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Posted by Anthony on January 8, 2009
I read today on Worldnetdaily that Disney is not going to produce the next in line in the Narnia series, the Dawn Treader. Article: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=85538
This is disappointing but not entirely surprising. I have always thought that it would be difficult to make a full length movie out of all seven books in the Narnia series. I was concerned that if the books were forced to fit into the ‘full length movie’ paradigm that ‘enhancements’ and ‘embellishments’ would necessarily have to follow. I find that many Christians much preferred something true to the text. A cinematic version of the movies still would be nice, and I personally wouldn’t mind if they maxed out at 40 minutes. That is better than ‘filler’ stuff that is questionable as to whether or not it aligns with what Lewis would have wanted.
Disney began well enough. My review of The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe was glowing. But the embellishments in Prince Caspian were a different story. My review of Prince Caspian reflected my disappointment. While some commenters told me that they approved of the changes, most of them agreed with me.
The author of the WND article suggests that Dawn Treader is not nearly as faith driven as the Lion and the Witch but I do not agree with that. The name of the ship is certainly not accidental and CS Lewis’s theme of ‘longing’ and his flirtation with the nature of heaven which fill up his non-fiction are hinted throughout. From an evangelistic and apologetic perspective, there is plenty of ‘faith content’ in Dawn Treader, and it makes me sad that we won’t be seeing it on film.
Of course, if ‘seeing it on film’ means seeing it with a horde of embellishments, then I personally, though with mixed feelings, am happy they won’t be going forward with the movie.
Posted by Anthony on January 16, 2008
I was really looking forward to getting in and seeing “I am Legend.” I am always interested in seeing other post-apocalyptic scenarios played out (my own is here). Finally, last weekend I was able to see it.
In “I am Legend” a cure for cancer goes bad and a mutation results in the deaths of almost the entire human race. Will Smith’s character works for the military as a geneticist of some kind. He is the one tasked with finding a cure and a solution. He fails. Through an incredible stroke of luck, he is also one of the very few that are immune to the disease. Most affected by the disease die. Those who don’t and who are not immune essentially become new species. This new species can only come out at night, leaving Will Smith to cruise the empty and lonely streets of New York City during the day.
The movie does an excellent job of portraying Smith’s loneliness. If you’re a Christian concerned about profanity and gratuitous sex, etc, you won’t need to worry about that here. There is tension, suspense, and some violence, but nothing an adult couldn’t handle. I wouldn’t take my 15 year old (if I had one).
The movie tries to play into questions of fate and theology but not nearly as deeply as it could have. In one moment of powerful insight, Smith’s character carefully and correctly points out that this horrific turn of events in human history are the result of Man’s activity, not God’s. This lesson is forgotten when later the same character argues that there is no God based on his absence in light of the devastating casualties inflicted by the disease. I won’t dwell on this. I’m not sure if I’d call this a flaw in the movie. I find that reaction perfectly understandable and a matter of personal struggle, too.
Passing over the subtle and perhaps unintentional evolutionary mythology (ie, these ‘new species’) and the internal contradiction presented by it (what’s the point of ‘curing’ what is in fact a ‘new species’?), the movie raises something for everyone to be thinking about. Christians, atheists, biologists, construction workers, etc. Namely, the scenario of a ‘cure for cancer’ spiraling out of control is perfectly plausible. Scientists are currently at work on all sorts of genetic projects ranging from cloning to genetic engineering, etc. Imagine letting a toddler in to play with a nuclear bomb. The toddler doesn’t know what it doesn’t know.
I am not advocating that we stop our research programs or anything of that sort. I do note that the hubris implied in the movie is alive and well in the scientific community today. Many look down their noses on the average man on the street and insist that the complexities involved can only be handled by experts. Perhaps this is true. However, in point of fact our scientists are playing about where they don’t know what they don’t know and the more we do know the more we learn just how dangerous that could be.
Nor can we be certain that just because a person is a great researcher it doesn’t follow that they have a good grasp of ethics. Good researchers brought us the atom bomb, the Tuskegee syphills project, and weaponized anthrax. Sure, they’ve brought us some good things too. I’m not denying that. The question (perhaps unintentionally) put forward by I Am Legend is: “Just because we can, does that mean we should?” We may recall the same question emerging out of the the Jurassic Park series.
What we need is crystal clear transparency out of the researching communities and a willingness from those communities to submit to the democratic process, even if they find the average individual to be completely unable to grapple with the issues that are raised. We can’t assume that every scientist has benevolent motives or even that “because it will save some lives” and so bless every endeavor that we find that we have the technical capability to do. I Am Legend is just fiction, but the more we know about the march of technology, it may not take all that much for it to remain that way. Nor is it reasonable to hope that if all hell breaks loose it just so happens that the ones who can make things right are also the ones who ‘luckily’ remain alive.
“I am Legend” web page: http://iamlegend.warnerbros.com/
Posted by Anthony on November 10, 2007
Apart from my own, which is located here, here are some others of interest that I’ve found. It should be noted that my posting of them does not mean that I necessarily endorse them. I am trying to give people the ability to educate themselves.
Pluggedinonline – Christian Movie Review site- Pretty good job.
http://www.christiananswers.net – Extensive overview.
InsightScoop – a very nice article responding to Pullman’s ‘atheism.’
wardrobedoor.blogspot.com – Most of the points in here I agree with.
http://www.margheim.net – This has a good collection of material.
http://www.churchinhistory.org – A response to what was thought to be a claim that the books should be burned.
http://www.christianpost.com/article With the great ironical assertion by Pullman that his books do not promote the atheistic world view. A bit of a hoot.
http://wrongquestions.blogspot.com/ This isn’t a sophisticated review, but contains a lot of points worth mentioning. And it made me laugh, especially with all of the atheists running around trying to insist that Pullman really, honestly, was not trying to deliberately promote an atheistic world view.
A Christianity Today Overview [a bit dated]
SOME BLOGS
http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com
http://www.newlibertycreation.com/the-golden-compass-and-the-christian-whine/
The Internet Monk. Here- not afraid of atheists or their movie, and here- Sexual Freedom, Pullman’s Atheism. I really appreciated Michael Spencer’s comments in both of these links. In many respects, his arguments are my arguments.
http://www.sakshitimes.com/ – I especially enjoyed the comments near the end highlighting the disconnect between what ‘mainstream Christianity’ thinks about God and what atheists (like Pullman) thinks.
