A familiar figure, a new voice: Meryl Streep's Aslan stirs gender debate over Gerwig's ‘Narnia’

The public hasn’t viewed a single frame yet from director Greta Gerwig’s movie adaptation from the classic children’s book series, “The Chronicles of Narnia,” but a casting decision is already generating outrage from many conservative Christian commentators.

They’re distressed by news that a female actor — the Oscar-winning Meryl Streep — will be voicing the role of Aslan the lion in “Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.” Aslan is considered a literary representation of Jesus Christ in the seven Narnia books by British Christian author C.S. Lewis, published in the 1950s. The books depict the lion as male, with a glorious mane.

Filmmakers routinely take license in adapting books — compressing timelines, combining characters and more. Gerwig herself is resetting “The Magician’s Nephew” from around 1900 to the 1950s.

The casting of Streep doesn't necessarily mean that 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.

“This is a well-known ploy of the enemies of God, to subvert and destroy symbols of Christianity in an effort to win a war of attrition for the heart of the culture,” wrote Seth Udinsky in a column for the Christian Post, an evangelical news website. 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. The Netflix production is scheduled for theatrical release in February.

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, in public statements, hasn’t addressed the gender question directly, but did say 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.

Gerwig is known for bringing feminist interpretations to her acclaimed movies "Barbie” and “Little Women,” also based on intellectual properties that have long been popular with children.

Further raising hackles is a report in the movie magazine Empire that Gerwig took inspiration from the pop artist David Bowie , known for his gender ambiguity, in depicting the lion with different-colored eyes and “bold red-striped visage.”

“The Magician’s Nephew” — published in 1955, eight years before Lewis’ death — 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 they inadvertently bring with them the evil witch, Jadis. In this and subsequent Narnia books, Aslan leads his young followers in combating and defeating evil.

For Ted Baehr, having a woman portray Aslan is a direct challenge to Christian doctrine on the nature of God.

Baehr is founder and publisher of Movieguide, which advises Christian parents on what to watch.

“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.

“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 others’ 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 with feminine characteristics in other literary works — including Narnia itself, where Aslan also appears as a lamb with a “sweet milky voice.”

“I would describe that as a feminine presentation,” Coffin said.

A statement from the family of Lewis’ late wife, Joy Davidman Gresham, praised Gerwig for her “sincere passion” for the Narnia works.

“We saw this enthusiasm during our visit to the set in London,” said the statement, provided by Netflix. “We are thrilled to be working with such a talented and accomplished director and production team, and are keen to continue working with them on future projects.”

The C.S. Lewis Co. — holders of Lewis intellectual property rights and producers on the film — stated: “It’s incredibly moving to see how deeply Greta Gerwig has embraced C.S. Lewis’ world, and infused ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’ with joy, heart, and genuine love for the story.”

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