Narnia

Erika, Amanda, and I went to see Narnia on Tuesday night. Overall I was quite impressed with it, but that doesn't make for a very good ranting blog so I will pick on every fault I can think of.

As far as a book-turned-movie goes it was very well done. The movie stayed very true to the feel of the book and followed the details remarkably well. While this was an impressive feat it also served to make the few discrepancies stick out quite badly. I don't understand why moviemakers have to add things to "jazz up" an already fantastical story. I could understand if C. S. Lewis himself had worked on the movie and wanted to tweak a few details or add scenes that would be more successful in a movie format than in the book, but why does Disney feel the need to take a much-beloved masterpiece and "improve" it. There were three scenes that really stuck out to me (if you haven't seen it don't read on): the waterfall/ice flow scene, the interaction between Edmund and Tumnus, and the attack of the deranged mutant killer monster snow Santa.

The scene where Tumnus and Edmund have a chat in the Jadis' jail cell is a complete addition. The White Witch reveals that Edmund sold out Tumnus and a soap opera-esque stare-down occurs. Supposedly this scene is to enhance the White Witch's evil character. Funny, I thought the cold, dark ice castle, the evil little dwarf, the spiky motif, the ghastly statues, and the random yelling and threats did a fine job of that already. Add to this the fact that there was no resolution between the two characters and I just don't get the point of having it in there.

Now the scenes on the frozen waterfall and the killer Santa I can understand to a point. In the book the journey to the stone table is fairly drawn out and somewhat uneventful as they actually have a day's jump on the witch. This would not be action-packed enough for today's...intellectually advanced audience (What? Five whole minutes without stuff blowing up or people getting impaled! You mean I have to decipher a plotline?!). So let's invent a scene where the children ride a large piece of ice down a river and almost drown and one where everyone thinks that the White Witch is breathing down the necks of her quarry with her killer reindeer about to gorge themselves on man-flesh only to realize that it was just Santa trying to get their attention so he could give them presents (but no tea!). He was just in a real hurry, that's all. While the first scene is a total fabrication, the second is only a bizarre interpretation of a scene where the children and the beavers stop for the night in a burrow and wake to the sound of sleighbells (which the book explains in that Jadis specifically tells the dwarf to use the harness without bells so the reader knows it's not the White Witch who the children hear). Then they all realize that winter is slipping and Christmas is here at last and they all have tea (I think Lewis would have been aghast at the severe lack of tea in this movie…not at all proper what, what?)

And can someone tell me what the hell Harry Potter's phoenix is doing in Narnia?!

I was also kind of disappointed with the look of the stone table. It looked fine, but not what I expected from the book's description (small point).

Other than that it was a great movie. Visually it was amazing and the feel of the book was intact. Also, as Matt pointed out, the Christian themes were there without any real attempt by Disney to dumb them down or new age-ify them. Except (okay, one more beef) that the best line of the entire series was butchered. The "He's not safe, but he is good" line was said by Mr. Beaver not Lucy and it was said before they met Aslan not at the end of the movie. The point was that the children found out Alsan was a lion and wanted to know if he was tame. It was to build the image of this terrible, amazing, awesome figure. The whole thing seemed too matter-of-fact in the movie. "Who's Aslan?" "Oh, he's a lion," "Okay, let's go see him," "Hey, there he is coming out of his tent" "Alright, let's get this over with." Meeting Aslan is supposed to be akin to meeting God!

Like I said the above begrudgements were only made because everything else was so well done.

The Great Fridge In The Sky

My soul craves music these days, and I don't mean the Black Eyed Peas (wait...that's not actually music anyway). We had our season-ending shindig last night for volleyball, which mostly consisted of hanging out in The House living room, eating pizza, and laughing at...with Danielle. Throughout the night various people picked up a guitar, didge, djembe, conga, and played something, good and bad. It didn't matter who had skill and who didn't; it was all about (Matt, earmuffs) exploring the divine creative.

One of the tragedies in our society is that we have relegated the beautiful things of life to the paid professionals, for the most part. I think I ranted about this in a previous post, but I am too lazy to go back and look. And since I know the rest of you are just as lazy I can blather on with impunity. The point is that we all have creative potential, it's part of the image of God...sorry Matt, the Imago Dei. Yeah, some of us sound terrible on the lute and couldn't paint a fresco to save our lives (that would a great sight, a person working away furiously on a wall with a gun pointed at their head..."not enough blue swirls"...BAM!). I think of our efforts like a little kid's, bringing home some horribly misshapen drawing of what appears to be a giraffe puking on a turtle, but is in fact a lovely family portrait. And God looks down with tears in His eyes (genuine ones at that) and says, "Did you do this yourself? It's an amazing likeness of a giraffe-puke covered turtle." And He means it.

Sure some of us can stay in the lines and a select few can actually make us feel the turtle's torment with wild brushstrokes and swaths of umber highlights, but it's all the same to God because actually does care more about the thought and the effort than the end result.

Where was I? Oh yes, as I sat surrounded by people expressing whatever talent they had I realized how much value there is in simply joining together in creative efforts, letting go of inhibitions and uncertainties. Just picture the smile on God's face as He proudly posts each picture on His fridge, the melodious sounds of giraffes and turtles wafting through the air.

Despair And Pizza

Tonight the ranks of our cult grow two-fold as I have invited both of my volleyball teams over for pizza and social night. I think some of them are actually a little apprehensive about coming as (jokingly) described The House as a cult. Most of them, being first-year Bible college students, probably see thinking outside the box as using agean blue for the powerpoint slides instead of slate grey; maybe some of them have upgraded to a celtic prayer and a candle.

Thinking about this has forced me to remember how I perceived Christianity coming out of HS and how I view it now that I am so mature and wise. It's so, so, so, so hard not to be bitter and jaded towards the ways of the church and how far removed it is from the way it could be. When I think of this I totally understand Mack's speak of his manic-depressive nature. Sometimes I am so overwhelmed with the way God moves in communities and bodies of believers, while the stiffling of others leaves me in total despair for God's Kingdom. Fortunately, as I have just finished writing the word "Kingdom" I am reminded that it is God who is in control of how this turns out and not us, so it cannot fail to become what He has set out for it to be! Whew!