The public hasn’t viewed a single frame yet from director Greta Gerwig’s movie adaptation from the classic children’s book series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” but a casting decision is already generating outrage from many conservative Christian commentators.
asserted
decision → view → commentators
They’re distressed by news that a female actor — the Oscar-winning Meryl Streep — will be voicing the role of Aslan the lion in “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.”
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actor → distress → Narnia
Aslan is considered a literary representation of Jesus Christ in the seven Narnia books by British Christian author C.S. Lewis, published in the 1950s.
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Aslan → consider → 1950s
The books depict the lion as male, with a glorious mane.
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books → depict → mane
Filmmakers routinely take license in adapting books — compressing timelines, combining characters and more.
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Filmmakers → take → characters
Gerwig herself is resetting “The Magician’s Nephew” from around 1900 to the 1950s.
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Gerwig → reset → 1950s
The casting of Streep doesn’t necessarily mean that Aslan will be depicted as female.
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Aslan → mean → Streep
But to conservative Christian critics, even the possibility of portraying a divine Christ figure as anything but male goes beyond artistic license.
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possibility → portray → license
They deem it an attack on their faith, noting that the Bible and ancient creeds speak of God the Father and Jesus as the Son of God.
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Bible → deem → God
“This is a well-known ploy of the enemies of God, to subvert and destroy symbols of Christianity in an effort to win a war of attrition for the heart of the culture,” wrote Seth Udinsky in a column for the Christian Post, an evangelical news website.
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Udinsky → know → Post
He contended that Gerwig is turning Aslan “transgender,” citing a newly released photo from the movie’s promoters, depicting the lion with rainbow-tinted whiskers.
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Gerwig → contend → whiskers
Similar comments, and rebuttals, appear in numerous replies to Netflix’s posting about the casting on Instagram.
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comments → appear → Instagram
Some Lewis scholars and aficionados are taking a wait-and-see approach.
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scholars → take → approach
The Netflix production is scheduled for theatrical release in February.
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production → schedule → February
Kat Coffin, a New York-based writer and scholar of Lewis, said she has questions about the casting decision but added: “I am far more disturbed by the people who are violently opposed and angry at the idea that the incarnation of God could be anything even hinted toward feminine.”
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incarnation → base → God
Gerwig wanted a ‘profound but not pretentious’ voice
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Gerwig, in public statements, hasn’t addressed the gender question directly, but did say she saw Streep as one of the few actors who could meet her criteria for Aslan’s voice.
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who → want → voice
“I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness,” Gerwig said.
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Gerwig → want → gravitas
“Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight.
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who → communicate → depth
I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child.
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who → want → child
Gerwig said she first read “The Magician’s Nephew” as a child, falling in love with the story and its enchanted world.
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she → say → story
Gerwig is known for bringing feminist interpretations to her acclaimed movies “Barbie” and “Little Women,” also based on intellectual properties that have long been popular with children.
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that → know → children
Further raising hackles is a report in the movie magazine Empire that Gerwig took inspiration from the pop artist David Bowie, known for his gender ambiguity, in depicting the lion with different-colored eyes and “bold red-striped visage.”
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Gerwig → raise → eyes
“The Magician’s Nephew” — published in 1955, eight years before Lewis’ death — tells the story of two children, Digory and Polly, who are sent to parallel worlds by evil magic.
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who → publish → magic
They ultimately arrive in the newly created, fantastical land of Narnia, but they inadvertently bring with them the evil witch, Jadis.
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they → arrive → witch
In this and subsequent Narnia books, Aslan leads his young followers in combating and defeating evil.
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Aslan → lead → evil
Critic says Gospel themes can’t be treated like ‘The Odyssey’
For Ted Baehr, having a woman portray Aslan is a direct challenge to Christian doctrine on the nature of God.
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woman → say → God
Baehr is founder and publisher of Movieguide, which advises Christian parents on what to watch.
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which → advise → what
“This movie could do very well, but the better it does, there’s a lot of Christians who will be concerned for their children and grandchildren,” said Baehr, who led a company that produced a 1979 animated television version of another Narnia book.
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that → do → book
Baehr praised Gerwig’s directing skills but said she may not understand the issue’s importance to many Christians.
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she → praise → Christians
While Lewis said his Narnia books are not allegories, they do closely parallel biblical stories and concepts.
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they → say → stories
Baehr said they can’t be adapted as readily as the recent Christopher Nolan movie “The Odyssey” did with Greek myth.
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movie → say → myth
“The Gospel is not a myth,” he said.
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he → say → ?
The criticisms reflect the deep bond that many Christians, particularly evangelicals, feel with Lewis, who promoted Christian teachings and themes through fiction and nonfiction.
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who → reflect → fiction
Narnia has a broad reader base, with reported sales of 120 million books worldwide since the first volume’s publication 75 years ago this month.
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Narnia → have → publication
Its Christian readers feel a particular sense of ownership.
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readers → feel → ownership
“I know a lot of people who are genuinely concerned, because the original stories mean so much to them,” said Christin Ditchfield Lazo, an author of books on Lewis.
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Lazo → know → Lewis
The Narnia series has “had a profound impact on the lives of millions of people — especially people of faith, who love the spiritual truths in these stories and want them to be faithfully represented,” she said.
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she → have → stories
Ditchfield Lazo urged Christians to reserve judgment.
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Lazo → urge → judgment
“There’s a huge difference between a woman voicing a male character and the director changing the gender of the character,” she said.
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she → ’ → character
“It could be problematic, but we won’t know until we see the film.”
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we → know → film
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
