Symbolic of the fear that the possibility of a fatwa can generate, Mo has to be mentioned in a positive light. I would be careful about using the name of Buddha in the same breath, though, because you could get a fatwa for raising Buddha or Jesus to the level of Mo.
Liam Neeson is a moron.
The actor is just that - a dumb actor. He can’t re-interpret the work of C.S. Lewis.
We all know who C S Lewis meant for Aslan to represent. The first film in the series showed this in a wonderful way. The second film had no hint at all of a Christian message and therefore did not keep its core constituency of the first film, its Christian audience. That said, I am still looking forward to seeing The Dawn Treader. It is all we are going to get from the franchise so we have to fill in the blanks ourselves.
That’s just one actor’s statement.. no need to say something great like Lewis’ work is rotted by it. Neeson did a good job in his role he can blow the rest out of his.. well, you know..
The lion is a nonspecific symbol of what is, or should be, good in the world.
In the times of it's writing, and in a mind set (if not a world) most of us would welcome back, he is based on Christ...the author was a Christian.
Although I've not seen the movie (intend to do - in 3D) I don't expect any "other than Christian" message in the script.
I expect to see kids who can do more than they imagined, critters that are more than simply elements of the food chain, and a message that is essentially beneficial to the youth that it is intended to be viewed by.
I don't give a rat's patootie about what some shop worn actor thinks about "his" animated character, the voice over "actor" is merely a prop.
Nor do I think that the suggestion that all religions might have a positive message hidden within them is particularly bad.
And, no, islam is not a religion of peace!
Neeson is simply practicing that left wing corruption called deconstruction. Proposed by French lefties Michel Foucault and Jacques Darrida it supposes that one can put any meaning onto someone’s literary effort and it would be as or more valid than the original meaning of the author. As Lewis is enjoying his well earned eternal reward and is not here to contradict Neeson, Liam feels he can say anything at all about the work.
Neeson needs to read 'The Last Battle'. The Calormenes (Arabs) worship this god (Tash). An ape named Shift (Mohammed) tries to convince the Narnians that Aslan and Tash are the same God.
"he [Aslan] also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries. That's who Aslan stands for as well as a mentor figure for kids -- that's what he means for me."
when he really said:
"Aslan symbolises a Christ-like figure but he also symbolises for me Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries. That's who Aslan stands for as well as a mentor figure for kids -- that's what he means for me."
Neeson is a fairly strong Catholic, even had some problems back in Ireland because of it. He knows what the story means and is probably just trying to appeal to a larger audience then just Christians. Yes he probably doesn't realize the implications on how that reflects on Lewis's work but considering the previous two movies were fairly faithful (as far as movie modern adaptions go) I think this one will be pretty good also.
BTW: I know the story really doesn't allow for one be he needs to be making a sequel to Taken...now!