Last year, I bought a few movies for my 16 year old niece when I went on vacation, among them was the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia (the lion, the witch and the wardrobe). A few days later my brother called and said that he would like If I came by to pick up the movie as they would not allow their daughter to watch that movie. (My brother is an elder) When I went to his house the movie was left virtually the same place that I had left it. No one touched it! It was as if they were all scared that it might bring evil spirits into their house! I felt very bad to say the least, but I took it back and gave it to a longtime friend of mine. Now I understand the word "witch" might have set off some alarms in their minds but I am sure that none of them had actually seen the movie to make a judgement on whether to allow a 16 year old to watch it. Maybe its just me drifting away from from the 'faith' but I found it to be a very clean and entertaining movie. I feel the same way about the much maligned "Harry Potter" series by the wittnesses also..just fantasy and entertainment. Similar experiences/feelings anyone?
The chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter
by uuus2b1 34 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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blondie
I wonder if they have let the children watch Disney favorites as
Snow White
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
The Littlest Mermaid
Pirates of the Caribbean
Pinocchio
Alice in Wonderland
Peter Pan
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Lion King
Or non-disney
Shrek
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uuus2b1
I used that argument that all the disney classics had witches in them "Cinderella, Sleeping beauty...they said that was 'different' ...how, I don't know!
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Who are you?
Your brother has bad manners. Apparently that hasn't been covered in any recent Watchtowers.
C.S. Lewis is a very good writer. Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life is a partial autobiography describing the author's childhood fascination with worlds like those described in "Narnia", his teen years, college at Oxford and his later conversion to Christianity. Its a great read.
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blondie
they said that was 'different' ...how, I don't know!
I would ask. Tell them you need to know how to explain it to a non-JW who is curious about the difference.
When I asked about LOTR and Potter; I was told that in LOTR the humans did not perform magic themselves........I guess I went to a different version of LOTR...those 2 wizards looked pretty human to me.
Blondie
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MeneMene
I used to be afraid of demons too when I was a witless. Now I realize that if there are demons they are protecting the JWs from finding out the truth about the WTS.
I have mentioned this before but I gave my sister one of The Cat Who ... books by Lilian Jackson Braun. I have read the whole series and they are wonderful if you are a cat lover. I didn't think when I gave it to her but the main character cat has a bit of physic ability. My sister says it demonized her car and she had to throw it out the window to keep the radio from coming on by itself at full volume.
I love Harry Potter - read every book and have seen every movie & haven't had the first demon attack!! -
Hortensia
I love the Harry Potter books and movies. It's amusing the christian extremists object to them, the Harry Potter books are about the young hero battling evil on his path toward the triumph of good. Sort of like the Jesus mythology, isn't it? A young man, fighting evil, becoming king.
I'm rather worried about the final Harry Potter as I think the author has developed some contempt for her readers, and I am hoping she doesn't kill off HP himself in the final book, as that would piss me off. It would be a form of jerking around the reader like the movie ET jerked around its audience.
I didn't like chronicles of Narnia very much. I thought it was pretty violent for little kids, and disturbing too.
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darth frosty
Witnesses will rationalize to the good what they really want to see and watch. I remember one particular C.O. who had it in for footbal. He would say how no witless should be watching football because it promotes violence and war (strategy at least.) I asked an elder, who I knew loved football, what the deal was. Basically he blew off everything the C.O. had said. I later found out(from the C.O. no less) that several congo's that he had served, called bethel and told them he needs to back down on his denunciation of football.
As far as harry potter, whats the differnce between harry and luke skywalker. The plot lines are similar. One learns to use magic the other the force. Ones sage is a jedi master, the others is an aged wizard. Ones weapon is a wand, the others is a light sabre. And lastly ones mortal enemy is a figure shrouded in black, who chokes the sh!# otta people, the others is a figure shrouded in darkness so much no one speaks his name and he has the avada Kedavra.
God I cant wait for the last book to come out. -
Little Drummer Boy
Hi Blondie,
When I asked about LOTR and Potter; I was told that in LOTR the humans did not perform magic themselves........I guess I went to a different version of LOTR...those 2 wizards looked pretty human to me.
In the LoTR mythos the wizards have taken on human form (yes there is a mythos in LoTR - with god, angels, good/evil, and the whole nine yards), They are normally of spirit essense and are roughly equivelant in power and status to the Balrog of Moria. Sub-angel might be the right word for the wizards (there were more than 2 in the books). Sub-demon for the Balrog. They do not hold the rank of "angel" or "demon" as we would think of it (there are other creatures that hold those places), but they outrank the immortal elves who never foresook Valinor, and certainly the lesser mortal races such as humans who will never gaze upon the undying lands. His spirit nature is why Gandalf was able to confront the Balrog at the bridge with some success. His wearing of the third elven ring reinforces his power. It is the ring of fire and protects him from the Balrog's flames. Anyway, that is where a bit of the distinction lies about humans not using magic in the books, although it is a very thin excuse. BTW, Sauron is not the equal of Satan in these stories.
The mythos is spelled out in the book "The Silmarillian". It has been lampooned, but really the style is the of the ancients greeks. Given that the book is supposed to cover ancient history (from the perspective of someone living in the Thrid Age of Middle Earth), I find the style to be appropriate.
I have now put on my +3 Armor of Dorkiness in case anybody wants to take a shot.
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Hortensia
yes, I can't wait for the last book and the next movie - both coming out at the end of June or early July, I think. I remember when the first Harry Potter came out, I took it on vacation to Alaska. Went to do some laundry in Seward and saw, in the laundromat, a whole row of tourists reading HP while their laundry washed. Was funny. And I sat down to read my copy too, while my laundry washed.
Not sure why I like them so much, except maybe for all the details the author has worked out, the whole background of the stories. The next movie is from the least interesting book, so will be interesting to see how the movie turns out.