Thoughts on Prince Caspian
Since it has been awhile since I've posted anything controversial, I figured it's time for me to write about the Prince Caspian movie.
The following seem to be very prominent elements in the film...
Poor storyYuck.
Disappointing acting
Teenage rebellion
Paganism mixed with "good morals"
Occultism
The more I read about the Prince Caspian movie, the more disgusted I am with it. I have read and listened to several reviews of the movie, as well as comments from other people who have seen the movie, but I have a confession to make - I haven't seen it myself!
How can I criticize a movie that I didn't watch? Easy. All I needed to do was hear from others who have seen it. My brother Shad gave me a full report. I also listened to an informative broadcast by Kevin Swanson.
I also read some reviews. And though I don't always agree with these sources, their comments can certainly reveal some of the "unsavory" elements from the movie...
This movie's negative content (see above) has led me to choose not to see Prince Caspian in a theater.
I have better things to do with the time and money God has given me than to waste it on a bad movie. Now don't get me wrong, I may someday watch this movie if I can get it from the library and I have nothing else to do. (ha!) But I am not going to cast my vote in support of this movie by giving Disney what it really wants - my money. They don't really care if anyone likes the movie. We can criticize Prince Caspian all we want, but if we still pay to see it in theaters (or buy the DVD), Disney will laugh all the way to the bank. I'm putting my money where my mouth is - in my pocket...or something like that.A Bigger Reason
I have come to realize that there is another reason I must not support Prince Caspian. I don't want my hard-earned dollars going to support Hollywood. I am serious about building a replacement film industry - a God-honoring film industry. Thus - to be fully consistent - I must stop using my money to keep Hollywood alive. I don't want to support any Hollywood movies in theaters, and I won't buy any Hollywood DVDs. I know this position will be controversial (and difficult to stick to), but I'm casting this vision, and I hope many will follow. Please thoughtfully consider these issues when you make your movie-watching plans in the future.
This is my admonition. I lay my thoughts on the table. It's up to you to decide what you want to do with them.
(Now try to keep the comments civil!)
posted by Scott Eash at 7:39 PM
8 Comments:
Scott,
When I read your recent post, a verse came to mind:
I Corinthians 16:13
Watch you, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
I appreciate you taking a stand for righteousness. Also, you brought up some good points about stewardship of time and money.
Thanks for watching, standing fast in the faith, acting like a man and being strong in your convictions.
God bless,
Mrs. Joseph M. Manion, Jr.
Thanks for the encouragement, Mrs. Manion! I expect to be ridiculed for my stand, so your comments are encouraging.
I absolutely agree with you. (That's probably no surprise, of course!)
I don't find the position difficult, though. From Shad's account, it was worth only as much as he paid -- nothing!
Thanks, Joseph! I'm not surprised that you agree with me! Thanks for the comment.
I'm rather surprised that we haven't heard from those with an opposing view. Maybe that's because the movie has been out for a month now and it's old news. Or maybe my arguments are just too persuasive! :)
I am rather surprised at your comments and have had to come to the conclusion that you have not recently read the book Prince Caspian. This movie, more so than Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, followed the story from the book, including the "unsavory" elements. Perhaps it is C.S. Lewis you should be commenting against, more so than Disney and Hollywood, in this instance. Normally, I would agree with all that you have said about Hollywood and Disney, but in this particular case, the story is C.S. Lewis' as well as the things that you felt were unsavory.
Just my 2 cents:-)
Interesting post Scott, I agree with much of what was said but I would like to give my opinion on your 4 points against the movie. Before I do that I must say I did read the reviews that you posted and frankly could not see where you were getting such a negative angle.
"Poor story"
To this point I would simply reply, go read the book and see what you think. The movie's story was no better then the books and the books was flat out weak.
"Disappointing acting"
I would say to this that unless you have seen the movie this is an in-valid statement for you too make. I for one would say that this is very off, the acting and casting was very good in my ever humble opinion.
