Jun 12, 2008

Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian


I had the pleasure of watching Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian. After the movie ended, my family began a discussion of the film. Because our church emphasized the Christian theme of the first movie, I knew that the Christian overtones would be in this movie. My family wasn't aware of the themes until we started discussing it and I realized that this movie is a great way to talk about Jesus in our own lives.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first movie, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie go through a magical wardrobe and discover a kingdom ruled by the evil White Witch (devil/evil figure). Along with Aslan the lion (a Christ figure -who sacraficed himself and rose from the dead), the children defeat the witch and become kings and queens of Narnia.
Prince Caspian, the second movie, also features a classic battle of good and evil. The King took over Prince Caspian's righful throne, and he summons the Pensive children to Narnia to help him recover it. Along the way, characters learn to find hope in the face of doubt.
Because most of the Pevensie children are not looking for Aslan, they are forced to figure things out for themselves, with varying results. Peter's hunger for power and glory leads him to act for his own reputation, but since he is leading armies into battle now, his rashness has lethal, devastating consequences. Peter is strongly tempted to make a deal with the devil (the witch) to win the battle. This is something we all deal with in our own lives. We are all tempted to defy God in order to acheive our earthly desires.

Lucy is the strength of the Pensive family in this movie. She brings them back to focusing on Aslan (Jesus) in order to help them save Narnia from evil. Lucy reminds Peter that they need to actually look for Aslan and be faithful to what they already know of him. When Lucy sees Aslan (Jesus) for the first time she wants to follow him like he is asking her to do. Lucy is unable to convince her siblings to follow something that they did not see for themselves so she does not go where he asks her to go. This creates a much harder path for the children which can be paralleled into our own lives. At times instead of listening to God and following His "ways" we make life much more difficult on ourselves. When Lucy finally gets to Aslan he asks her why she didn't follow him when he asked her to the first time. The young innocent girl responded that she wasn't brave enough to follow him by herself. Aslan tells Lucy that if she asked he would help her to be brave. Again, this is something that we should transfer to our own lives. Sometimes we do not want to take the hard way because we are scared to do it alone. If we only ask for God's help to give us the courage to face our adversity our path would become much more bearable.

When Lucy says that she saw Aslan, Peter asks why he didn't see Aslan too. Lucy replies, "Maybe you weren't looking." This is a clear message of realizing that we must look for Jesus in order to recieve his blessings. When Lucy realizes that she must search for Aslan to ask for his help she then is able to find him. In another scene, Peter says he wishes Aslan had given them some "proof" of his presence in the forest, and Lucy replies, "Maybe we're the ones who need to prove ourselves to him." This statement is another important theme to think about. The overlying theme of this movie is that it is necessary to ask for Jesus' help throughout our earthly struggles.

This movie series is a great way to discuss the importance of keeping Jesus with us during our lives. I would recommend anyone to see this movie and to discuss the topics that are emphacized in the movie. There are going to be several more movie to follow this one, so if you would like to follow along with this series now's a good time to start! Go see it!

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