Aslan is harshing my squee
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian came out ages ago, but I watched it last night for kicks. As usual, I am way behind the curve-I won’t even tell you how long it took me to see Dark Knight. My Geek Cred would drop into negative integers.
The film is great. It is a perfect epic fantasy movie, and I think the battles rival those in the Lord of the Rings films. When the Narnians dropped the catacombs under the battlefield, my jaw fell open and then I grinned like a lunatic. Killing half the cavalry and a flanking maneuver in one action? Those are battlefield tactics. Of course, that only dealt with the cavalry. There are whole infantry divisions behind them. Next move? Susan and the archers. Props to the Pevensies for taking a lesson from the Battle of Agincourt.
Most impressively, the Pevensies are all complete human beings-with personalities and everything. The actors really deserve awards, especially Georgie Henley and William Moseley. If I were king, Skander Keynes would have played Harry Potter.
I loved the film, but some of the philosophical messagey bits rang false with me.
“Narnia was never right, except when a Son of Adam was king.” Really, Aslan? The Narnians are being oppressed, so your solution is to put one of the oppressors in charge? Really? Why not, I don’t know, empower and enfranchise the Narnians themselves? (Okay, so the Badger said the above quote, but Aslan never implies that idea is wrong).
The story isn’t about oppression-unless the anvils falling on my head were mislabeled, the main theme of the story is faith. The Chronicles of Narnia, however, are not one dimensional. Oppression is a part of the story. Surely I wasn’t the only one to wince when the heavily accented, mystical centaur says, “…and now here, a Son of Adam has come forth, to offer us our freedom.” I am not a scholar of colonialist literature, but it seems really off that the Talking Beasts need a human to lead them. The Narnians are portrayed as equal to humans in everyway-except in their right to self-sovereignty. Unfortunately, it would rather change the story if Aslan gave the Narnians a pep talk about self-actualization and then the Narnians burned Telmar to the ground. It seems the film-makers did the only thing they could-ignore the issue entirely.
“I think we’ve waited for Aslan long enough.” In any other coming of age movie, Peter would be right. The film doesn’t exactly punish Peter for manning up and doing it for himself-instead, he is really punished for failing to listen and adapt when the castle raid goes wrong. Pride is his sin, but what really brings failure is a closed-minded pride rather than a simple competency pride. It stills bothers me, however, that there is so little room between Doing Nothing and Doing It Wrong.
What really strikes me here is the issue of allowed competency. Erickson phrases it as Industry vs. Inferiority, a stage of development that he proposes humans struggle around 6 to 12 years of age. Children begin attempting to do things themselves. If children are not allowed to show independence, if they are not allowed to start and complete tasks, they begin to feel inferior and may loose their sense of initiative. In Prince Caspian, Peter is trying to show industry and competence. He tells Lucy in the cavern, “I think it’s up to us, now.” Many coming-of-age tales center of the protagonist in the throws of this same conflict, and in most of those stories the hero conquers this conflict by leaving his guides and saving the day on his own. Here, however, Lucy is the example we are told to follow-have faith and stall for time until a Greater Power comes along. There is nothing wrong with the story of jaded adults relearning faith and hope, but Prince Caspian does not look like that sort of story. It looks like a story of young princes learning to make their way in the world. Consequently, it looks like Peter is punished for trying to grow up.
Narnia seems to have problems letting people grow up, which is I guess why Peter and Susan can’t come back. Narnia and Aslan don’t know what to do with self-actualized humans who have goals, confidence, and desires. Prince Caspian’s Narnia isn’t for adolescents; this Narnia is meant for children and curmudgeons who need a lesson. Narnia has little use for them and sends them home. Frankly, I would have little use for Narnia, either.
C.S. Lewis would say my East Coast liberal elitist is showing, and he would have a point. I’ve got too much stubborn, Ralph Waldo Emerson Transcendentalist to really appreciate the Christian themes of faith and humility. I recognize that I cannot do everything alone, but unlike Lucy and the Narnians I don’t enjoy that fact. I want Peter and Caspian to succeed on their own terms. I want them to find the inner strength to do it themselves. Ultimately, my desire for self-sufficiency interferes with my ability to just sit back and enjoy the movie.
