Rachel and Leeman saw The Hobbit which opens up the floodgates of discussion around the works of these distinguished Inklings.
Topics Discussed and/or Spoiled
The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, and associated works.
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Tom’s Pre- Listen comment-
Inklings, eh?
No Charles Williams, No Justice!
To be fair, I think I do mention his name at one point…
I should sing at least part of “Where There is a Whip There is Way” for my own show.
I did over all like “The Hobbit: Unexpected Journey” – and I thought it was a fun movie. However, I really had a problem with Radagast. I simply could not take him seriously once he appeared and had bird excrement running down his face.
I also feel the “LoTR” will be the new “Original Trilogy” while the Hobbit films will be the new “Prequel Trilogy” – hopefully in name only, without the associated hate for the SW Prequels.
Wow, that is some harsh critique. Let’s hope Radagast does not go down as Jackson’s Jar Jar.
I did like “Hobbit: Unexpected Journey” and even SW Prequil movies. However, hate – or at least antipathy – can take own its own momentum. The SW Prequil movies do not deserve all the hate they get, but the rancor has itself taken on a force and momentum of its own, which sadly dominates any discussion of those movies.
I suspect the same thing will happen to the Hobbit movies. But things may turn around and we will have to see how the next two movies shake out.
Late to the party, but a couple observations-
Hi Leeman and Rachel!
You “mentioned his name!” That’s hardly doing him justice! And you mentioned him with George MacDonald, who wasn’t an inkling at all! Seriously though, I get it, he doesn’t have a movie out. But you should read him! He’s like a Christian HP Lovecraft!
Chesterton certainly talked about the idea of “chronological snobbery” but I don’t know if he used that specific phrase or if Lewis coined it.
It seems to me that in your movie analysis, you’re kind of using a double standard to praise the Hobbit and denigrate the Narnia movies- they’re both taking children’s adventure stories and making them bombastic and action-y, but from what Rachel’s told me (I haven’t seen it), the Hobbit was worse than the Narnia movies (maybe not Dawn Treader- whoo boy, that was stupid).
I think it was Lewis who wrote about chronological snobbery — mainly because I haven’t read any Chesterton, but I have read about chronological snobbery . . . So I assume Lewis is where I read it.
Yes, I think you’re probably right on that. I’m sure it’s a point both Lewis and Chesterton would have agreed on. You should check out Chesterton. “Heretics” and “Orthodoxy” are both well worth reading.
The Hobbit at least couched its action-y-ness in a way to explain it better. What we’re watching is not just The Hobbit, the book but an expansion on it written by Bilbo just for Frodo so the extra material is hand-waved.
The Chronicles of Narnia seem to just say, “Hey, check out this awesome book with all of these Braveheart action scenes!”
Also, I think that Narnia and Jackson’s LOTR lowered my standards so I was expecting Hobbit to be complete epic-creep and that it wasn’t made me so happy in comparison.
Rachel the Elder here —
#1) Tom, how could you insult me by insinuating I have not read Charles Williams? And I thought we were friends!
#2) As far as the Hobbit goes, I think Leeman was less bothered by the epic-ness than I was. I totally agree with you about the ability to make similar criticisms of both film franchises. What I will say, though (as one of my friends put it), if you cut away all the scenes of Thorin’s hair blowing in the wind, there is a *really* good version of the Hobbit buried in there somewhere.
Good episode!
A couple thoughts:
Re: comic books — bad art on licensed properties is, sadly, usually the norm. It’s a budget thing. Comics make SO little money, even popular ones. But, unfortunately, it also costs money to license. Publishers lose money if comics don’t sell, and it’s harder to make money when you are paying licensing fees up front. So, what is USUALLY the most expensive part of the production — the art — gets a budget cut.
Re: Animated Hobbit not something to show 2012 kids? False. But they have to be opened minded. My children loved it! That and the animated LWW…
It warms my heart that today’s kids can appreciate singing goblins and a somewhat New York Cabbie-sounding Smaug.
Also, we invite any Lewis fans to join us over at Strangers and Aliens for our C.S. Lewis book club. This month, we’re reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Next month is Out of the Silent Planet . . .
Oh yeah…I saw that. I think I can manage a re-read of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in the next week. š I’d be very excited to re-visit the Space Trilogy. –Rachel
Catching up on geekually yoked now that I’m primary dishwasher-loader! Woo! (What else is one to do while loading dishes?)
Only 20 minutes in at this point, but who brought the Aragorn cutout again? I’d forgotten all about that.