Christian Mythology in The Chronicles of Narnia

The film, The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe based on the novel by C.S. Lewis, allegorically relates the tale of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice through the lion, Aslan. Aslan’s masculinity makes him an idyllic sacrificial figure, while the class, gender, and sexuality of other characters in relation to Aslan also serve that purpose. It is important to note that Aslan is a representation of the mythical figure Jesus Christ as the New Testament depicts him, not a representation of the physical man Jesus Christ who may or may not have existed. The film uses Christian iconography and mythology throughout, to further impart its allegory.

Aslan, like Christ, is completely devoid of sexuality. His masculinity relates only to his status as King of Narnia, not to any personal desires or cares as with many masculine heroes. The Pevensie children, because they are the only humans in Narnia and are all related are also devoid of sexuality. The film inserts sexuality only in congruence with the evil Jadis. Perhaps this reflects some Christian apprehension towards lust or overt sexuality. For instance, Aslan’s sacrifice by Jadis is highly sexualized on her part. All of her followers are present, and are all panting as the execution approaches. Before killing him, Jadis attempts to humiliate Aslan by shaving his mane. A lion’s mane is the primary way of one’s recognition of the lion’s masculinity, so this humiliation is similar to castration. Jadis’ followers clearly take pleasure in the scene, and as the execution approaches their chanting and stomping quicken in tempo. As Jadis stabs Aslan, she gasps, also seeming to take pleasure in the act. The penetration of Aslan with Jadis’ phallic-like saber, combined with her gasp upon the moment of penetration, make the sacrifice into a sort of rape scene. The fact that so many people are watching adds to the defamation and the sense of spectacle. Aslan’s shaving and stabbing also evoke the humiliation and stabbing of Christ during his crucifixion. The sneering Narnians who watch Aslan approach his death echo the jeering Romans and Jews who watched Christ march to his death.

The essay “Narnia as a Site of National Struggle: Marketing, Christianity, and National Purpose in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” by James Russell evaluates the rhetoric and methods of marketing of the film to Christian groups. Russell argues that the film was marketed as a religious experience to Evangelicals and others, by focusing on the cultural aspects of the conflict the film centers around. Russell writes “The marketing campaign incorporated apocalyptic and utopian visions of national purpose, familiar to many Evangelical Christians and, in the process, suggested that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe might act as a powerful corrective to a presumed moral ‘decay’ in the social fabric of the nation.” This marketing strategy certainly fits in with the themes in the film itself. Jadis is the only sexualized character, and is also the most evil. It takes no stretch of cognitive function to infer that the film denounces overt sexuality in favor of Christian morality. It is only logical then that the film would be marketed specifically to Christians as a moral, restorative experience.

Russell also writes “Furthermore, the Christian connections of the Narnia story meant that the fi lm could potentially be marketed to the audiences who helped to make Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ such a success in 2004.” The very fact that the movie was so successfully marketed to Christian audiences is a testament to the existence of Christian themes within the story itself. Many Christian audiences are very selective about the films they choose to endorse or allow their children to view. The Harry Potter series, despite the widely-accepted notion of a Christ allegory within the story, is a banned subject for many Christians. Even though Harry Potter is an allegory for Christ, the other themes within the series, like sexuality and magic, are too repellent to Christians. The fact that Narnia includes certain forms of magic and yet is still so marketable to Christians proves just how strongly these Christians feel the Narnia story reflects their values.

The essay “Inclusivism in the Fiction of C.S. Lewis” by Elissa McCormack explores the Christian themes throughout the whole Narnian series. Specifically, McCormack examines how Lewis’ faith and beliefs evidence themselves in his novels. The essay pays special attention to the issues of salvation, repentance, and divine punishment. McCormack argues that Lewis’ Narnian series directly reflects the Christian belief that the Word of Christ is the key to salvation, by examining the fates of characters who act either morally or immorally.

The Facet of Race in the Myth of "The Terrorist"

 

In their addresses to Congress and interviews with the press after 9/11, Former President and Former Vice-President Bush and Cheney construct a myth of “the terrorist” by making racial connections between Arabs and terrorism. The Muslim religion is also related or equated to this Arab identity, and is used as another identifying characteristic of terrorists. I examined a similar equation of Muslim religion and Pakistani nationality in TV’s “Family Guy” in the previous installment of this blog.

