charles Dickens, is that C.S. Lewis called him "my master," considering him to be one of, if not the greatest fantastic writer ever. But I digress.
Why is there a conflict in the body over these works? Is it because we are naturally prejudiced against anything "fantastic"? "If it's fantastic it can't be of the Lord!" A one time very good friend of mine told me that he absolutely refused to see the Passion of the Christ because it had Monica Bellucci in it. He called her a whore (and the truth is, she has done some rather bad tasting stuff). Because of the moral state of the actors he was saying that God could not possibly be in the picture. I told him that he was putting God in a box. And that God can use anyone, or thing, that he wants to. Ballam anyone? If I remember right, God used an ass, an unclean animal, to communicate to that man.
I was in a house one time, with another friend, and the homeowners where watching The Return of the King (That's the last chapter in the LOTR books). As we left the house, he stated "What darkness in that place." Now, of course, like a brave little soldier, I kept my mouth shut. See, I love LOTR. I stand corrected, like I am always telling my girls "Love is for people." I really like LOTR. (But more on this later.) I wondered, to myslef of course, did he really sense a "darkness" in the residence? Or was it a predisposed prejudice towards Tolkien that shaped his opinion?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you should run out and start seeing every movie that you want to see, or read every book that someone tells you "You have GOT to read this!" But if someone you have confidence in, makes a suggestion about something "fantastic" don't be hasty to dismiss it. And read Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade. It answered some questions that I have been asking. No one in particular. Just asking.
There is a conflict in the Christian world over the "realm of fantasy." Some Christians absolutely abhor C.S. Lewis and his best friend J.R.R.R.R. . .R. Tolkien. Citing them as works of carnality and abhorrent evil; complete with talking animals, witches and wizards, magics, fantastic creatures, and so on. Other Christians blindly embrace J.K. Rowling and her like, claiming them to be "understandably fake." And I don't know if too many people, or Christians for that matter, know of George MacDonald, who wrote a veritable mountain of books. Most of them having to do with male-female relationships in the light of God's love. I am loath to call them romances, even though that is what they are; they're better than that. He also wrote many fantasies: The Princess and the Goblin; The Princess and Curdie; At the Back of the North Wind; Lilith; Phantastes . . . and many many more. What is most interesting about this man, who was a contemporary of Charles Dickens, is that C.S. Lewis called him "my master," considering him to be one of, if not the greatest fantastic writer ever. But I digress.
Why is there a conflict in the body over these works? Is it because we are naturally prejudiced against anything "fantastic"? "If it's fantastic it can't be of the Lord!" A one time very good friend of mine told me that he absolutely refused to see the Passion of the Christ because it had Monica Bellucci in it. He called her a whore (and the truth is, she has done some rather bad tasting stuff). Because of the moral state of the actors he was saying that God could not possibly be in the picture. I told him that he was putting God in a box. And that God can use anyone, or thing, that he wants to. Ballam anyone? If I remember right, God used an ass, an unclean animal, to communicate to that man.
I was in a house one time, with another friend, and the homeowners where watching The Return of the King (That's the last chapter in the LOTR books). As we left the house, he stated "What darkness in that place." Now, of course, like a brave little soldier, I kept my mouth shut. See, I love LOTR. I stand corrected, like I am always telling my girls "Love is for people." I really like LOTR. (But more on this later.) I wondered, to myslef of course, did he really sense a "darkness" in the residence? Or was it a predisposed prejudice towards Tolkien that shaped his opinion?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you should run out and start seeing every movie that you want to see, or read every book that someone tells you "You have GOT to read this!" But if someone you have confidence in, makes a suggestion about something "fantastic" don't be hasty to dismiss it. And read Harry Potter and the Lavender Brigade. It answered some questions that I have been asking. No one in particular. Just asking.
9 comments:
WOW!! That's quite an update.
Personally, about C.S. Lewis anyway, I haven't read or seen anything my Toilken or the Harry Potter author, I was wary of Lewis, you hear so many conflicts reports, you don't know what to think. Your arch nemisis started reading The Magician's Nephew to me on a car trip. Through the first few chapters I was still a little wary, it seemed so strange, where was the light, the good. But then Digory and Polly entered Narnia. The Aslan created the world through song. Yes, I am a musician, music speaks to me. And as a musician I can honestly say, that Lewis understood at least something of the awesomeness and wonder of God. You can't write something as moving, speaking, and touching as that and not know the God how created the world we know. It's not the song or the way it's written, it's the underlying, truth, light, and love of the one true God that shines forth from the world and touches your soul. Yes, and then, there is Jadis. And you see in her, the black, depressing darkness of Satan and his underworld of rebellion and anti-God, and you want nothing to do with it. When Jak finished reading I was speechless. It was so real, so awesome and blatently real before my eyes, and there is a God. And the difference between the lands of Narnia and Charn. Between light and darkness, between heaven and hell. It is real and we have the choice. Choose you this day whom you will serve
YELLING? come on. You haven't heard me yell.
