narnia - not a perfect world

The movie “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” is about to be released and there is some debate about whether the Narnian books are racist and sexist.

Are they racist and sexist? YES - we shouldn't expect them to be otherwise; as much as I admire the author, C. S. Lewis, he was a conservative male from an elite and privileged class, he worked in a male dominated university in an age where racism and sexism were unapologetically embedded in society. Watch the movie “chariots of fire” and you get a glimpse of the racism in academia at that time, particularly toward people from the middle-east. This particular form of racism plays is evident on the stereotypes Lewis uses in “The Horse and his Boy,” and sexism is evident in all the books!

I don’t think that Lewis deliberately set out to spread racist or sexist ideas, instead I think his writing inadvertently produced the societal values that predominated at that time. It would be nice to think that because he was a Christian that perhaps he would be immune to adopting these values--perhaps his faith helped him manage to avoid some of the more racist and sexist view of his time--but clearly not all. But before we judge him too harshly lets remember that even though we have learnt to be more careful with our language and stereotyped today, we have still not managed to eradicate racism or sexism.

So should parts of the Narnia books should be re-drafted to get rid of the racist and sexist language and ideas? I think so--I think if Lewis had today's insight day about the ways racism and sexism operate he would welcome this change. Fortunately the producers of the movie think the same way and have made minor changes to better represent his work for today's audience.

While I am waiting for the movie's release I think I will re-read the books and I will enjoy them even though some of the isms will make me cringe! But still — way to go C S Lewis — you remain one of my favorite authors flaws and all! And let us remember, although the Narnia stories are not perfect, the story they represent is!

da vici decoded

After today’s Sunday service art scholar Bryan Wylie began a three part series on “Da Vici & Advent.” The sculpture above is not a Da Vici, it is a Michelangelo, but Bryan said we can’t understand Da Vici (who we should refer to as “Leonardo” rather than “Da Vici”) without understanding the renaissance, and we can’t understand the renaissance without understanding Michelangelo.

This series is truly brilliant, I now know how to tell the difference between pre-renaissance and renaissance art! Bryan’s style and content appeals to the scholar in me, his humour appeals to my nature, and his message touches my heart! In other words I am being blessed!

Something else I learnt, not from Bryan’s teaching but from connecting some dots. I always looked at the way western European artists cast Biblical figures in European form as colonizing, yet now I understand that it was not the artists who were colonizers but the political context in which their art existed. It is reasonable, to some extent, for each culture to portray the images of the God and the gospel in ways that fit that cultural context - it helps people feel a connection to the events portrayed. The renaissance, however, marked the start of Europe colonizing the rest of the world and in this context the whitening of biblical characters caused some Europeans to really think that white people both looked like and represented God. Consequently it is not the art of Michelangelo, Leonardo and others that is the problem when these white European biblical figures appear but the context in which this art existed. Each of us ought to be aware of this context when we produce our own art and ideas.

goodbye george

George Best (pronounced "Georgie" Best) died today. The London Times said:

"GEORGE BEST was the greatest footballer that ever lived. Let us be perfectly clear about that, no matter what other judgments we make about a life that mixed the beautiful with the banal in dreadful and ultimately lethal ways." read more

The judgements The Times is referring to is that some people say because George was an alcoholic we should not celebrate his life. For sure George's demon was drink – a habit he was never able to kick – in the end it killed him. Yet I wonder if any of George’s critics, even though stone cold sober, will ever touch as many hearts as he did. Even when hung over George could and did outplay the best in the world! Perhaps it was this apparently superhuman talent combined with his human failures that made so many of us love him.

Rest in peace George Best – let us remember you for who you were – a very human superhero!