Volume 05 | Issue 02

Fantasylands

Fantasylands How to tell an orc from an ewok.  
Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien Religion:
“I am a Christian, and indeed a Roman Catholic.”

Religious Intent:
“A fundamentally religious and Catholic work…The religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism.”

Fans’ Anxiety:
That new film version won’t include Tolkien’s wonderful details
Chronicles of Narnia
C.S. Lewis Religion:
“Mere Christianity” (Lewis was Anglican)

Religious Intent:
“I am aiming at a sort of pre-baptism of the child’s imagination.”

Fans’ Anxiety:
That new volumes commissioned by HarperCollins won’t include Lewis’s spirituality




Star Wars
George Lucas Religion:
“I think there is a God…What we know about God, I’m not sure.”

Religious Intent:
“I [distill] all the issues that religion represents…to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people.”

Fans’ Anxiety:
That new film (May 2002) will include crypto-Rasta Jar-Jar Binks
© Dec. 3, 2001, Christianity Today, pg.15