"Teenage rebellion"
There was defenitly some of this but we would have to discuss specifics to really delve into this topic.
Paganism mixed with "good morals"
When was the last time you read the book? take the book to task, not the film.
"Occultism"
If this is refering to what I think it is, then I would say that you went too far out on a limb. The only accultic scene in this film I thought was well done and not at all detrementil to the message of a film. What is really wrong with haveing a witch try to call up a spirit when it is clearly the wrong thing to do and the witch gets chopped to pieces at the end? What about the Witch of Endor? Was the Bible wrong to put that scene in there? If not then I would have a hard time trying to defend the position that the approach of the film makers with this film was wrong.
All that to say that I would disagree with your analysis of the film, but since you were mearly stating your reasons for not wanting to see the film I respect that. What I can not respect though, is someone who seeks to give a review of a film they have never seen.
I have to get back to work but it was a great post even though I dis-agreed with some of it.
~Josiah
P.S. I would say though, that if Hollywood sees that the most popular films they make are the morally good ones, does that not have an effect?
Dear Dolphin Lady,
Thanks for your comment. I'm not sure why you think PC follows the book more closely than the first movie. Hollywood injected much more 21st century politically-correct culture into Prince Caspian than they did in the first movie.
You make some valid points when you say that the original books contain some of the same "unsavory elements" as the movies. I agree. I could very easily launch into a critique of C.S. Lewis' original works, but I chose to focus on the movie because that's on everyone's mind at this time (more so than the book).
There are definitely problems with the books, but I am more concerned with the movies because film can be more dangerous than books. Because film combines so many visual and auditory mediums, it can be more potent than words on a printed page.
Anyway, thanks again for your charitable comment!
~Scott Eash
Thanks for the comments, Josiah. I can see your point of view and the value of what you're saying. I'll try to answer your comments point-by-point.
~Poor story~
"...go read the book and see what you think. The movie's story was no better then the books and the books was flat out weak."
I don't quite agree. C.S. Lewis was a master storyteller. On this point, you're one lone voice standing against millions of dedicated Narnia fans. Perhaps it's not so much the story itself, but it's the way Lewis tells it that is compelling.
Obviously, each individual can come to a different conclusion on this point.
~Disappointing acting~
"I would say to this that unless you have seen the movie this is an in-valid statement for you too make."
This point can be rather subjective. I gathered this conclusion from various movie critics who reviewed the film and found the acting to be weak in spots.
~Teenage rebellion~
Feminism is a prominent form of rebellion. Granted, C.S. Lewis had some of this in his books, but that doesn't let the film off the hook.
Paganism mixed with good morals~
"When was the last time you read the book? take the book to task, not the film."
You're right, the book makes this mistake as well, but that doesn't let the film off the hook. I'll save a critique of the books for some other time.
~Occultism~
"The only accultic scene in this film I thought was well done and not at all detrementil to the message of a film. What is really wrong with haveing a witch try to call up a spirit when it is clearly the wrong thing to do and the witch gets chopped to pieces at the end?"
True, the witch is destroyed in the end, but this movie goes too far. It's one thing to talk about calling up the witch (as they did in the book). It's an entirely different matter to drag the audience thru an extended occultic ceremony. They went too far in my opinion.
"What about the Witch of Endor? Was the Bible wrong to put that scene in there?"
No the Bible is not wrong, but please remember that film is a visual medium which is much more graphic than printed text (in this case anyway). There are many things in Scripture that would be completely inappropriate to portray in film (i.e. Adam and Eve in their pre-fall state, a visual representation of Christ, etc.).
I do not believe that the filmmakers were wrong to include the occultic scene. But I do believe that they went too far in their portrayal of it.
"P.S. I would say though, that if Hollywood sees that the most popular films they make are the morally good ones, does that not have an effect?"
It might, if Hollywood was not a pagan industry with a pagan agenda. Statistics prove that family-friendly movies do better at the box office than the average R-rated movie. So why does Hollywood continue to make the movies that they know will likely lose money???
They must have an agenda.
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