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Written by Janet Beihoffer
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Saturday, 17 May 2008 17:28 |
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Prince Caspian opened in movie theaters this weekend. It adapts for the big screen the fourth in a series of seven Narnia novels by C.S. Lewis.
The film includes all the special effects you would want: incredibly realistic talking animals, "living" creatures of all types (trees, water, etc.) . The ingenuity and creativity are simply amazing. Taking an author's words, in this case, those of C.S. Lewis, and making them come alive is a skill and talent we just assume is the norm - it's not.
The basic storyline is straightforward: Prince Caspian, the 10th in a line of Caspians, learns that his father was murdered by his uncle, the evil prince, Miraz. His tutor saves his life by helping Caspian escape from his uncle. As Caspian flees to the magic woods of Narnia, he gets hurt, uses a magic horn and unknowingly summons the four English children back to Narnia to fight the good fight because Caspian's people now have a chance to be set free from their oppressors.
This "war" movie like the blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" trilogy recognizes that it can be right to fight for truth, decency and to remove a tyrannical ruler. One hears the movie's characters debating whether or not they should make the fight; they conclude a chance for freedom is worth the risk. This movie's approach contrasts with the latest attempts by Hollywood to portray war as always wrong, especially with American civilians and soldiers as villains. These films have done very poorly at the box office. Perhaps this is because Hollywood does not understand that there are good fights and freedom must be defended, not taken for granted. Hollywood's bias showing Americans as bad guys simply doesn't go down well with us. Disney understands people will see war movies, even if fiction, when the good guys win.
C.S. Lewis, a WWI wounded soldier, truly understood the horrors of war but he also understood that tyranny was worse.
Cross-posted and comments welcome at SCSU Scholars.
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