I’ve said all along that if Netflix’s Narnia series proves in any way to be disrespectful of C. S. Lewis, his faith, and his vision, that I would stop rooting for it so fast, and that’s true.
Even considering casting a woman to play the role of Aslan!? That’s so disrespectful it’s dipping its toes into heresy.
But, my goodness, that doesn’t stop the whole thing from hurting. It was bad enough to be bombarded by negative voices that never wanted the series to succeed even when all we had was the mere concept of its existence, but now that they have actually gone bad?? Well, now all those voices are going to be I-told-you-sos. Others can celebrate their cynicism while I mourn the hope I had.
Because I still hope for a full, faithful adaptation of all 7 books someday. Except now I know it’s not just around the corner. I’m not a couple years out from seeing The Magician’s Nephew on screen for the very first time. Even if the creative team does a 180° and casts Aslan properly and respectfully, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to trust them again unless the whole team is fired and replaced with people who would never have considered such casting in the first place.
And that hurts. And it’s going to hurt.
Maybe someday I’ll get to see my hopes come to life. But I officially do not trust Narflix or its team to make it happen.
