Earlier this month, C.S. Lewis’ family issued a statement in support of Netflix’s new Narnia adaptation.
The Greshams corrected speculation that the family was concerned about the project destroying the brand.
Republished by Narniaweb, a statement from the family indicated that the Lewis estate was carefully watching the director, Greta Gerwig’s artistic process.
This seems to be the case since Douglas Gresham and Melvin Adams from the Lewis estate are mentioned as Executive Producers in a 16 October Netflix media release.
The Lewis Family’s official statement said,
“From our ongoing conversations with Greta Gerwig, we have personally witnessed her sincere passion for the Narnia series. Her lifelong love of C.S. Lewis is apparent to everyone involved with this film. We saw this enthusiasm during our visit to the set in London. We are thrilled to be working with such a talented and accomplished director and production team, and are keen to continue working with them on future projects. Our vision is for this movie to be enormously successful and for this calibre of talent to be applied to all of the Chronicles of Narnia.”
Official support for the Gerwig era hasn’t eased an anxious audience, who rallied after being told Meryl Streep was to be the voice of as Aslan.
Of the two Change.org petitions expressing those concerns, Chaz Migliacci’s petition should be Netflix’s biggest concern.
With over 11,500 signatures since creating the page just over a month ago, Migliacci is clearly not alone.
This is, he wrote, “not merely a matter of preference but of preserving the deep-seated values that C.S. Lewis wove into his narratives. By refusing to attend, view, or otherwise support the new adaptations, we send a clear message to Netflix.”
Migliacci’s petition is both a boycott declaration and a demand that Netflix find a new director for the remaining six Chronicles of Narnia film adaptations.
As the petition goes on to state, “We demand a director who understands the importance of staying true to Lewis’s vision, thus preserving the series as the beacon of hope and guidance it has always been. This is a call for action to protect the legacy of Narnia and ensure that it remains a source of inspiration for future generations.”
The core of concern here is Hollywoke’s pattern of ripping Christian theology out of inherently Christian content.
One major example of the ideology remaking Christian art in its own image was the 2006 Alfonso Cuarón adaptation of PD James’s brilliant dystopian work Children of Men.
Separating the story from its core Christian content destroyed James’ narrative. It broke the film because it betrayed James’ central idea.
This revisionism from the radical left, who’ve captured the arts as well as academia, is why Caldron Pool expressed its own concerns about what looks like transing of Aslan:
“There is a difference between adapting a classic and appropriating it. An adaptation asks: How can we faithfully bring this story to a new medium?
“An appropriation asks: How can we take this beloved story and make it serve our own artistic and cultural vision?
“The former respects the author’s work. The latter defaces it. And Gerwig’s Narnia looks like defacement.”
Hopefully we’re all wrong, and Hollywood wins out over the Marxian Woke radicalism it’s now become known for.
The Greshams assuring fans of their commitment to integrity is comforting.
While their commitment is good news, Caldron Pool’s 19 September warning still stands: “Lewis did not merely sprinkle minor Christian themes throughout Narnia. He built the story around them. As he himself explained, the children were brought to Narnia so that, by knowing Aslan, they might know Christ better.
“Strip Christ from Narnia, and you’re not simply tweaking the story; you are gutting it of the very purpose for which Lewis wrote it.”