Philip Pullman, author of the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, doesn’t think much of his fellow Oxfordian authors J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. He makes several comments about them in this New Yorker article. He does concede that “The ‘Narnia’ books are a real wrestle with real things.â€
In “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” pre-teen Lucy meets the faun Mr. Tumnus on her first visit to Narnia. In the movie, the sensuality and budding sexual tension of this scene are especially apparent – maybe it’s all the close-ups. This is a story more about coming of age than about religion.
The other main relationship in the story is between Edmund and the Queen of Narnia. All Edmund wants is the Turkish Delight the Queen provides. All the Queen wants is to maintain her frigid dominion over Narnia, and failing that, at least the death of Edmund. In the somewhat over-long battle scene, I was most impressed with the Queen’s inexorable approach. That bitch, like the Energizer bunny, just kept going and going.
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