CULTURE | Narnia is all about Jesus!

You know The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? That C.S. Lewis book you loved so much as a kid? Well, I hate to break it to you, but as Homer Simpson might say – it’s all about Jebus.

Believe it.

Mind blown

Look, were you really not aware that Narnia is all about Jesus?

I was forced to attend Catholic school as a child, so it always seemed obvious to me, but I’m told this is a revelation to some.

Anyway, Disney is embracing the holy spirit. According to IMDB news, they’ve “begun to court church groups to secure their support for their upcoming film version” which they’ll approach from a Christian perspective. They’re hoping to attract all the people who flocked to The Passion of the Christ.

And for once, Disney won’t have to twist the story too much to meet their agenda. You may have missed it as a kid, but the whole ‘Narnia is all about Jesus’ thing is pretty clear if you’re paying attention.

Consider these three tidbits:

The first chronological book in the series – The Magician’s Nephew – is a creation story, complete with the birth of light, the breath of life, and an obviously-symbolic apple tree.

Edmund is Judas. The kid sells out the king for a bunch of Turkish delight instead of a bunch of silver, but hello.

Aslan is Jesus. The king of beasts is clearly the king of kings. He’s the son of The Emperor Beyond the Sea (hey dad-God!), he’s sold out by his friend (again, Edmund is Judas), he offers up his life to atone for Edmund’s sins, (dying for the sins of humanity, y’all), he’s jeered at, humiliated and beaten before his crucifixion (ditto for J-Dawg Jesus) and finally, he’s resurrected.

Now don’t go all angry atheist on us. We’re not trying to turn your childhood into a bunch of Jesus propaganda. At its heart, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is still a fantasy novel, and the coming film will be the same. It’s okay to appreciate it as that.

After all, C.S. Lewis has been worm food for over forty years. And Disney? They’re not the boss of you.

So relax. Your memories are as safe as you want them to be.

A version of this “Narnia is all about Jesus” piece was written as filler-copy for Dose magazine, pre-launch, in March of 2005.

More film and television pieces are here.