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The Lyin', The Bitchin' and the Worn Out
Dec. 11th, 2005 12:50 amThis is just more of the same screaming match where people stoop to such absurdities. Getting upset and creating protest in and about films and movies, what the fuck? There are no lives at stake here. I don't think that's an acceptable way to interact in any culture.
What's kinda sucky here is that everyone is reading that same highly-biased Guardian article with the selective C. S. Lewis quotes. And all the gays who have been or feel they are personally persecuted by Christianity are, once again, mobilizing their particular faction of the political blogosphere to cry bloody murder. Missing the irony here that gays are now mobilizing around causes that come from increasingly dogmatic sources, much like Christian conservatives. But that's not the worst of it.
Blogs and cheesey 21st century media create a positive feedback loop amongst groups with particular biases. We all huddle around our crappily written pieces and quote them. Often with some seriously un-called-for editorial feriocity. I mean when else in history have we had this kind of editorial power? But in this particular case it seems every one turns into an angry bigot and hence starts the cultural screaming match. And no, the answer is not to scream back louder, dumbasses. This is not how we get along with people. Even ones who hate us.
Right, the worst of it all.
The worst of it all is missing the nuance, which is that Lewis was a product of his time. I read a biography of his ages ago and basically the very reason for his work is that he rejected a lot of Christianity tenets. But the point of spirituality, including Christianity, is connectedness and being oppositional is something probably not easily to accomplish in his time. He was brought "kicking and screaming" into the Christian faith... a big influence being his service in the first World War. Having and seeing friends literally killed on the front lines has that effect on people. C. S. Lewis did find faith in God but wrote his allegories of Christianity as an improvement. When you understand his background and situation the quote about "softening children" to the idea of god doesn't ring with the same context as it does in 2005. When interviewed 55 years ago I doubt he would have mentioned how he was aspiring to re-interpret the bible without all that ancient voodoo shit designed for early Abrahamic society.
But that's what he did.
These books reflect the state of thought in Britain at the time they were written. The time at which The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was written was after two world wars. The world was a writhing mass of scarred humanity and the finer points of rights for minorities were simply not the focus. As a result you may notice the bit where Aslan tears appart the sodomites to death is missing. Or the chapter where the White Witch goes on about the sins of birth control and abortion? Also suspiciously absent. But what is present is the stuff about the battle between good and evil. And the victors not being the righteous but the humble and meek, as represented in the books by children.
So who cares if there is religious money funding this movie? Seriously, who fucking cares because best I know it's promoting all the good stuff. That can be scary to a lot of people who've been abused by the moral majority. It's scary to them that they might just have something in common with their aggressors.
What's kinda sucky here is that everyone is reading that same highly-biased Guardian article with the selective C. S. Lewis quotes. And all the gays who have been or feel they are personally persecuted by Christianity are, once again, mobilizing their particular faction of the political blogosphere to cry bloody murder. Missing the irony here that gays are now mobilizing around causes that come from increasingly dogmatic sources, much like Christian conservatives. But that's not the worst of it.
Blogs and cheesey 21st century media create a positive feedback loop amongst groups with particular biases. We all huddle around our crappily written pieces and quote them. Often with some seriously un-called-for editorial feriocity. I mean when else in history have we had this kind of editorial power? But in this particular case it seems every one turns into an angry bigot and hence starts the cultural screaming match. And no, the answer is not to scream back louder, dumbasses. This is not how we get along with people. Even ones who hate us.
Right, the worst of it all.
The worst of it all is missing the nuance, which is that Lewis was a product of his time. I read a biography of his ages ago and basically the very reason for his work is that he rejected a lot of Christianity tenets. But the point of spirituality, including Christianity, is connectedness and being oppositional is something probably not easily to accomplish in his time. He was brought "kicking and screaming" into the Christian faith... a big influence being his service in the first World War. Having and seeing friends literally killed on the front lines has that effect on people. C. S. Lewis did find faith in God but wrote his allegories of Christianity as an improvement. When you understand his background and situation the quote about "softening children" to the idea of god doesn't ring with the same context as it does in 2005. When interviewed 55 years ago I doubt he would have mentioned how he was aspiring to re-interpret the bible without all that ancient voodoo shit designed for early Abrahamic society.
But that's what he did.
These books reflect the state of thought in Britain at the time they were written. The time at which The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was written was after two world wars. The world was a writhing mass of scarred humanity and the finer points of rights for minorities were simply not the focus. As a result you may notice the bit where Aslan tears appart the sodomites to death is missing. Or the chapter where the White Witch goes on about the sins of birth control and abortion? Also suspiciously absent. But what is present is the stuff about the battle between good and evil. And the victors not being the righteous but the humble and meek, as represented in the books by children.
So who cares if there is religious money funding this movie? Seriously, who fucking cares because best I know it's promoting all the good stuff. That can be scary to a lot of people who've been abused by the moral majority. It's scary to them that they might just have something in common with their aggressors.