Bush and Cheney separate the world into two opposing camps, Us and Them, by using vague terminology to define both terrorists and everyone else. Both Bush and Cheney are clear that anyone who does not support America’s struggle with terrorism is against America. When referring to “we” or “us” words like freedom, civilization, and justice are used. Terrorists are depicted as barbaric, abusive to women, murderers of women and children, and as hating all forms of freedom. The region of the world in question is never referred to as the Middle East, in the way that one would refer to Western Europe or Southeast Asia, but as the Arab world or the Islamic world. The terms Arab and Muslim are frequently used together in these texts, but nowhere is the difference between Arab and Muslim explicitly stated or explained. Bush and Cheney certainly never mention Arab Christians or Arab Jews, but always Arab Muslims.   

Terrorists are also defined as following a “perverse” sect of Islam, called extremism. Bush states that Muslim terrorists warp the peaceful teachings of Islam, calling them “traitors to their own faith.” While Bush does this supposedly to separate terrorists from “good” Muslims, his statements still carry assumptions about the Muslim religion, particularly Jihad, which is by no means a “fringe” part of Islam. Saying something is “perverse” conjures up images of deviancy, being predatory, and being immoral. Saying that about a sect of religion will then, naturally, alienate those Muslims in ways that make them completely opposed to what passes for decent and good in this country. Islamic extremists are portrayed as subhuman, having a nihilistic distaste for all values and morals, essentially making them the enemies of peaceful life everywhere. Bush does this as another way of including the rest of the “civilized” world in his “us” group, to try to convince Americans and the citizens of the rest of the world that this is a struggle between good and evil, in black-and-white terms.

Because both Bush and Cheney are aware that their comments could be construed as racist or exclusive, they are careful to state that this is not a war on Islam or Arabs, with much the opposite effect. Bush says no one should be singled out and mentions that Arabs and Muslims should not be automatically associated with terrorists, but mentions only Arabs as the ones who should not be singled out, thereby singling them out! Cheney says there could very well be more terrorists operating in the US which will obviously incite fear and mistrust in the public towards those who look, speak, or dress in manners similar to how terrorists are portrayed. Bush mentions the creation of Homeland Security, and Cheney mentions there will be increased intelligence operations, asking citizens to cooperate with the FBI. All of these things create images of subversive cells that exist in the US, and that citizens need to keep their guard up. As it turns out, in the past decade there have been frequent incidents of profiling, false accusations, false convictions and imprisonment. Airport security became severely more prone to profiling people with brown skin and an apparent Arab ethnicity.

The movie Harold and Kumar Go to Guantanamo Bay satirizes the racial profiling of Arabs and Muslims, and in my opinion does an excellent job of combating these stereotypes. Harold is Asian and Kumar is Indian, yet they are mistakenly identified as terrorists and detained. On a plane to Amsterdam, an old, White woman perceives Kumar to be Arab or Muslim, it is not specified exactly what she thinks, and she believes him to be a terrorist simply because of his skin color. Here is an image of Kumar:

Besides the confused or worried expression, Kumar looks like a completely normal guy, wearing a t-shirt and a hoodie, with a pretty typical hair style.

Here is an image of Kumar as the older, White woman perceives him to be:

Not only does the woman mistakenly identify Kumar, an Indian, to be Arab, but she also invents for him a long beard and a turban. Long robes, turbans, and beards have all become integral parts of the myth of “the terrorist” through pop culture over the past decade. The woman even imagines Kumar as pointing at her and making threatening gestures of a plane crashing with his hand, while making explosive noises with his mouth. Obviously, the movie is pointing out the fallacies of profiling, but it does a good job of accurately representing people’s fears, however ridiculous they may be.

Before my senior trip to Disneyland in high school, a person in my class said publicly they would not be getting on the flight if they saw anyone Arabic or Muslim waiting for the same flight. I remember being disappointed that someone would make a joke like that, and then appalled when I later found out the person was totally serious. These stereotypes are clearly very harmful, and not to be brushed lightly aside. The rhetoric involved in these myths can largely be traced back to all of the pro-prop and anti-prop released by the Bush administration following 9/11, whose propaganda almost always included language meant to incite fear and mistrust in the public. Bush frequently said things to the effect of “we need to fight the terrorists, or they will come over to America and kill our children.” That is, of course, NOT a direct quote from Bush, but it is alarmingly similar to the kind of frightening rhetoric he used so often.