The film is great. It is a perfect epic fantasy movie, and I think the battles rival those in the Lord of the Rings films. When the Narnians dropped the catacombs under the battlefield, my jaw fell open and then I grinned like a lunatic. Killing half the cavalry and a flanking maneuver in one action? Those are battlefield tactics. Of course, that only dealt with the cavalry. There are whole infantry divisions behind them. Next move? Susan and the archers. Props to the Pevensies for taking a lesson from the Battle of Agincourt.
Most impressively, the Pevensies are all complete human beings-with personalities and everything. The actors really deserve awards, especially Georgie Henley and William Moseley. If I were king, Skander Keynes would have played Harry Potter.
I loved the film, but some of the philosophical messagey bits rang false with me.
“Narnia was never right, except when a Son of Adam was king.” Really, Aslan? The Narnians are being oppressed, so your solution is to put one of the oppressors in charge? Really? Why not, I don’t know, empower and enfranchise the Narnians themselves? (Okay, so the Badger said the above quote, but Aslan never implies that idea is wrong).
The story isn’t about oppression-unless the anvils falling on my head were mislabeled, the main theme of the story is faith. The Chronicles of Narnia, however, are not one dimensional. Oppression is a part of the story. Surely I wasn’t the only one to wince when the heavily accented, mystical centaur says, “…and now here, a Son of Adam has come forth, to offer us our freedom.” I am not a scholar of colonialist literature, but it seems really off that the Talking Beasts need a human to lead them. The Narnians are portrayed as equal to humans in everyway-except in their right to self-sovereignty. Unfortunately, it would rather change the story if Aslan gave the Narnians a pep talk about self-actualization and then the Narnians burned Telmar to the ground. It seems the film-makers did the only thing they could-ignore the issue entirely.
“I think we’ve waited for Aslan long enough.” In any other coming of age movie, Peter would be right. The film doesn’t exactly punish Peter for manning up and doing it for himself-instead, he is really punished for failing to listen and adapt when the castle raid goes wrong. Pride is his sin, but what really brings failure is a closed-minded pride rather than a simple competency pride. It stills bothers me, however, that there is so little room between Doing Nothing and Doing It Wrong.
What really strikes me here is the issue of allowed competency. Erickson phrases it as Industry vs. Inferiority, a stage of development that he proposes humans struggle around 6 to 12 years of age. Children begin attempting to do things themselves. If children are not allowed to show independence, if they are not allowed to start and complete tasks, they begin to feel inferior and may loose their sense of initiative. In Prince Caspian, Peter is trying to show industry and competence. He tells Lucy in the cavern, “I think it’s up to us, now.” Many coming-of-age tales center of the protagonist in the throws of this same conflict, and in most of those stories the hero conquers this conflict by leaving his guides and saving the day on his own. Here, however, Lucy is the example we are told to follow-have faith and stall for time until a Greater Power comes along. There is nothing wrong with the story of jaded adults relearning faith and hope, but Prince Caspian does not look like that sort of story. It looks like a story of young princes learning to make their way in the world. Consequently, it looks like Peter is punished for trying to grow up.
Narnia seems to have problems letting people grow up, which is I guess why Peter and Susan can’t come back. Narnia and Aslan don’t know what to do with self-actualized humans who have goals, confidence, and desires. Prince Caspian’s Narnia isn’t for adolescents; this Narnia is meant for children and curmudgeons who need a lesson. Narnia has little use for them and sends them home. Frankly, I would have little use for Narnia, either.
C.S. Lewis would say my East Coast liberal elitist is showing, and he would have a point. I’ve got too much stubborn, Ralph Waldo Emerson Transcendentalist to really appreciate the Christian themes of faith and humility. I recognize that I cannot do everything alone, but unlike Lucy and the Narnians I don’t enjoy that fact. I want Peter and Caspian to succeed on their own terms. I want them to find the inner strength to do it themselves. Ultimately, my desire for self-sufficiency interferes with my ability to just sit back and enjoy the movie.