Comments on: Pullman vs. Narnia

by: Richelle

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:53:48 +0100

I just thought of something -
In Star Wars, the evil side is called the “Dark Side.” When I Googled “star wars racism,” I found a number of articles and blogs disscussing racisim that takes place within the story (I am not really a fan, so i don’t know much about this), but nothing mentioning the label “dark side” as offensive.
The point is, in Star Wars, it is clear that “dark” is used to represent the absence of light and the things it symbolizes. I think it is possible that other sci-fi and fantasy stories use darkness for a similar effect, and not for racist reasons at all.

Unfortunately, there are exceptions, but how can we really know which they are? As long as we pay attention to these points, I don’t think we’re in danger of “corruption”

by: Richelle

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:13:01 +0100

His Dark Materials and The Chronices of Narnia are both old favoites of mine. I do see how Pullman’s work could be read as a response to Lewis’s Christian references, and i suspect it was a deliberate effort. As far as The Narnia books being a “corrupting influence,” I think that is far fetched. I read them at a very young age, and picked up valuable lessons, such as loyality and courage, from the books. I have not read most of them for some time, and am now eager to examen them. But I think they are good for children, anyway.

by: Eli

Fri, 04 May 2007 08:18:59 +0100

I loved Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. I felt like I was there the whole time with Lyra and Will. I doubt Pullman meant any direct harm to God, but maybe the Chronicles of Narnia. I liked the Chronicle of Narnia series too but not as much as Philip Pullman’s Books. I won’t criticize Narnia for what Pullman does but I think he may have a point.

by: raven

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 20:13:29 +0000

Hey Rebel: I loved the Narnia books as a kid. I felt really bad (when I was older) about not getting the lion-as-Christ bit. So it’s not the racism: I just felt cheated!

by: Destitute Rebel

Tue, 22 Nov 2005 19:04:29 +0000

Although i read a lot I had not read Chronicals of Narnia untill i read your post, I just finsihed reading so i though i should give my 2 cents, i definately think there are undertones of racism but seeing the time of the writing of the book i guess the author could’nt write about brown muslims as bad guys and thus we have the caloremen who are black.

by: jamal

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 13:44:44 +0000

lol, i dont know about jesus speaking, but if its anything like the book, it will be a good film to watch.

by: Baraka

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 18:56:54 +0000

I loved loved loved the Narnia series as a kid.

i was devastated when I started picking up the racism as I grew older. There are definitely traces of it in Tolkien, though I think they stand out visually so much more in the movies (as Haroon Moghul commented upon at alt.muslim)

But I guess if you’re trying to reimagine Anglo mythology there aren’t going to be a ton of non-whites running around in it (in positive roles at least).

by: Nitin

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 09:11:43 +0000

Apologies for pointing to a subscription-only link, but this one is a rather good one.

It suggests that “Christian” movies are the in thing in Hollywood. One memorable quote:”Christian is the new ‘gay’ in Hollywood”

by: Desultory Writer

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 03:23:36 +0000

Ugh, I wish they would let stories be stories. I agreed with Pullman about Narnia — something about the books made me uneasy.

by: Raphael

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 17:44:31 +0000

Incidentally, there’s a degree of racism (and misogyny) in Tolkien’s books, too, although in my mind its more an issue of the tropes he drew upon than anything else (his wartime letters to his son criticizing South Africa are suggestive enough). As for Narnia, I don’t think I was too badly corrupted. Both Tolkien and Lewis, I think, were engaged in an attempt to reimagine mythology — Anglo-Saxon and Chrisitian respectively. With all due respect to the Dark Materials series (I’ve read only the first book — it was pretty excellent) Pullman’s ambition is somewhat different.