Categories: uncategorized
Date: 18 October 2005 10:39:42
OK so was on BBC Southern Counties for the third time in under a week this morning.. Was 7.30, ordinarily the time that I'm getting son boy ready for school but managed to lock myelf in the bedroom while he played noisily downstairs and chatted on the phone to a fraction of the nation.
Went well-ish, but every time I'm on, well, on one specific persons show anyway, I'm asked a question that throws me because it seems to not have been well researched. This mornings question: Pullman is angry that Narnia films should be made... Do you think they should be?
Well, unless they're not telling us something and going to really crank up production in the next couple of weeks I assume the fact that one coming out in December is a clue that the decision has been made with or without my comment... Anyhoo, that did throw me must admit, but tried to say my piece. That said, since I spent every free second reading LWW and Last Battle yesterday in researh was sad that I didn't get more than a couple of minutes or so to go into what Phillip Pullman said.. So anyhow: in response to his highly general specific comments.
Narnia is mysoginist.
Is it? Lucy, Susan, Polly and Jill have as valid and valued a role as any of the characters in the books. Is he talking about Lucy being given the role of a healer? Well, Jill equits herself as a warrior within the piece. Is he talking about Susan losing her friendship with Narnia? Why does that make a difference? The wording used is that of the characters rather than then narrator (Edmund and Polly I think, can't remember).
Racist? Is he talking about the comments from the Dwarfs in the Last Battle? Well, contextually the age would have determined some of the language, besides all which he's worried that treacherous, mischievous, uncharitable murderers use racist language within the context of their evil? Not much of an argument there either.
Reactionary Prejudice? Depends how you define it for one thing, certainly far less than is in His Dark Materials for a start.
Phillip Pullman is a brilliant man, an imaginative writer. He is in ways very similar to C S Lewis, but coming at things from a different position. Personally I think that he needs prayer rather than scorn but I also think that HDM trilogy decended into anti-climactic farce. I also think that in terms of marketing he is wiley and clever and that this doesn't do his name any harm in the short term as he might see it.
Anyhow, further reading can be found on the subject here:
http://www.thirdway.org.uk/past/showpage.asp?page=3949
and here:
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/content/news_syndication/article_051017narnia.shtml (thanks for the link Karin).
The first link is an exceptionally good interview I thought. Well done them.
While I'm online can I just state, for the record, that I was hammered 8-0 at Pro Evo on sunday night by Kevin because he said I wouldn't mention it. So I have. Sigh. I was remarkably tired though.
Currently listening to: D? TMB. Currently playing: Prince of Persia. Dr Sylver chapter title of the week which has now been cut...: Chapter 0: A year in the life in the words of a dream.