Crossorads Podcast: Ms. Aslan A Hollywood Passion Play For Our Times
For millions of Chronicles of Narnia fans, the term “Stone Table” represents a series of events that explicitly defined the Christology that C.S. Lewis placed at the heart of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
If news consumers want to understand the importance of reports about superstar Meryl Streep providing the voice of Aslan, then these dramatic Narnia moments are a good place to start. Some of these recent headlines provided a hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.
On a terrible night, the great King of Beasts, the Son of the divine Emperor-Beyond-The-Sea, slowly walked to his death.
“Aslan! Dear Aslan!” said Lucy, “what is wrong? Can’t you tell us?”
“Are you ill, dear Aslan?” asked Susan.'
“No,” said Aslan. “I am sad and lonely. Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that.”
And so the girls did what they would never have dared to do without his permission but they had long to do ever since they first saw him — buried their cold hands in the beautiful sea of fur. …”
What happens next is described in appropriate depth in a NarniaWeb essay with this headline: “A Lioness? Why Aslan’s Mane Is Important to ‘Narnia’”
Moments later, the Witch Jadis has the great lion bound and placed on the Stone Table — serving as a sacrifice for the sins of Edmund, the brother of the British children Lucy, Susan and Peter.
But note this detail:
“Stop!” said the Witch. “Let him first be shaved.” Another roar of mean laughter went up from her followers as an ogre with a pair of shears came forward and squatted down by Aslan’s head. Snip-snip-snip went the shears and masses of curling gold began to fall to the ground. Then the ogre stood back and the children, watching from their hiding-place, could see the face of Aslan looking all small and different without its mane. The enemies also saw the difference.”
The NarniaWeb scribe Icarus noted: “There is of course a certain irony in the director of any Narnia adaptation coming to embody the actions of its primary villain by quite literally depriving Aslan of his mane, but there are also significant cinematic ramifications as well.”
Yes, the Stone Table cracks as Aslan is resurrected.
Simply stated, the face of Aslan, framed in a halo of golden mane, is the most iconic image in the seven-book Narnia series and, thus, plays a unique role in all of children’s literature. Can you say Gryffindor?
This brings us to the Deadline website report — “Meryl Streep In Talks To Play Aslan In Greta Gerwig & Netflix’s Narnia Movie” — that led to a number of other mainstream media reports, in The New York Post, Yahoo! and elsewhere. Here is the overture:
Oscar winner Meryl Streep is in talks to play Aslan the Great Lion in Greta Gerwigand Netlfix’s Narnia movie, we have confirmed with sources.
We understand that they’re not quite at the offer stage yet, however.
In the novels, Aslan is a talking lion who serves as Narnia’s guardian and a guide for the human children. Generally portrayed as a male, Aslan was created as an allegory for Jesus by author C.S. Lewis.
Nexus Point News was first with the Streep talks and also reported that the film will adapt the sixth novel in the Narnia series, The Magician’s Nephew, which chronologically takes place first in the series. The novel tells the origin of Narnia and is centered on Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer, who discover the magical world through Digory’s uncle’s magic. The site reports that Aslan will be female in the Gerwig adaptation. We haven’t had those plot details confirmed yet.
Yes, the story said that Aslan is “Generally portrayed as a male. …”
Yes, that’s true. The Great Lion is generally portrayed as a lion, with a mane.
The New York Post report added the following insights from the director at the heart of this controversy, as she described “her take” on Narnia.
“It’s connected to the folklore and fairy stories of England, but it’s a combination of different traditions,” she told Time last year. “As a child, you accept the whole thing —that you’re in this land of Narnia, there’s fauns, and then Father Christmas shows up. It doesn’t even occur to you that it’s not schematic.”
“I’m interested in embracing the paradox of the worlds that Lewis created, because that’s what’s so compelling about them,” she added.
A follow-up report in The New York Sun waded into online reactions to the possible casting of Streep with this headline: “Star Director Greta Gerwig Accused of Anti-Christian Bias for Eyeing Meryl Streep To Play the Male Lion Aslan in Netflix ‘Narnia’ Film.”
In terms of journalism, it’s impossible to discuss this drama without mentioning the current Hollywood desire to reach “modern audiences,” even as red ink threatens to swamp giant brand names in the industry. See these recent Rational Sheep posts — “Age of the crashing Hollywood empires” and “Behold, Hollywood has a huge hit -- for boys.”
In old-school Hollywood, there was a wise saying about the politicization of mainstream movies — “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.”
That pragmatic approach died decades ago. It’s clear, at this point, that Gerwig is a rising star who believes she has things to say and that her overlords back her.
But think of it this way: Clearly the Netflix Narnia dream is to create a profitable franchise that can compete with the large, longform products being produced in a post “Game of Thrones” streaming era. But Narnia would — like the upcoming long-form reboot of Harry Potter — appeal to entire families. We are talking about one of the most popular works of fiction, ever, for children and their parents.
The bottom line: I searched for an updated figure on the global sales numbers for “The Chronicles of Narnia” series and the best estimate could find was 120 million. Millions of copies sell, year after year, 70 years after the publication of the finale, “The Last Battle.”
What are the stakes here?
During press events the movies based on “The Lord of the Rings,” Peter Jackson and members of his team stressed that they understood the power of the global community that is loyal to J.R.R. Tolkien and to his Catholic worldview.
Jackson told reporters (including me) that he was well aware that bringing Middle Earth to the screen would require changes that could frustrate many loyal readers. However, his team was determined not to offend or even anger them and split the fanbase, threatening the entire project. You know, like adding too many girl-boss warrior elements to Lady Arwen, including sending her to the battle at Helm’s Deep. That change almost made it into the trilogy.
Yes, it helped that the LOTR cast included the legendary Christopher Lee, who knew and admired Tolkien. Based on the interviews in which I took part, it was clear that actor Sean “Samwise” Astin also knew the books quite well.
Who is playing that role for Netflix Narnia? Think of this purely in financial terms. Who is trying to prevent “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” turning into a train wreck along the lines of the 2025 Snow White 2.0? Or, I would add, the tragedy (speaking as a LOTR nerd) that “The Rings of Power” became for its Prime funders?
Thus, I will end with this question: If Gerwig was, with the Streep news, floating a trial balloon, where are the statements (“We are talking to several stars about voicing Aslan”) qualifying that report or even public denials?
In other words, this is a major story in a troubled era in Tinseltown. Stay tuned.
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