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The Lion, The Witch
And The Jesus Allegory
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As Narnia film fills theaters, some
Jews are unaware of its strong
Christian theme.
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Nis am..
Joe Eskenazi
the Jewish News weekly
of Northern California
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potential mega-blockbuster
film, financed by a fervent
Christian and bursting with
Christian overtones, is being mass-mar-
keted to — guess who? — Christians.
Church groups are buying up whole
theater showings. Advance screenings
have been held for pastors and minis-
ters, who have given the film their bless-
ing, literally. Catholic publishing compa-
nies are putting out companion guides.
And the Jewish community is — well,
no one knows quite what to think.
That's because the film in question
isn't Mel Gibson's The Passion of the
Christ. It's The Chronicles of Narnia: The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the
special-effects laden adaptation of
British author C.S. Lewis' classic 1950
children's book.
Right-wing evangelical billionaire
Philip Anschutz, the owner of the San
Francisco Examiner who also owns
Walden Media, produced the $250 mil-
lion film, which opened Dec. 9. Walt
Disney Co. also helped, especially on the
distribution end. In fact, many of the
same firms that so successfully recruited
whole congregations to attend showings
of The Passion have been contracted
again for Lion.
The re-oiling and firing up of the
machinery that pulled Christians into
theaters and made The Passion a huge
hit, as well as Lion's Christian overtones,
have given some Jews reservations.
Rabbi Judah Dardik, the spiritual
leader of Beth Jacob Congregation in
Oakland, Calif, was hooked on Lion
when he read it years ago as a day-
school student. He borrowed the entire
series from his older sister and devoured
its seven volumes. It was only years later
that he was told it was steeped in
Christian allegories. He was "surprised
and embarrassed I hadn't realized. I felt
duped:' Rabbi Dardik said.
Rereading the series, he saw more and
more allegories and could never appreci-
ate the books as mere fiction again. Now
he sees them as theology — beautifully
A
written theology
"Should Jewish children see this
movie or read the books? I'm unsure. My
personal jury is still out',' said Rabbi
*Dardik."I read them — clearly it didn't
affect my personal theology."
He added, "I haven't seen the movie,
but I wouldn't be surprised if they
fleshed out the Christianity a bit more to
be satisfying to the Christian audience.
That's the part that's most disconcerting
to me. I also have concerns about the
marketing. Hollywood has a way of
being very in-your-face."
Like Gibson, Anschutz is a figure who
makes many wary. Walden Media in
recent years began creating Christian-
friendly films short on sexual content or
profanity — drug abuse and philander-
ing were trimmed from last year's Ray
Charles biopic Ray, for example.
Anschutz also is an outspoken evangeli-
cal, who was attracted to the Narnia
tales for the same reason others in the
business were repelled — its Christian
messages.
But Lion is no Passion. Compared to
the extremely negative reaction Passion
garnered from Jewish organizations
before, during and after its release, the
marketing of Christian allegory as popu-
lar entertainment in Lion has created
hardly a ripple.
The story is based on a book many
people read as children, only to learn
later that Lion and the six other books in
Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia were full of
Christian allegories.
Two Levels
The latent nature of Lion's Christian
message, and the fact that one can be
completely oblivious yet still enjoy the
story, allows the film's producers to pro-
mote Lion on two levels: one method for
avowedly Christian audiences and one
for everyone else.
While the uplifting Christian message
is pitched to pastors and church groups,
the theatrical trailer promoting the film
features a dazzling array of special
effects created by Peter Jackson's WETA
— the company the New Zealand-based
director founded to tackle Lord of the
Rings — and huge battle scenes.