Letters to the Editor
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Prince Caspian
While I enjoyed the movie, the part where Susan starts hitting bad guys with her bow was just hilarious.
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Except when Lucy gets rescued . . .
I saw the film, and I was pleased to see this young woman, quite adept with the bow and arrow, fighting off dozens of men in the forest alone. Somehow, of all the soldiers she fells, one almost gets the best of her--until she is "rescued" by Prince Caspian. I made a comment about it in a packed theater ["Of COURSE she needed rescuing by a MAN"] which was regrettable and inappropriate, but I was damned disappointed to see her get so far and then end up a fairytale cliche.
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Why the hell watch it
except for the over-the-top battle scenes? Isn't that the point? I wouldn't see it for the Christian subtext.... I cherished these books as a kid, read them at least 20 times, and I remember Lucy and Susan as warriors too. Perhaps that was just wishful thinking.... Anyway, I probably won't see the Lewis movies at all; I'll just watch the Lord of the Rings movies again. I don't care what the chromosomes of the characters are. I like watching good guys kick bad guys' asses in movies, preferably in an elegantly choreographed way. (BTW, I am XX.)
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Let me point out my error first
It was Susan, not Lucy, with the bow and arrow. Sorry.
*blushes wildly*
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Susan
It’s been a long time since I’ve read these books. But I distinctly remember that, at some point, Susan can’t return to Narnia because she starts liking boys and clothing and things. I remember that really pissing me off because when I was 12 (around the time I read these books) I liked wearing pretty clothing and I liked boys. I remember feeling like CS Lewis had kicked me out of Narnia too.
It’s nice that Susan gets to finally use that bow and arrow – but someone is going to have to actually re-write these books to make things right for her.
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Stephanie Zacharek was wrong
My wife and I saw the movie, and we both loved it. Afterward, my wife sat down with the book for the first time in years, and went through it to see what had changed and what hadn't. Based on what she found, we were both even more impressed by the movie.
Without getting overmuch into spoilers, the movie expands on the problems of the book, specifically the role of Aslan's inaction as a deity and the difficulty the children must have found in returning to England having grown to maturity (as rulers, no less) in another world. Susan's reply to Lucy's joy at returning to Narnia is a well forshadowed, 'As long as it lasts.' Peter's role as a leader is better fleshed out in the book, Edmund gets his moments of glory, and Lucy is ever the bright spark, but it's Susan who really comes into her own.
She out-Legolases Legolas in the battle scenes. Her losses cut deeper than any of the others except perhaps for Peter, and her awareness of those losses is greater. (Peter's mistakes in this film, which are not in the book, underline what it really means to be in a position of leadership. The framing of the movies with World-War II, with Peter in a position of being nearly old enough to join the army in a war that isn't even close to won, gives his story much more freight than Lewis ever managed.)
And Adamson and the writers manage all this without fundamentally changing the nature of the books, which takes some doing.
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Susan
Yeah, what I read from the books as a child was that Susan was going to Hell because she started to wear lipstick. I always liked her character the best, and that probably had a lot to do with it.
As for the movies, Prince Caspian is far superior to LWW. It was great to see Susan firing her bow. I seem to recall some issue from the first film where the director had to negotiate with the Lewis heir who controls the rights, because the director wanted Susan to be more active with the weapon and what's-his-name didn't. I could be wrong about that, but her character was much better this time around.
The biggest drawback, still: That damn lion speaks entirely in clichés and platitudes.
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re: Stephanie Zacharek was wrong
Calibellus, thank you for writing everything I thought of Zacharek's review, but couldn't be bothered to research. I agree 100%.
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The Problem of Susan
Neil Gaiman wrote a terrific short story on the 'zact subject brought up by two commenters - that SPOILER!!!! Susan grows up and therefore isn't allowed into heaven later on in the series END SPOILER. I recommend tracking it down - it's in Fragile Things, for sure.
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And just a bit more
The scene at the end where we see Susan and Peter walking with Aslan ... we don't hear their conversation, but we can see it all in Susan's eyes. It's a heart-wrenching moment, and it's entirely human.
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Clarification about being able to come back to Narnia...
Peter and Susan both are unable to come back to Narnia, because they are too old, but Susan is the only character who isn't allowed into what is essentially "heaven" for "The Last Battle." I agree - that really bothered me as a child.
I'm looking forward to seeing this, and I hope I also find myself disagreeing with the review! I'd really like to adore it as much as I loved the books as a child.
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Actually
I suppose this is a spoiler if you haven't read the books. It isn't that Susan starts wearing stockings that gets her booted. It's that she turns her back on childhood and rejects the existence of Narnia and her experiences there.
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@micro ms
I agree. My reading of the books, which I devoured repeatedly as a child, was that Susan rejected her experiences in Narnia as merely make-believe when she got older, and as a result, she never returned.
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Susan Denied
But it’s not really about Susan turning her back on childhood anymore then it’s a story about a magical lion. It’s about Original Sin and all women being inherently unclean.
When I read these books I knew that lion was Jesus. I wonder if you can get as much out of them if you make it a secular story.