Posted on 12/09/2005 2:58:02 PM PST by ikka
Having Father Christmas also drives home an important point. What Jesus did on earth is to be universally celebrated in all of God’s Creation. The gifts of Father Christmas were not trivial; they were what were needed for to accomplish what was prophesized.
The Narnias must have had a knowledge of what Jesus (Asland) had done in the home lands of Adam and Eve. If I had to guess, Christmas was an integral part of Narnia since its creation (brought there by Queen Helen and King Frank in “The Magician’s Nephew”). Lewis also stressed that man made religions which existed prior to Christ coming were man’s attempt (although somewhat warped) to reach out to God and they had some truth in them. He incorporated this theme in both the “Chronicles of Narnia” and his space trilogy. He rejects religions which came after the Incarnation as see in “The Horse and His Boy” and “The Last Battle”. “Tash” is not “Aslan” and Allah is never to be confused with the Judo/Christian understanding of who God is.
They were chasing the White Stag who gave you wishes if you caught him.
They did have dumb animals in Narnia that might rightfully be hunted - which is more unsettling than Lewis seems to have realized - to be friends with a stag, and eat his dumb likeness! Imagine being friends with a bear who was tearing into a dumb human, and offering you some.
Mrs VS
You make good points...it's just that with Father Christmas appearing as Santa it makes it rather hard to take that part of the movie seriously, when, as you point out, it is instead supposed to be a moment of great import and not trivial at all (the silliness of the situation was further emphasized with Mr. Beaver saying "i hope you've all been good" and then later Lucy quipping "see, i told you [that he was real]").
By the way, could the gifts be seen as somewhat analogous to the gifts of the Wise Men? I can't remember if Edmund was with them then or not. I'm pretty sure though that he wasn't and therefore only three gifts were given out, just as when Jesus was born.
thanks for clearing that up guys...it's been a while since i've read and listened to the stories (i read TLTWATW and heard radio versions of a couple of the other stories).
And yes, VS, i see what you mean about it being unsettling.
You make a good point. The "I told you he was real" wasn't in the book. The comment was out of character for Lucy. I would have expected that out of Susan, not Lucy. Susan is a lot cheekier than Lucy. There were 2 gifts give to each the 3 children who were there. Edmond was a captive of the White Witch at the time. It doesn't match-up with the story of the Wise Men very well. It is more of an Easter Story than a Christmas Story. The story is about sacrifice and redemption.
We saw it with some of my in-laws this evening. Great film! I've never read the Narnia books, but I'm still a big fan of C.S. Lewis. Interesting story, great special effects. Aslan looks very real. The actress who played the White Witch is very good, very talented. But the beavers are my favorites.
My 9 year old niece cried during a certain part of the movie, the same part I would have cried over when I was 9 years old.
I wouldn't take children younger than 9 to see it. It has some pretty violent scenes, although not quite on par with Lord of the Rings, it comes pretty close in spots.
The little girl who played Lucy was very good, as were all the child actors.
It's a must-see for fans of my darling C.S. Lewis, and anyone who liked the LOTR trilogy and other fans of the fantasy genre. Harry Potter fans will like it, too.
As promised, I'm back. Saw it today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to other FreePers.
As per my post #20, I though Neeson was acceptable as Aslan, but I didn't think he was quite the perfect fit. This morning while walking my dogs, the thought struck me as to why...Neeson should have been held in reserve as he'd make a great Puddleglum in future movies...If you've ever seen Neeson's rural personage in "Next Of Kin", it serves as a great prototype (and he wouldn't have to force a southern accent as a Marsh-wiggle.)
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