Yeah, I haven't read any of Tolkien's books. I'm one of those that doesn't exactly approve. But you knew that. But, then again, like I said, I haven't read them. So, who am I to judge? I'm glad you like them.
P.S. Lots of people have recommended George MacDonald to me. But, I've never read them. I should, so I can form my own opinion. :-)
I knew very little about Tolkien's books but had heard about his friendship with C.S. Lewis. When LOTR first came to theaters, I went with my mom to see it. I have to say it was quite a story, and quite entertaining. However I didn't come away with an overwhelming sense of what spiritual parallels the story was trying to convey. Maybe I just didn't see them. But all that aside, mainly I had trouble with the orc's - their faces were horribly demonic. Granted, they were supposed to be the 'bad guys' and this WAS a movie, not the book. Artistic license and such...
I thought of seeing the other movies or reading the books because - like I said - the first one was really a pretty fascinating story, well-made, but I couldn't forget the evil faces. Maybe that's what your friend meant when he talked about darkness.
The only other thing that didn't seem right was the fact that there were two opposing wizards, one "bad" and one "good". I just thought of what the Bible has to say about wizards, and there isn't anything good, and yet I found myself rooting for one in the movie.
I don't think I was prejudiced one way or the other about Tolkien before I went to see the movie; if at all, probably more on the favorable side because of his friendship with C.S. Lewis, and my understanding that Lewis was a christian. Yes, the fact that it was a 'fantasy' movie made me a little wary, but the association it had with CS Lewis alleviated that at the outset. But after seeing the movie I couldn't quite get those things to conform to the word of God.
So all in all, I would have to say I saw the dark side of it more than anything else. Just some thoughts on that...
I have read all the Narnia books and some more than others I saw lots of spiritual parallels, and probably The Last Battle was the most poignant to me, with a lot that had to do with the time we're living in. I guess I don't have a solid stand on what exactly I think of it all but I will say that Lewis did have a keen perspective and some understanding of the end times, and of spiritual principles.
Kristi W
I loved reading the Narnia books. But I think if I had chosen to focus on the witches & magic part of the books they would have been bad for me. But instead, as I read the books, my mind set was that C.S. Lewis was using the fantasy of animals talking and such as a vehicle to convey what was really inportant. And I could really see some good nuggets in what he wrote.
There's my two cents :D,
-Merrill
p.s. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big C.S.Lewis fan by any means :D
Here's a link Katie gave me forever ago when I was wondering about LOTR.
http://www.geocities.com/deborahteat/_lotr-me.html
I would like to read the Series someday thou. You've said before it's a really interesting story
~Nack
Thanks for the comment on my blog; I really like getting comments, especially ones that make me think, like yours. Thanks for the insight!
Erica
Well, I too was aware of the friendship between Lewis and Tolkien, and though I haven't read any of Tolkien's books, I believe that Lewis had something of an understanding of God and the Bible, and I think it's evident in the Narnia series. I remember watching the BBC adaptation of the series as a kid, and having read the books, I was in "shock and awe" at that age, seeing his words come to life on the small screen. I enjoyed the "Chronicles" movie; I was wary going into it, knowing Disney's involvement, how they would interpret the book, what they would leave in and cut out, but I was pleasantly surprised to see (particularly with the scene where Aslan sacrifices himself) those spiritual parallels were in there. I too feel that God can use whatever means/tool to get someone's attention. As Christians, we have to understand that God and His Word are not solely "formulaic" in nature. I remember Mr. duCille saying something about sometimes with the things of the Lord, 2+2 does not always equate to 4! Meaning, my finite mind cannot possibly begin to understand the vastness of the Mind of Christ, and each person that we know (and don't know!) that have come to and are lending their lives and service to Christ has their own unique experience of salvation, baptism, etc. I may not understand a person's desire to see a specific movie or read a certain book, and I may not have the desire to see or read either, but if that person believes and/or was spoken to by God in the midst of being exposed to those mediums, praise God, I should rejoice in their revelation as opposed to criticizing the MEANS by which they received it. I don't know if this is petty rambling on my part, but I see your point, Ty :-)!
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