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Hollywood Discovers C. S. Lewis
By Philip Tallon and Jerry L. Walls

Throughout his life C.S. Lewis filled many roles. Once a devout atheist, he converted to Christianity in his thirties. He achieved fame as a radio personality during World War II with his "broadcast talks" that were later published as Mere Christianity. Lewis was also a confirmed bachelor for most of his life only to marry in his late fifties. In his publications he was an esteemed literature scholar, a popular Christian apologist, a sci-fi novelist, and a beloved writer of children's books. And of course, he was an Oxford lecturer and Cambridge professor. But there is one role the late British writer has yet to fill: star of the Hollywood "hot-list."

For the first time, Lewis and his works are attracting major attention in the entertainment business because his The Chronicles of Narnia series are the latest books to be tapped for big-screen adaptation.

The movie versions of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series and J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy both grossed billions of dollars worldwide, turning extremely popular books into multimedia institutions and elevating the status of their authors. Soon we will see Lewis' fame rise to a new level as well. Not that he's unpopular these days. Since his death in 1963 (Lewis died on the same day JFK was shot), his fiction and popular apologetic books like Mere Christianity continue to sell steadily and most of his books are still in print. Two movies have been made about his life, one for the BBC and one for Hollywood.

If the first book in Lewis's Chronicles-The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe-does well in theaters this December, six more could follow, catapulting Lewis from perennial bestseller into the Potter-sphere.

To be sure, Lewis himself would hardly welcome the kind of mega-stardom J.K. Rowling enjoys. For the most part, he lived a quiet life. He rarely traveled and once turned down an O.B.E. (Order of the British Empire) from the Queen. But for those Christians around the world who have been reading Lewis for the last half-century, the upcoming adaptation presents an exciting opportunity to welcome a new generation of fans into Narnia.

Of course, Lewis lovers are also nervous about the films-waiting to see what the studio-types do with their treasured books. A quick scan of Internet fan sites reveals this trepidation. Web discussions pore over questions such as whether the director of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Andrew Adamson, will do justice to the Narnia books. Adamson has only two directing credits to his name, Shrek and Shrek 2, both snarky subversions of classic fairy tales. Will Adamson give the same ironic treatment to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Will the spirit of Narnia live on or will it be lost in a maelstrom of eye-popping cinematography?

Those unacquainted with Lewis may wonder what all the fuss is about. These are, after all, just works of fiction; more accurately fantasy fiction; or, what's more, children's fantasy fiction. Attentive readers of the Narnia books, however, understand why it is important for these stories to be handled with care.

Spread across the seven books of the series is the re-imagining of Christian themes in a very different world. Narnia is populated by talking animals and mythical creatures like giants and dufflepuds. But it is within these strange environs Lewis retells the key elements of the Christian story, from Genesis to the Passion to the Second Coming.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was the first book Lewis wrote in the series, and it begins where many classical stories do-in the middle of things. It tells the story of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy stumbling through a magic wardrobe into the world of Narnia. The land has fallen under the control of the White Witch. (Unlike the Potter series, witches are not the heroes of Lewis' story.) The cruel witch has enslaved and persecutes the inhabitants. Anyone who gets in her way is turned to stone and used to decorate her courtyard. As if she wasn't bad enough, she has also made it such that it is always winter, but never Christmas.

Despite the depressing state of Narnia, the children soon hear good news. Aslan, a talking lion, and the true lord of Narnia, has promised to come again someday to make everything right. Before long, Aslan does return (as does Father Christmas). Aslan melts winter and restores justice.

Giving away a few spoilers, it should be noted that the similarities to the Christ story do not end with Aslan coming at Christmas time. Not only does Aslan redeem the land, he also sacrifices his life for one of the four children. Fortunately, there is deeper magic, more powerful than death, at work in Narnia.

Understandably, given the theologically rich nature of the story, many fans of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are protective of the passion-narrative at the center of Lewis' work. Major studio pictures have often played fast and loose with important details. The big-budget version of Shadowlands-which tells the story of Lewis' marriage to Joy Davidman and her tragic death from cancer-plays up the way Lewis' faith was staggered after her death and gives little attention to how it was restored.

Fans of Aslan have already been put on edge. A few years ago, rumors circulated that new editions of The Chronicles of Narnia were going to be purged of their Christian content-raising the ire of countless fans. These rumors proved to be unfounded, though a memo leaked from HarperCollins did reveal that the publishing house did not want to sell Lewis' books as Christian allegories.

Ironically, Lewis would have approved of HarperCollins' strategy. Lewis wrote that one of the strengths of presenting Christian themes in an imaginary world was that "by stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday school associations, one could for the first time make them appear in their real potency." The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe combines the strengths of pure fiction and the Christian story, allowing readers to enjoy it without obligations, but at the same time feel the full impact of its implicit truth. Imagine the fun of Harry Potter mixed with the power of The Passion of the Christ.

The origins of The Chronicles of Narnia and C.S. Lewis' desire to create mythical stories come directly from his own experience. His spiritual journey is bound up with the power of fiction and myth. When he was 18, Lewis bought Phantastes, a novelistic fairy tale by the Scottish writer, George MacDonald. It had a profound spiritual effect on Lewis-even though at the time he was a confirmed Atheist. In Lewis's words, Phantastes "baptized" his imagination. Not only did the mythical story fascinate him, but something deeper in the story affected the rest of his life. Lewis described the book as radiating a "bright shadow" which illuminated himself and the rest of the world around him. In his autobiography, Lewis calls the bright shadow "holiness," though he did not know it then by that name. He admits, "I had not the faintest notion what I let myself in for by buying Phantastes." He goes on to quip that "a young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading."

The author of the Phantastes, George MacDonald, was a Presbyterian minister who invested his strange stories with a thoroughly Christian worldview. Like Lewis in his later writings, MacDonald did not write books that were primarily allegorical but rather explored Christian themes through fantastic worlds. Lewis himself explicitly resisted the label of "allegories" for his Narnia books.

Allegories, for Lewis, denoted direct equivalence between some set of ideas and the events of the story. Instead of this approach, Lewis intended books like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a kind of "what if" story. He wrote, "Supposing there was a world like Narnia, and supposing, like ours, it needed redemption, let us suppose what sort of Incarnation and Passion and Resurrection Christ would have there."

All of this increases the potential impact upon the wider world. Because The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe stands on its own, its power does not depend on previous knowledge of the biblical story. By all indications, its influence will only grow, thanks to the upcoming movie. Online booksellers rank it in the top fifty titles, and this number will likely rise as December 9 draws nearer.

So how is the film? All early reports indicate that it may well become a classic. Doug Gresham, C.S. Lewis' stepson, worked as a producer and "creative ambassador" on the film, and has given it an enthusiastic "thumbs up." Early reviews by Lewis fans approve of the adaptation, though take issue with a few changes.

Notably, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy (who become Kings and Queens of Narnia) are crowned in the name of the four winds, as opposed to the name of the Narnian version of God the Father, the Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Another reviewer noted that Susan was "too whiny." If these are the worst complaints about the movie, then it looks as if Lewis fans will be well-pleased.

Will The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe have the same effect on all its viewers that Phantastes did on Lewis? Probably not. But if the film retells the essence of the story-of the redemption of Narnia by the lion Aslan-then it is likely to pass on some essential truths to its viewers and may well baptize some of their imaginations. At the very least, it is good to know that this Christmas, sound Atheists may need to be careful what they see in theaters.

Philip Tallon, a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary is currently a PhD Candidate at St. Andrews University, Scotland. Jerry L. Walls is professor of Philosophy of Religion at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky.



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