Passions of the Soul

Prince Caspian

If you have never read C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, then what Disney has done with Prince Caspian is unlikely to bother you.  You might even enjoy it, although the film version is a truly poor substitute for the book.

Ever since we saw Disney's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I have looked forward to the next film in the series.  My husband Bruce, who had read the reviews, was not really interested in going to see this one.  But I, who had not read the reviews, couldn't wait, so I finally prevailed on him to take me yesterday.  We left, roughly half-way through.

To say the movie is based on the book by C.S. Lewis is a little misleading; I would say it is very loosely based on the book.  That means that, yes, the characters are there, and yes, they did actually weave little bits of Lewis's story into their own.  The scriptwriters left out so much, which is to be expected, given that you can't really do great justice to a book, in a film version.  But they've also rewritten so much and added so much action and dialogue that never appeared in the book.  And their attempts at clever, witty dialogue, lacking Lewis's brilliant story-telling, were downright pathetic.  Some warranted an insipid half-smile and nothing more; most evoked no response.  Hollywood's attempt at putting this story on film is as uninspired as it gets.

If you enjoy a good story, read the book.  If you want a half-baked attempt at putting a classic book on film, go see the movie.  But Hollywood will have to do better with future efforts in this series, if they want our money.

UPDATE 6/22/08:  As we were vacationing, last week, I thought back several times to this movie.  I think I figured out why I believe Ben Barnes was miscast in the title role.

I keep replaying the scene leading up to the Pevensies' first encounter with Prince Caspian.  They don't yet know who he is, nor does he know who they are.  He and his small band of faithful (or not so faithful) followers are taking on some of the Telmarines.  Both in that encounter and in the initial encounter between him and the Pevensies, he displays an arrogance and cockiness that do not befit this prince, and I don't remember picking up such attitudes in my numerous readings of Lewis's great story.  Barnes' face is well-suited to the sneering expression that continues to dance before my mental eyes, but not to the "I may be a prince, but I'm just a kid" portrait of Caspian written by Lewis.  Such scenes were conceived, written and directed, it seems, by people who either had never read Lewis's story, or are insensitive to the heart and spirit of it. 

Too Small to Ignore...

This post fits in more than one category, but I have to pick one.  And it is, after all, about a book:  Too Small to Ignore:  Why Children Are the Next Big Thing, written by Dr. Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion International.  Too Small... combines the author's memoirs with compelling arguments for changing the way most of us in America view children.  Dr. Stafford's perspective, his world view, arises out of his having grown up as a missionary's kid (MK) in a small village in West Africa.  Believe me, it wasn't all lightness and glory, despite his having wonderful parents and living in a village with people I wish I had known.

I think that nearly every church I've ever been part of viewed children as "the church of tomorrow," to the extent that they viewed children in any positive light.  (In fact, the church where I worship, now, has the very best range and depth of children's ministries that I have seen since my own childhood--and that leaves many years in between!) Through numerous examples from both scripture and lives lived more recently, Dr. Stafford shows that God views children as a vital part of the church of today.  In fact, there are some jobs that God considers too important to entrust to adults, so he gives them to children to carry out.

Dr. Stafford does not advocate the coddling of children in the way our society has coddled them by letting too many of them run roughshod over people, places, and moral and spiritual values, and letting them growing older without becoming responsible, contributing citizens, having integrity.  Such coddling does not reflect God's love and respect for a child.  What Stafford does advocate is that we reach a better understanding of how God does see them, and there's no better place to start than by (1) being very familiar with the things Jesus Christ said about children and what prompted those statements, and (2) reading Too Small to Ignore.  He also encourages us to focus far more on children, their needs and their rightful place in God's Kingdom.  He offers suggestions to help us do that, many of which would be so readily workable.

Too Small... is available online, at www.toosmalltoignore.com, the usual online and in-store booksellers, and most Christian book stores.  Profits will benefit Compassion International.

This is too important a book to ignore.  Please, if you care at all about children; if you care about what God considers important, read this book.  Share it with a friend.  Or two. . . .  Thank you!

Revised 1/1/06