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Meryl Streep will voice Aslan in Greta Gerwig's adaptation of The Magician's Nephew, prompting debate among conservative Christians over the lion's gender.
Meryl Streep will voice Aslan the lion in Greta Gerwig's upcoming film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew, a casting decision that has sparked debate among conservative Christian commentators.
No footage from the Netflix production has been released, but the choice of a female actor for the role has already generated strong reactions. The film is scheduled for theatrical release in February. Aslan is widely considered a literary representation of Jesus Christ in the seven Narnia books by British Christian author C.S. Lewis, published in the 1950s.
Aslan Casting Sparks Conservative Debate
The books depict the lion as male, with a glorious mane. Filmmakers routinely take license in adapting books, compressing timelines and combining characters. Gerwig herself is resetting The Magician's Nephew from around 1900 to the 1950s. The casting of Streep does not necessarily mean Aslan will be depicted as female.
But to conservative Christian critics, even the possibility of portraying a divine Christ figure as anything but male goes beyond artistic license. They deem it an attack on their faith, noting that the Bible and ancient creeds speak of God the Father and Jesus as the Son of God.
Seth Udinsky wrote in a column for the Christian Post, an evangelical news website, that this is a well-known ploy of the enemies of God to subvert and destroy symbols of Christianity. He contended that Gerwig is turning Aslan transgender, citing a newly released photo from the movie's promoters depicting the lion with rainbow-tinted whiskers. Similar comments and rebuttals appear in numerous replies to Netflix's posting about the casting on Instagram.
Some Lewis scholars and aficionados are taking a wait-and-see approach. Kat Coffin, a New York-based writer and scholar of Lewis, said she has questions about the casting decision but added: I am far more disturbed by the people who are violently opposed and angry at the idea that the incarnation of God could be anything even hinted toward feminine.
Gerwig Explains Her Choice of Streep
Gerwig has not addressed the gender question directly in public statements, but said she saw Streep as one of the few actors who could meet her criteria for Aslan's voice. I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness, Gerwig said. Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight.
I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child. And also to be one of the greatest actors to ever do it. Gerwig said she first read The Magician's Nephew as a child, falling in love with the story and its enchanted world.
She is known for bringing feminist interpretations to her acclaimed movies Barbie and Little Women, also based on intellectual properties long popular with children. Further raising hackles is a report in the movie magazine Empire that Gerwig took inspiration from pop artist David Bowie, known for his gender ambiguity, in depicting the lion with different-colored eyes and a bold red-striped visage.
The Magician's Nephew, published in 1955, eight years before Lewis died, tells the story of two children, Digory and Polly, who are sent to parallel worlds by evil magic. They ultimately arrive in the newly created, fantastical land of Narnia, but inadvertently bring with them the evil witch, Jadis. In this and subsequent Narnia books, Aslan leads his young followers in combating and defeating evil.
Christian Concerns About Aslan's Gender
Ted Baehr, founder and publisher of Movieguide, which advises Christian parents on what to watch, said having a woman portray Aslan is a direct challenge to Christian doctrine on the nature of God. This movie could do very well, but the better it does, there's a lot of Christians who will be concerned for their children and grandchildren, said Baehr, who led a company that produced a 1979 animated television version of another Narnia book.
Baehr praised Gerwig's directing skills but said she may not understand the issue's importance to many Christians. While Lewis said his Narnia books are not allegories, they do closely parallel biblical stories and concepts. Baehr said they can't be adapted as readily as the recent Christopher Nolan movie The Odyssey did with Greek myth. The Gospel is not a myth, he said.
The criticisms reflect the deep bond that many Christians, particularly evangelicals, feel with Lewis, who promoted Christian teachings and themes through fiction and nonfiction. Narnia has a broad reader base, with reported sales of 120 million books worldwide since the first volume's publication 75 years ago this month. Its Christian readers feel a particular sense of ownership.
I know a lot of people who are genuinely concerned, because the original stories mean so much to them, said Christin Ditchfield Lazo, an author of books on Lewis. The Narnia series has had a profound impact on the lives of millions of people, especially people of faith, who love the spiritual truths in these stories and want them to be faithfully represented, she said. Ditchfield Lazo urged Christians to reserve judgment.
Casting Debate and Faith Representation
There's a huge difference between a woman voicing a male character and the director changing the gender of the character, she said. It could be problematic, but we won't know until we see the film. She noted that men and women have often played or voiced each other's roles, from Shakespearean drama to modern animations.
Many evangelicals did embrace the early 2000s movies based on the first three Narnia books, with actor Liam Neeson providing the deep, masculine voice of Aslan. Coffin said that God has been portrayed in many ways across cultures and traditions, and that limiting divine representation to one gender may miss the broader richness of faith. The debate continues as the film's February release approaches.
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CTVToronto:A familiar figure, a new voice: Meryl Streep's Aslan stirs gender debate over Gerwig's ‘Narnia’This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
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