I Always Did Like that Little Mouse

So, I saw Prince Caspian on Friday. It was pretty good, I must say. Which is surprising, because I have been waiting for these movies to be made far longer than any other movies of the same genre. Unlike Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, which I read as an adult (or in the case of Lord of the Rings, gave up on halfway through the last book), I actually grew up with these books and loved them dearly. In retrospect, compared to some of the other grand epics in magical worlds, C.S. Lewis kind of skimped on character development and took the easy way out with the characters and plots, using Aslan as a literal deus ex machina quite a bit. The movies are actually developing the characters far better than the books did. Having said that, one thing that Narnia has that Harry Potter is lacking is an incredible sense of majesty and wonder. The world almost seems more magical than the world of Harry Potter because of that. In Harry Potter, they're just kids who get incredibly lucky/unlucky. In Narnia, those kids are kings and queens, and earn it on the battlefield. I mean, half of the movie was devoted to Peter looking kingly while swinging a sword and shouting orders to, like, centaurs. It's an awesome thing for a child--to think that you could find a magical land in a piece of furniture and then help defeat an evil witch, and afterwards rule over the kingdom. Honestly, how cool is that?

While I was watching the movie, I felt like I was in a time warp. I remembered so much detail that I really surprised myself, since I haven't read the books in years. When the swashbuckling mouse first appeared I thought "YES! REEPICHEEP!" I was mildly surprised that I not only remembered his name, but that I was getting so excited about it. I really hope the movie does well, so they continue going with the Chronicles. I am slightly concerned how they will handle the change of casts from movie to movie, however. Part of the appeal of the first two books (especially in the most well-known first one) is the relationship between the four Pevensies, and the later books were not as popular partly due to the constant changes of main characters. I know they are making The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with Lucy and Edmund, but I don't know if they will be able to go beyond that after all the Pevensie kids have been banned from Narnia. Even I've grown fond of those four characters, and will miss the older kids in the next movie.

Which brings me to Susan. SPOILER ALERT for those who have not read the books. I've been thinking/re-reading about the plots of the books since seeing the movie on Friday, and have been remembering quite a bit of plot details. It's all a Christian allegory. I get that, and don't really have a problem with it. The books are entertaining enough that you don't feel like you're being preached to, even though it can be very obvious sometimes. Whatever, it's fine. I still love them, no matter how homicidal Philip Pullman seems to be about them. There are a few things, however, that I can't get around. The treatment of Susan, for one. The last book is basically Revelations with the destruction of Narnia and the Antichrist and stuff. Except for kids! Anyway, basically all of the human protagonists from the earlier stories are brought back to Narnia (Because they were all at a train station where a train derailed, and it killed them all. So it was a fun read!) to lead the people/creatures to a new Narnia that isn't all falling apart. The one exception is Susan, who moved to America, got into clothes and lipstick and boys. This means that she no longer believes in Narnia and Aslan and doesn't get to come back. By the way, the kids are now IN THEIR EARLY TWENTIES. I remember being offended by this as a small child. Even more so now. I mean I get it in Christian terms, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. I actually really liked Susan--she was the sensible one. And now, first, her whole family dies in a horrible train accident, then she doesn't get to go back to Narnia because she moved to America (that godless land) and likes boys. That just sucks. I hope that if they continue making the movies, they fix that plot line. Also, C.S. Lewis was a bit sexist and passively racist, and some of the other races in the magical world where Narnia was were a little stereotypical, and kinda offensive. The Calormenes (mainly in The Horse and His Boy) were bad stereotypes of Arabs. That could be a problem these days. (Also, how "Evil Spaniard" were those Telmarines?)

All in all, though, the books were great in my six-year old eyes. These are relatively minor nitpicks that an update to the series via the movies could easily fix. I think the message is the same, and the characters could even be strengthened because of the movies. I still really like the Narnia series and am now looking forward to The Voyages of the Dawn Treader. REEPICHEEP will be featured, of course.