a vacuous vehicle latched onto by philistine fools

Rating: 1/10 (26 December 2005)

Disney's approaching the philistine mega & evangelical churches was a disgusting marketing ploy along the same lines as the equally disgusting yet aptly bloodthirsty worshiping "Passion of the Christ" - it's all a sign of the times. A time when corporatism and warmongering and religion go hand in hand. A time when the worship of money and power match up quite nicely with what was wrought from 2000 years of bloody history from organized religion.
But what the mega & evangelical church pastors didn't bargain for perhaps was a plot-less heartless mess of the film. Knowing how it was being used by the churches & Disney cast a wide shadow which almost prevented me from seeing it. But I did see it Christmas day. And what I found was a soulless movie. A movie which matches up with the soulless corporatist warmongering which modern conservative churches wallow in today in America. There was no plot. No feeling. The talking animals were absurd, and their talking disgraced & demeaned what our fellow animals really are - just as Disney's films did in the past.
The only useful thing I got out of the film was thinking again about the whole absurd nature of the mythical Jesus's resurrection. Lewis makes a vague reference to it with when the lion sacrifices himself. But what does he sacrifice himself for? Why does he do it? Because of an arbitrary and chosen law. An adherence to "old magic." "It's all poppycock," I thought, "just as is what Christians claim happened with their mythical Jesus, in paying for sins passed down to us by our fathers. The concept that sons & daughters must pay for the sins of their fathers is a reprehensible concept," I thought some more.
So perhaps the church preachers succeeded in having a message conveyed, by latching onto Disney's corporatist fascist greed in a disgusting marketing attempt to use religion to market their mess of a film - but the message conveyed is perhaps not what the preachers wanted perhaps. The synergistic marketing conveyed a message that organized religion in America today primarily worships at the feet of fascist corporatist warmongering. And the film itself, with it's vacuous & wrote nature, shows that it's little more than a self serving vehicle for the corporation known as Disney, a vehicle which the philistine evangelical churches latched on to to serve their own selfish interests.
The poor person centered teachings of the mythical Jesus are far removed from these blatant but vacuous attempts to suck ever more of the uneducated & increasingly disenfranchised American workers, into an ever increasing sense of self denial & delusion - but a state of self denial which serves New American Fascism. Yes, fascism is on the march in America, and sadly Lewis's Narnia is yet another victim.
For comparison, the Narnia story as conveyed on PBS a few years ago was more interesting. But I recommend not wasting your time on this latest mess. Instead, go buy the expanded DVD versions of Lord of the Rings, and maybe check out the PBS Narnia version from your local library or buy it - if you were a fan of the written version. But don't waste your time on this wannabee imitator - on this vacuous soulless sham of the film latched onto by preachers who love war, money, and corporatist power wrought through disgusting marketing synergies. Bletch. Away from me you trashy film. Away from me thou philistines.