Jesus, the Lion King?
Narnia; The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe is a very enjoyable film; but does it help communicate the Christian faith? I don't think it can be seen as anything other than Christian, but I do believe that it presents a very outdated and unhelpful vision of Christianity and Christ.
The C. S Lewis book and film are both religiously motivated and there is simply too much religious language and content to pretend that it is anything other than Christian propaganda. Sons of Adam, daughters of Eve, banishment of Christmas, the sacrificial death of Aslan the sinless one, to pay for the sin of the guilty, and Aslan's subsequent (and predicted) resurrection, all speak clearly of Christianity to anyone who has ever been to Sunday School.
The film sweeps us onwards with great verve and charm, aided by a great cast of adults and children, the beauty of the New Zealand landscape and state of the art animatronics and CGI. But a saga needs to be rooted, just as Lewis's friend J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of Rings was rooted in and supported by a coherently created world. Tolkien complained that Narnia was a careless, lazy creation. It has no mythological or historical back-story, no context, or joined up theology. We know that Lewis had little time for formal theology, but that was a weakness when he came to write a spiritual and religious allegory.
Early on in the film and book we are told that there has been no Christmas in Narnia for a hundred years, and so winter has ruled. But we are not told who has the power to banish Christmas, to deny the incarnation, and silence the gospel of love. Is it the wicked White Witch, ruling in place of the exiled
Lion King Aslan? We know she is evil, but are not told the source of her power. . If the Aslan is the Christ why had he disappeared, and why did he need the four children to come into his world to redeem it? Surely the incarnation is about Christ coming into our world?
Narnia was conceived after the triumph of the Second World War, and during the last days of the British Empire, (1950 - 1956) so Aslan's great roar could well be seen as that of the British Imperial lion. Christians are used to seeing the four evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John represented by an angel, a lion, a bull and an eagle. St Mark is represented by a lion because his gospel is thought to emphasis Jesus' kingship, and/or because the lion is seen as the King of the beasts; the natural world paying homage to Jesus, lord of all creation. The book of Revelation refers to Jesus as the Lion of Judah triumphing over evil, and one translation of psalm 22 verses 15 - 17 reads
'Dogs have surrounded me, a bands of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced me like a lion, my hands and my feet',
a verse taken by some as prophetic of the death of Jesus. In medieval times it was believed that lion cubs were born dead, and only came to life when their father breathed life into them, three days later. Many people today look forward to the day when God's kingdom shall reign, and the lion, no longer ferocious, will lie down with the lamb. So there is plenty of biblical and historical symbolism for those in the know to connect with here.
But this is a film aimed at children, and they will not deconstruct the Lion image, but take it straight, seeing this Christ-like figure as a powerful, beautiful, wise and (usually) gentle lion. But he is, none the less, a lion, and a giant at that. Aslan is a willing sacrifice; yes, but he knows that he will be resurrected, living on to rip out the life of the evil witch.
I have a more than a little difficulty reconciling this image with the suffering servant and prince of peace, born in a barn and suffering execution at the hands of evil men, asking God to forgive them, even as he dies.
C. S. Lewis has been described as a monarchist, militaristic and imperialistic misogynist. Even his admirers admit most of this to be true, but excuse him, saying that we should not be surprised or offended. He was, after all, a motherless child from the age of ten, brought up in boy's schools, having rather difficult relationships with women; he lived as an Oxbridge bachelor before, during and after World War Two, a place stuffed with monarchist, militaristic and imperialistic misogynists.
He was also a medievalist, an expert on the Courtly Love romances. . From the viewpoint of the 21st century many see these tales providing false and pseudo-religious validation for male violence, glorifying both the domination of women by men and (perversely) female adultery of the emotional if not physical kind. . If this environment shaped Lewis, he chose to be shaped. He may have been a child of his time and place, but are his attitudes relevant or helpful for children today?
Back in Narnia the arrival of Father Christmas Claus to give the child heroes and heroines weapons to use in the coming battle raises other questions. The Church militant, the Body of Christ here on earth, is not the church military. Some of us have given up Crusades and Holy Wars. Spiritual Warfare is just that, spiritual, not a call to actual arms. That may be easier for us to see now, after Vietnam and the invasion of Iraq, than when Lewis wrote his books after the end of World War 2, but is it coincidental that the American Christian Right provided the money to bring this film to our screens now?
Similarly the view of monarchy has also been through some changes since 1950. Few of us see monarchy as divinely ordained or essential in a Christian country, so the crowning of our four protagonists at the end of the film seems rather anachronistic.
As far as the misogyny is concerned we may now be prepared to see the epitome of evil portrayed as a woman as simply equal rights for women. But Lewis was very particular about this woman. The White Witch is not a daughter of Eve, and may in fact be Lilith. . In Jewish demonology Lilith is the first wife of Adam, created with him, not from him. She lives in the ruins with the wildcats and hyenas having rejected Adam because he insisted she be subservient to him, to literally lie under him. She cannot bear children herself and roams the earth seeking children to devour. Lewis knew all this, and at the end of the battle in Narnia the Witch meets her end lying beneath Aslan, the male Saviour Lion King.
As for the 'good' girls, we have to wait for The Last Battle, the final volume, to discover the rather cruel fate Lewis dishes out to Susan.
Enjoy the film, for there is much to enjoy, but if your children watch it be prepared to face - or even encourage - some awkward questions. Remember, this is not the Gospel, even if it does show children the Christian virtues of large-heartedness, faithfulness, forgiveness and self sacrifice.
