Narnia

I went with my sons' school today to see the movie, Narnia, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. I sat in a packed theatre with 200 children ages 5-14. It was interesting to watch them. The little ones were, many times, scared to death. Some cried. The little 6 year old boy sitting next to me asked me to hold his hand throughout the movie while he covered his eyes with the other. At other times, the children cheered for the "good conquers evil" that was prevalent throughout the movie. I could see no real blood and gore (though the war seen was about as graphic as I could imagine) and there was no sex, profanity or nudity. I'll even admit that everything "bad" that happens, gets "undone".

So why all of the crying and handholding?

It's about exploiting your worst fears. The characters are as scary as anything I've ever seen in a nightmare. The things the children step over grab them from below. Wolves attack and nice strangers become evil torturers. At one point, the mighty lion is "sacrificed" by the evil witch. Prior to killing him, the queen has the little gremlins cut off his mane. What a twisted and demented scene for children to watch. It had no bearing on the movie but to throw all kinds of connotations out to the adults watching. We stare into the lions eyes as the witch stabs him to death. This is Disney?

The last scene where the lion is walking on the beach is the perfect time to tie in Thomas' dad and Edmond's dad (both warriors). I was dumbfounded when Thomas didn't say that the lion was his father. Why not?

It was entertaining in an epic kind of way. The kids liked the happy ending. However, the film lacks any credibility for so many reasons. I won't be buying the DVD.

I'll be seeing Pride and Prejudice Saturday night.