Narnia-riffic

I saw my first preview for The Chronicles of Narnia last night. I'm very excited for it, even though I know the film will totally change the gender roles present in the book. The Lord of the Rings attempted to do the same thing but could only go so far with it (as there were hardly any women in the story to begin with). But I bet The Chronicles of Narnia will have Lucy and Susan fighting and zipping around and being treated the same as the boys.

I'm okay with that. There are differences between film and literature. The subtle, more passive roles of Lewis' girls wouldn't make as interesting viewing. Also, this is a Disney flick and a lot of little girls will be going to see it, and they should have strong, positive role models. Then when they get a little older and read the books or think about the books, they'll start to see how the girls were portrayed differently. And they'll wonder why. And they'll wonder why Lewis created Lucy and Susan and the witches and Polly the way he did. And then they'll become English majors.

I think this calls for my senior thesis...

While Lewis’ inclusion of major female characters into his children’s books and the masculine world of the quest is progressive, this gender equality is undermined by Lewis’ religious agenda.

I promise, that is extremely impressive in context.


And that's my favorite picture from my presentation on my senior paper. It's Susan.

Anyway, it seems likely there will be many Chronicles of Narnia movies to follow. People expect the movies will incorporate the same characters, Harry Potter-esque, and they will not. It all jumps around with a character here and a character there and sometimes the Pevensies are grown-ups and sometimes they're children. It'll be complicated.

I'm also wondering how much of the religious analogy (NOT allegory) will be included.

And now I'm getting back to work. Or starting to work. Whatever.

Oh wait! But this is the movie I am most excited about for the coming cinematic season- Serenity.

Not only because I am in love/lust (you can't really combine the words 'love' and 'lust' effectively, since they are both short and start with 'L') with Nathan Fillion but also because it is about Space Cowboys. And Cowgirls. And Space Hookers. And based on my favorite (read: only) sci-fi television show, Firefly.

This has been another Geeky Movie Update. Until next time...keep watching geeky things!