Christopher W. Cowan of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood sent me the following observation about the upcoming Disney film version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my four-year-old son, Zachary.
When Father Christmas presents gifts to the children, he gives Peter a sword and shield. To Susan, he gives a bow and arrows and a horn. He then tells her, “You must use the bow only in great need, for I do not mean you to fight in the battle.” Next, he gives Lucy a bottle and a dagger and says, “The dagger is to defend yourself at great need. For you also are not to be in the battle.”
Lucy responds, “Why sir? I think—I don’t know—but I think I could be brave enough.” To which Father Christmas replies, “That is not the point. But battles are ugly when women fight.”
During the battle at the end, Peter and Edmund—not Susan and Lucy—are the ones waging war against Aslan’s enemies.
I have read good reports from Gene Veith that Douglas Gresham (C. S. Lewis’s stepson) has sought to keep the movie faithful to the book. I cannot wait to see the film. But I will be thoroughly shocked if Lewis’s vision wins out over contemporary feminism (particularly since I have seen clips of Susan wielding her bow). I hope I am wrong.
I am more optimistic than Chris that the film will stay faithful to Lewis (if only to keep from offending Narnia-lovers everywhere), but his point is valid. How strange will such “mere Christian” notions seem to a film audience accustomed to seeing Warrior Princesses knocking the teeth out of their foes?
