C.S. Lewis, the beloved Christian author who wrote the six-book series “The Chronicle of Narnia,” created the talking lion character Aslan as a representation of Jesus Christ – who walked the earth as both “man” and God.
Yet the latest film version of one of the books, “The Magician’s Nephew,” opening in February, will have the mighty lion voiced by a woman – actress Meryl Streep. And that fact reportedly has made the Lewis family “very upset.”
Longtime Christian film critic and founder of MovieGuide Ted Baehr recently told CBN News he had visited with Tim Gresham – the son of 80-year-old Douglas Gresham, Lewis’ stepson.
“C.S. Lewis would be turning over in his grave. His family is very upset about it, and I think we should be upset about it,” Baehr said of the decision to cast Streep.
“Theologically this is a tremendous heresy, and it’s a tremendous problem. … So it shouldn’t happen.”
Baehr said the Lewis family agrees with many Christian Narnia fans that the voicing of a mane-sporting male lion who represents Christ by a female is simply wrong.
Watch the Baehr interview:
Baehr also mentioned the family is trying to regain control over the C.S. Lewis Company, which made an agreement with Netflix in 2018 to make Narnia films and series.
Continued Baehr about the casting decision: “Because God the Father, and Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit and, of course, the whole process leads toward ‘The Last Battle,’ and ‘The Last Battle’ represents Jesus in Heaven,” he said in reference to the final “Narnia” book.
“If God is a Father, He is not Meryl Streep pretending to be a father. He’s not trans. He’s the Father, He’s our Father. He loves us, He adopts us.
“You have to have God as a Father. You can’t have God being voiced as a woman. This is not theologically correct.”
The announcement of Streep’s involvement occurred earlier this month.
One X user posted an apt quote from the author himself:
“I don’t think evil, in the strict sense, can create. It can spoil something that Another has created.” – C.S. Lewis
The Netflix-produced movie is directed by Greta Gerwig. Other aspects of the latest film that depart from the historical Narnia themes also are getting criticism from fans of the film series.
Empire online quoted Gerwig about her decision to cast Streep:
While no trailer has been released of the film, a series of still images representing “The Magician’s Nephew” were shared with Empire magazine, summarized here:
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[ H/T WorldNetDaily ]