Unfortunately, the myth of the Arab or Muslim terrorist is so ingrained in Americans by popular culture, that simply saying “terrorist” conjures up images of Muslims and people from the Middle East in our minds. It would be ridiculous to say that the blame falls solely on the Bush administration for these depictions, but it was the American government’s reaction after 9/11, that initially incited fear of Islamic extremists in Americans through the media.

Racial Stereotypes in TV's "Family Guy"

Featured here are three clips from television's "Family Guy" which depict various racial stereotypes: the bad Asian driver, the athletic African-American, and the Muslim terrorist. "Family Guy" frequently depicts these same stereotypes, as well as others, and these are three shining examples.

The first clip combines the stereotypes of both Asian and female drivers, both reputed to be careless and dangerous. The Asian woman, who speaks heavily-accented, broken English, cuts across several lanes of traffic without signalling, causing several crashes. The clip reduces all women, all Asians, and all Asian women to bad drivers who endanger others. Coming from a satirical television program, this is meant to be humorous and unrealistic. However, if this stereotype were to be acknowledged by the Department of Motor Vehicles, it would probably result in unequal testing methods for Asians and women. Perhaps an employee of the DMV will personally treat Asians and women unequally after watching this clip, even subconsciously.

The second clip makes assumptions about both black and white athletes. The white runners are given a head-start because they are assumed to be athletically inferior to their black counterparts. The clip also assumes inherent athleticism in African-Americans by depicting all of the black runners beating the white runners, despite their head-start. The clip also shows the white runners as being afraid of black men, despite it clearly being a race and the black men clearly being fellow runners. The clip shows all black men as being fast runners, and all white men as being afraid of black men. Again, this is meant to be funny and not "serious." But it could nonetheless discourage white athletes, or enforce the belief that all black men are fast.

In the final clip, Peter references his "Palestinian alarm clock," which shouts "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is Great!") and then explodes. Not only does this reinforce the stereotype of Muslim terrorists, but it also reduces all Palestinians to being both Muslim and terrorists. Not all Palestinians are Muslim, not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are religiously-affiliated. After the 9/11 attacks, the Arab/Muslim terrorist became an extremely pervasive stereotype, which besides the obvious offense, also equates Arabs to Muslims. That same mix-up between Arab ethnicity and Muslim religion occurs in this clip, which laminates the Muslim terrorist stereotype onto the Palestinian nationality. This stereotype depicts Islam as being a violent, intolerant religion, and has already caused severe prejudices to arise in the real-world, like heightened screening for Arabic, Middle-Eastern, or even just dark-skinned people at airports.

"Family Guy" is a satirical show which makes fun of just about everyone at one point or another, but that should not prevent viewers from consciously recognizing and dismissing these stereotypes when they appear on the show. It is unreasonable to expect viewers not to laugh at things that are funny, despite the irreverence of the humor. But it is certainly not unreasonable to expect viewers to distinguish between satire and reality. It is OK to laugh at racial jokes if one remembers they are just that: jokes. Unfortunately, these stereotypes are often believed and disseminated in real-life, causing prejudice and hate. "Family Guy" is by no means the only distributor of racial humor, but it is an extremely popular, influential source for that humor. I personally love "Family Guy" and would change absolutely nothing about the show, but that is because I believe it to be my own personal responsibility not to let satire color my actual opinions of people and races.

There are precedents of TV humor resulting in real-world discrimination. "Southpark" is notorious for its anti-Ginger humor, stating people with red hair and freckles (Gingers) are creepy and soulless. The episode entitled "Ginger Kids" aired in 2005, but just as recently as 2010 their were real incidents of beatings of red-haired students. There was an event on the social media site, Facebook, called "National Kick a Ginger Day" which resulted in such beatings. Below is a news report about one such incident.

Such past incidents make it clear that while these jokes may be funny, it is far too easy for them to become much more than just jokes. It would be equally wrong to simply censor out potentially-offensive material, but it cannot be disputed that such humor is often far from harmless. Television writers and directors are almost never held at fault for the damage their programs cause, nor should they be held at fault necessarily. Just as it is each citizen's responsibility to restrict themselves from crime when no one is watching, it should be each viewer's responsibility to carefully evaluate their own thoughts and opinions. Racism may be influenced by entertainment and popular media, but at the end of the day, racism resides in the heart and mind of the individual.

