| | The Chronicles of Narnia: A prophecy unfolds with 4 siblings, an evil woman, Jesus, and a magical world. Warning: spoilers.
I didn't like it. In fact, I felt like I was being tortured. Why? It promoted belief without reason. This was the recurring message, throughout the movie. I'm sure some people will pick up on the message, be swayed by it, and begin to make decisions using premises that are independent of reality.
It portrayed the bad guys as people who just want to harm and have slaves, and good guys as... well people who aren't like that, but it wasn't really defined. Yea, the bad guys were bad from a Randian viewpoint, but the good guys weren't necessarily good. The only rationally selfish character in the movie was Jesus and a fox, whom both consistently did what was in their own self interest.
The most sickening part was when an old man told the children, paraphrased, "Shame on you for doubting your sister, because she is your family!" This is after her sister went to Narnia, came back, and then told her siblings, then they all tried to go, but the entrance was closed up by the cabinet wall. From the evidence the other three children had, how could it be rational to believe their youngest sister? They shouldn't have believed her until they actually saw the place for themselves, which later they did. Family and another's words mean little compared to experiencing something for yourself, and judging with your own mind.
In some parts of the story, the children attempted to force the good guys to do what they wanted. The good guys then did what they wanted, ignoring the threat on their life! (The children were portrayed as impotent, and the good guys then ignored or tossed aside their threat, but what does it matter?) For example, one of the children was captured by the evil queen. The other three then decided to save him, but they never once asked anyone how they might go about saving him. Near the end, the eldest child held out is sword and told Jesus to help him get his brother back. Jesus soon had his followers go save the brother, and was completely oblivious to the threat to his life. I have no idea why the author put that in the movie. It makes no sense! Why would the children do that? Why?
Santa Claus was one of the worst of all characters. He gave out gifts: A potion that will heal any wound to the youngest girl (Which she didn't even try on Jesus after he was killed, because her elder sister said it was "Too late."). He gave a sword to the eldest boy saying, paraphrase, "This is a tool not a toy. Use it wisely..." to a boy whom was portrayed to be unwise, and continued to be unwise through the entire movie. A bow and arrows to the older girl, which he told her, paraphrased, "Trust that this bow will work, and it will hit your target perfectly." Of course, that was how the bow worked in Narnia. But what about the real world?
The children never ask questions, or test to see how Narnia works, so that they can make good decisions. The story practically just happens to them, as told in the prophecy (which was written by whom? But who cares, thats how it works in Narnia). All they have to do is trust, believe, and exist. Hmm... well, they had to exist for the prophecy to be completed. Existing wasn't really promoted in the movie. More like, "All you have to do is trust and believe."
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