The Lion, the witch and the misogynist

I've been slowly re-reading the Chronicles of Narnia lately. I restarted the beloved children's series for three reasons. The first is that I wanted to approach the series with adult, educated eyes. I wanted to take in the series with a new, mature and more academic approach. I wanted to think about the series and what it symbolically meant. Second, Disney is releasing a film adaptation of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe and the book nerd in me is simultaneously excited and dubious to see a childhood favorite on the big screen. Disney has hired on Weta, the team that worked so hard on the costumes, sets and special effects for the Lord of the Rings film adaptations, to work on the series. All of this mounts to an exciting release this December. And the third reason is my growing appreciation for the author Philip Pullman and his trilogy His Dark Materials.

Pullman is anything but subtle about his feelings towards C. S. Lewis and his popular childrens series. I have heard several times that Pullman wrote his series to counter the Narnia series, but reading them with Narnia in mind definitely gives corroborating evidence. And now the BBC has posted an article here with Pullman criticizing Disney for taking on the film and presenting it with any shred of Christian virture.

The article writes, "Pullman said the Narnia books contained 'a peevish blend of racist, misogynistic and reactionary prejudice' and 'not a trace' of Christian charity."

And Pullman himself had this to say, "It's not the presence of Christian doctrine I object to so much as the absence of Christian virtue."

So, here's the question. What can we get out of the Narnia series today? Believe me when I say that my love for the series goes back to before I can remember. I grew up watching the BBC's own version of the film series with it's animated monsters and stiff robotic Aslan. But reading them now I find a lot of difficult passages that run counter to my own personal values.

The sexism in the books is hard to overlook. In Wardrobe Lucy and Susan are constantly reminded of how a battlefield is no place for a girl. But the most difficult sequence for me is in Prince Caspian when Lucy is searching for Aslan.

In this story the four children return to Narnia to find that their legacy is now considered myth by many Narnians, and only few of the animals believe in them anymore. Humans are taking over the country, and the mythical creatures of the world are being pushed further away by those in power. As the children navigate their way through the land Lucy claims to see Aslan, or to know which way they should go. They continue to ignore her. When she finally gets close to Aslan, she hears a voice.

"Lucy woke out of the deepest sleep you can imagine, with the feeling that the voice she liked best in the world had been calling her name. She thought at first it was her father's voice, but that did not seem quite right. Then she thought it was Peter's voice, but that did not seem to fit either."

It was, of course, Aslan's voice, the God figure. To me this passage all to strongly places the idea of God as one that is inherently male.

I've talked about this with more people than I can count. Many of them have said the same thing to me. The general attitude of the sexism and racism throughout the series is to take the entire thing into context. Lewis was an Oxford scholar and his theology came in at a time when God was seen as generally male. All of this is true, and a perfectly reasonable argument, but there are still a number of problems with the sexism in the series that leave me unable to dismiss it as a contextual issue.

The first being that femenism was not invented in a post Lewis world. Madeline L'Engle was writing around the same time as Lewis, if not very shortly after, as was J. R. R. Tolkein, both of whom make some important decisions giving more powerful and important roles to female characters. To say that Lewis' time and environment was sexist, and therefor excuses some of his own attitudes that appear in some of his writing is a disservice to people of similar contexts that did not make the same mistake.

The second issue is how we treat the series. The Narnia series is, without a doubt, the most popular series of Christian storytelling, and has remained so for many years. With the new film series coming out, the popularity will likely grow. The series continues to be praised and lauded as an important text for Christian readership, at a time when the context demands equality. If we continue to read this story to our young, are we not perpetuating a sexism that is no longer contextually appropriate?

My opinion is biased towards Pullman's. I think he has a valid concern, and the making of the new movie resurfaces these thoughts as we present the story to the next generation. But at the same time, the religious significance and symbolism is incredibly compelling.

So what does this story tell us today? What can we get out of the series in a new and different context? And does today's context inhibit the story? Is Narnia sexist? If so, why? If not, why? Is this a story we should be reading/showing to new generations? Have you read the Pullman trilogy? Does the trilogy offer an alternative to Lewis' world? Do you find Pullman's series anti-religious? Give me your thoughts...