The Beauty Myth in America's Next Top Model

 
One of the largest purveyors of the beauty myth today is the modelling industry. One of the industry's more popular outlets is television's "America's Next Top Model." The show is hosted by former supermodel Tyra Banks, and pits aspiring female models against each other for a prized modelling job. The show focuses completely on the models' appearances, and represents all of the most reductive views of femininity.

The models themselves are all what one might call "textbook" beautiful. The modern science of beauty measures bone structure, ratios of size and spacing of facial features, and symmetry. In that regard, all of the contestants on ANTM may be called beautiful. However, behind the make-up and elaborate costumes, all of the models are rail-thin, even to the point of looking emaciated. Occasionally throughout the shows more than dozen seasons, models of a more normal weight have appeared. Their weight was almost always a topic of focus for the other models and the show's judges. Instead of being considered closer to the average weight, they were thought of only as heavier than the other models. The models are also almost unanimously tall, and few contestants under perhaps 5'10" ever make it onto the show.

The extremely thin models, especially the more lightly-skinned ones, often have pallid complexions, looking sickly. During the time between photo-shoots, many of the models are downright unattractive. But the show, by only representing these women's body-types, assures the viewer that this form of beauty is the one to be desired. The judges, and Tyra, by choosing the underweight, symmetrical, tall models are suggesting to people what is beautiful and what isn't. They could choose anyone to be the contestants, and yet the models are almost all of the same height and weight. They are enforcing the beauty myth by telling women that to be beautiful they must be thin, and wear lots of make-up.

The prize of each season is simply another modelling job, albeit a glamorous one. It is a well-known fact that the modelling industry is a host to eating and weight disorders, and many models pursue unhealthy routes to weight loss. So essentially, the model who wins ANTM has only won a guarantee of continued pressure and expectation to look a certain way and maintain that look. And just as steroids have been widely used in professional sports as a way of keeping up with the competition, unhealthy dieting habits have been made necessary to compete in modelling. If the purpose of the beauty myth is to halt the progress and diminish the power of women, certainly there is no better way to do so than to force women to sacrifice health for the sake of beauty.

Models are the epitome of desirable femininity. Their job is simply to appear, to be alluring. ANTM does nothing to change that. The models are judged on how photogenic they are, how well they can pose. Personality, intelligence, ambition are all unnecessary to success in modelling and in this modelling competition specifically, though not all successful models necessarily lack those traits. Tyra Banks frequently refers to herself as being empowered, and encourages the models to empower themselves through their attitudes. But the show simply forces the models to fit in to preconceived notions of beauty. The models are judged not by popular opinion as in American Idol, but by judges already heavily indoctrinated in traditional concepts of desirable beauty.

Another important part of the beauty myth is that it pits women against each other as rivals, competitors. By making women view each other as competitors, they focus less on their issues with men and their treatment in society. ANTM literally forces young women to be more desirable than their counterparts, and to no one's surprise, the show often features bitter quarrels between the women. The models must compete for their spot on the show, and so instead of fighting preconceived notions of what is beautiful, they simply argue with each other while trying to maintain their physique.

Tyra Banks had her own famous struggle with weight, and she sometimes brings out her old fat-photos as reminders of what can happen when you let yourself go. Never are the photos looked at as beautiful in any way, but merely as grave warnings. In many cultures throughout history, Tyra would have been more desirable, or beautiful when she was overweight- since girth indicated fertility. But fertility is no longer an issue in our society, and so Tyra's former weight is something to be feared rather than admired. Tyra sets an important example for women, telling them that being overweight is not beautiful, and that losing weight should be a top priority, a feat to be admired. It is truly puzzling to see a woman like Tyra, who has been on both sides of the divide between beautiful and ugly, encourage women so vehemently to simply fit in. ANTM offers women nothing in the way of alternatives to traditional beauty.

America's Next Top Model should probably not be faulted for simply representing the collective opinions of the modelling industry as a whole, but it precisely such superficial concerns that Wolf identifies as inhibiting women's progress. ANTM has made some attempts at moderation of the rigid standards in place, featuring shorter models one season, but even so, it largely conforms to passive femininity and traditional ideas of beauty.