I haven’t forgotten my promise to write about the “revolution in cinema,” by which I mean the Christian revolution: the fact that Hollywood is now realizing the actual numbers of its Christian audience and is now trying to respond. Above all, I mean the recent explosion in Christian-themed fantasy epics on the big screen, including The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia. Very much a reason to celebrate, though most of the films weren’t actually made by Christians. But this may soon change. This is one of the reasons Act One (of which I am a proud graduate) trains Christians for the movies is so that WE can get our own stories up on the big screen.
Not only this, but the cultural war between believers and atheists is going to heat up with this December’s release of The Golden Compass, the first of the three projected films based on Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Pullman makes no secret of his hatred for Christian fantasy as written by Lewis and others, and his trilogy is directed toward the need to fight the “oppressivness” of religious belief. Meantime, more Chronicles of Narnia are coming to the screen, not to mention the final two Harry Potter films. The next couple of years are going to be interesting ones at the box office!
But there are some Christians who don’t realize what weapons we need in this war and why. They retreat into their Bibles while continuing to condemn most Christian fantasy literature for paganism, witchcraft, magic, and not having a scriptural quote in every line so people will know that the books are Christian. J. K. Rowling’s insistence that she is a Christian and even that she is writing about her own struggle with faith mean nothing to them. Or else they will make comparisons — Tolkien good, Rowling bad — based on nothing more than the fact that Tolkien has had a Christian label for years, and no one knows that much about Rowling’s beliefs — at least they didn’t when she first started writing.
Here is a wonderful post by an author who points out that one of the most basic problems some Christians have in reading fantasy literature is their lack of knowledge of ancient and medieval Christian symbolism and literature. Rowling, like other Christian fantasy writers, is working from a very rich tradition, which many of the evangelical side — and sadly, many Catholics as well — are ignorant of. They don’t even begin to know how to recognize the allusions in the books. And they simply refuse to open themselves up to knowledge.
This is only a taste of what I want to write. Now that I’ve completed the book, I should have time to explore the subject of the revolution in cinema at greater length — hopefully soon.
Filed under: C. S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, Film, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, Writing | |No Comments
Or “The Twilight of the Potter.” That’s irresistible title people are using for what seems like the end of the Potter era. I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows two weeks ago — I held off until July 23, two days after its release, to buy my copy — and read it all at one gulp.
For those who have yet to read it, you have a treat in store. It is a glorious book and in many ways a profound one, a fitting close to an epic story. Yes there are SPOILERS below, but out of consideration for you, I’ll try not to make them too heavy.
For the rest of us: Now that we have read through the last thrilling chapter, drunk to the last drop the bitterness of death and experienced to its fullest the joy of resurrection, we can finally reflect on the Harry Potter series as a whole.
I came to the series somewhat later than many people. I had heard a bit about it here and there, and was intrigued, but since I was spending most of my time from 1997-2001 working on my dissertation and every spare minute working on a screenplay of my own, I did almost no outside reading. When the movie version of The Sorcerer’s Stone came out late in 2001 I went to see it — and immediately went out and bought every book in the series that had been published to that date. I loved them. As time went on, though, I was beginning to feel a little frustrated because the vast story, the incredible number of characters and the overwhelming mythology of this created world threatened to burst the bounds even of J.K. Rowling’s prodigious imagination. I was beginning to think she had taken on much more than she could actually handle. I felt that many of the story arcs and characters were ignored or dropped (my favorite character, Remus Lupin was criminally underused after his first appearance in Book III, at least until the last book), and it was becoming harder and harder to keep track of all the mysteries, clues, and revelations.
Something that I frequently missed in Rowling’s work was the sense of wonder, of transcendence that can be found so frequently in Lewis and Tolkien. Since the magic was a completely accepted and routine part of the everyday lives of most of the characters, there was little sense of wonder about it. But every now and again, the magic hinted at something profound. For instance, the Mirror of Erised in Book I, and especially the learning of the Patronus charm, again in Book III — another reason it is my favorite book in the series.
But for the most part, this last book paid off beautifully. Over time, I have become more and more pleased with improvement in Rowling’s writing. In this last book, she shows a greater sense of wonder or at least her ability to describe it.
For instance, Harry’s first sight of the beautiful silver doe.
Harry stared at the creature, filled with wonder, not at her strangeness, but at her inexplicable familiarity. He felt that he had been waiting for her to come, but that he had forgotten, until this moment, that they had arranged to meet. . . . He knew, he would have staked his life on it, that she had come for him, and him alone. (p. 566).
Or this:
While [Fleur's] radiance usually dimmed everyone else by comparison, today it beautified everyone it fell upon. Ginny and Gabriel, both wearing golden dresses, looked even prettier than usual, and once Fleur had reached him, Bill did not look at all as if he had ever met Fenrir Greyback. (p. 144).
Of course, there is no reason why Rowling’s strengths should be exactly the same as Lewis’ or Tolkien’s. She may not have been consciously reaching for the same level of wonderment. But her own strengths are dazzling. In particular, her creation of character, gift for dialogue, and attention to the moral realm are outstanding.
Above all this, the plot threads and character arcs that are resolved in this final book point to some strong over-arching Christian themes.
As far as I can tell, most of the young fans on places like Mugglenet.com seem to be oblivious to them. Just as Lewis wished, and as I’m sure Rowling herself wished. But they will still be affected by them. Whenever they are faced in the future with the task of forgiving a seemingly unforgivable enemy, they can think of Harry and Professor Snape. When the need to have compassion for those it seems impossible to have compassion on, they can think of Voldemort. When they need to realize that we are all sinners, they can think of Dumbledore — yes, even Dumbledore.
And then there are Harry’s final actions in the book, which I must not spoil — but they illustrate the center of the Christian faith in a moving and profound way. Even to say that much really gives it away. I was very moved this past weekend, listening to the ‘Pottercast” on i-Tunes, which came out almost immediately after the book’s release, in which a roomful of fans debated the book’s finale. How many of them, knowingly or not, grasped that theme of voluntary sacrifice, thought about it at length, and loved it. This is an overwhelming reason to be glad the books were written. (You can check out the podcast here or on i-Tunes).
Even many secular commentators are now getting the drift. For ages, the media has seen fit to ignore the actual Christian content of the books, while putting forward every Christian “Harry Hater” as an example of the usual Christian approach to fantasy literature. Few of them seemed aware that Rowling herself is a Christian.
The first secular review of the final book that I heard was on NPR, and it said that about halfway through the book, “the overwhelming religious allegory begins,” or something like that. If you’ve read or heard such a commentary. I hope you’ll share it.
Last night (finally) I went to see the movie version of Order of the Phoenix. This was the only book of the series that I have so far read only once (largely because I read it in a library copy rather than buying it). I had forgotten a great many of the details of that installment. It was really something to see this after reading the final book, and watching it onscreen, particularly a powerful moment at the end between Harry and Voldemort, I realized how much the story’s themes tend overwhelming in the same direction of moral and spiritual growth, of resisting evil inside yourself, and above all, of forgiveness.
This is a good occasion to reflect on what can only be described as a revolution in cinema that has taken place in the last few years. But that will have to wait for my next post.
Filed under: C. S. Lewis, Christian Writers, Film, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Tolkien, Writing | |No Comments
