Prince Caspian Rules

The Distaff Side ^ | May 20, 2008 | Karen Anderson

[G8 Diplomat]

I’ve seen Prince Caspian twice so far...it’s an awesome film, better than the first, in my opinion.

What the vast majority of people never realize though is that it’s so much more than an epic fairy tale, it’s a metaphor for a timely and relevant phenomenon, recognized by CS Lewis during his time. Think of Narnia as Europe, and the Deep Magic that governs it as Christianity. Narnia was invaded by the Telmarenes (who look very much like Arabs), just as Europe is being invaded by Muslims. The regant of the Telmarene throne is Lord Miraz, whose name looks curiously like mirza, the Arabic word for prince. There is a Catholic prophecy that, when the Muslims have overrun Europe and appear to be winning, a man from the royal house of France will come to fight and defeat them, and they will subsequently accept Christianity. Prince Caspian is that someone, as he fought the Telmarenes and saved Narnia from them, and the remaining Telmarenes accepted peace with Narnia and Caspian’s rule at the end. (Lewis’ Calormenes, who they fight in the last book, are also based off Muslims—they are described as “dark” and “bearded” and live in a desert area. Not to mention CALormene has those same first three leters as CALiphate.)

Caspian heard stories of Narnia and the Deep Magic from his professor and was curious about them, which was taboo under Miraz’s rule. He forbade the knowledge of the Deep Magic and passed the Narnian existence off as mere fairy tales. Just as in Islamic societies it is forbidden to believe anything other than Islam.

[G8 Diplomat]

Oh yes, I should add: The Pevensies are described as “the kings and queens of old”, a metaphor for the old Christian monarchies of Europe, perhaps. 1300 years have passed since they were last in Narnia, synonomous with modern times (well, modern for CS Lewis at his time). Lewis wrote his books in the early 1900s...how long, at that time, had it been since the creation of Islam? About 1300 years...

Also, Miraz makes a reference to the Telmarene’s forefathers waging war on the Narnians in an attempt to wipe them out, and he wants to continue what his ancestors began. I instantly thought of Lepanto. The Muslims once struck at Europe to conquer it, but failed. Now they are trying to do it again.

[rosenfan]

I would venture that many of the film's harshest critics are simply offended by the core message of the series, and thus are wont to review it harshly...but I found Caspian mediocre are best. I would venture that this is in large part due to the source material. Prince Caspian is one of the weaker novels in the series, and at almost 2 1/2 hours long the movie feels padded with extra action scenes.

And what was up with the fully automatic catapults, anyway?

[ConservativeDude]

I agree that PC is the weakest of the books. Now, with that background and fact, I think honestly the film makers did the book a favor. Seems to me they brought the book to life.

Now, Dawn Treader is a wonderful book...and now that the film makers are really getting into the swing of things, I think we can look forward to an amazing movie.

[ConservativeDude]

In the movie, I kept thinking the Telmarine were responsible for the Spanish Inquisition, rather than Muslims...(then again, Spain was under Muslim rule for how long?)