Postby Sparrowhawk » Wed Dec 14, 2005 10:38 am
Wow, i actually started a decently long post. It's been 5 days since it came out, so no onw else will proabably post hereand i'll just wrap it up with my opinions. I mostly agree with someone that pointed out earlier that the heart of the movie was missing, and that came in my opinion, from not making Aslan deep enough (but if you think about it, he is too deep for us to ever fathom. He is infinite, he did not even have a beginning. I dont think we'll even completely understand him in heaven, we will just understand him and know and love him the way we were meant to, but part of that is the relationship always discovering things about him i think) and the lack of mentioning of the Emporer over the Sea. the "mysterious power" sounded a little too New Agey and Agnostic for me.
I thought that kids were just about cast perfectly. Susan was definitely, she was always trying to be smart in the book and not doing what was always the right thing. However, God did give us a brain to use, and i think sometimes Christians are thought to be strange to the colleges and stuff ( i know as i'm looking at them) is because we often don't provide logic. You got to remember, Jesus did claim to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Since it's true, i don't think you can say its bad to try to be smart. Just realize that God's wisdom is much deeper than yours will ever be. I guess I'm so partial to Susan her personality is very similar to my own. I take way to long to think about things. If you notice, she doesn't do anything "really bad " she just never acts on faith until she is 100% sure it will work. It's like the old saying if you wait for the perfect time it wont come. I also struggle with that. My main problem is being afraid to do what's right. So i understand where she is coming from. Also, someone wrote she was played very well if you knew the ending of the series. Having read them all multiple times i do know the ending, i would agree. However, if you notice, it never says she won't be there. and Aslan both in the book and movie said "Once a king or queen of Narnia, always a king or queen" so i like to think, and it is logical (lol) that she does get to be with the rest of them, just not as soon as they get to, because again she let her brain get in the way, which is what happens to her in Narnia, she is always the last person to get the reward because she is always the last to act. Once Susan gets over trying to be "adult" in the book i think she will join the Friends of Narnia at her death.
Whew, sorry, but now you know the person i most empathyze with in the story. I also thought Edmund was played perfectly, exactly as i always pictured him. I probably was very pleased that they kept Susan and Edmund so close to the book because i'm a combination of the two (thats kind of scary). I won't spend to much time on Edmund because his story is so obvious (that does not mean its not very, very good, because it is very, very good). He is the character that went the most astray and is therefore the character that is most thankful for Aslan and also gives him a great understanding of right and wrong and is how he became Edmund the Just.
Lucy in my opinion was perfectly casted and acted. She was very cute (that feels strange for me to say, in my family guys just dont say cute, but what else do you call someone who, if they smiled while asking, you would try your best to find the perfect gift for them?) The actress, i know the name she goes by is "Georgie", did a perfect job. She was optomistic, naive, compassionate, brave, and totally faithful. I DID NOT LIKE THE SEEN WITH THE KNIFE-THROWING. That was totally ANTI-LUCY. She did not like violence at all or pretending it. Fighting for her was a last resort. She does say in the book she could be brave enough, and i definitely believe it, but she would have been miserable the whole time and sobbing afterwards because of her great compassion. She wants to help others, that is why the vial with the healing power was her gift. Her faith and compassion really could heal wounded hearts.
Peter was, in my humble opinion, the only one not perfectly acted and that was the script writer's fault. I do not believe he would have been pushing Ed around the way he was before Narnia. He would have been angry yes, but i dont think that much of a self-righteous jerk. He was more mature than that. That's not to say he would not have done anything. I liked the handing him a girl's coat to Ed, which i certainly dont remember being in the book but was in line with the character. That was my only problem, i liked everything else about him. He was still brave, yet not cocky, doing his best to watch out for everybody. I definitely still liked him.
The only other problem, and i must admit, it really got to me, was leaving out some key lines, changing the lines, or putting them in the wrong spot. I already told you about the Emperor over the Sea, but what REALLY got me was the changing of and changing the timing of Aslan not being a tame lion. THAT IS SO NEEDED BEFORE THEY MET HIM LIKE IN THE BOOK. Why? Two reasons, actually one reason, two examples. I struggle with my relationship with God becuase i try to put him in a box, pretend i know what he is going to do, pretend i know his plans. Well, the fact is you have a whole lot of trouble advancing in a relationship with somebody if you already have decided you know them too much. And C.S. Lewis struggled with this as well. Yes, he was an atheist turn Christian, but did you know he was raised Christian and believed it? What caused him to turn away? He stuggled with a certain sin and begged God to take it away because he knew it was wrong. However, he did not stop and because he really wanted it honestly he started to believe that:
a. God is not there
b. We can't know him.
This combined with what his teachers and classmates told him is what led to his becoming an atheist. Once he realized God could not be contianed, he relationship grew again. That's why i think that they needed the beavers to say before they met Aslan, "Safe? No, he's not safe! I said he was good, not tame!" That is my favorite quote from LWW.
Well, now for my overall opinion. It was definitely well made and and i think kept the most of the story so it was pretty good. But leaving out some key details definitely made it not as good as it could have been. I think, and hope, it will lead many people to read the books, which are much better, and that, like C.S. Lewis said, after reading his books read the Bible and see that his writing was just an attempt to give a picture. Like a picture, its not the real thing but, its trying to give a glimpse to the real thing. I think C.S. Lewis did that and i think the movie gave a picture of the book. A picture of a picture is definitely not as good to one who knows the original. I do think though there will be many opurtunities to witness to people because of this though, and i'm extremely happy about that.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
-Fellowship of the Ring, by JRR Tolkien
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"...And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us." -Hebrews 12:1b (NLT)
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:)
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