Oscar-Award winning actress Meryl Streep is reportedly in talks to play Aslan the Great Lion in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Netflix adaptation of the “Chronicles of Narnia.” Since Aslan represents Jesus Christ, many fans of the Christian-allegory series are not happy about it.
Earlier this month, Deadline reported that Streep is being eyed for the role of Aslan. Her casting has not been officially confirmed as the two parties were “not quite at the offer stage yet,” according to the outlet.
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But news of the idea has traveled fast, and the outrage from Narnia fans has grown with more voices speaking out on social media and news outlets, saying the choice of Streep is a bad one.
“The Christian backlash…was swift and strong, and for good reason. Because this isn’t just about Narnia — it’s about Christ,” wrote Katy Faust for Blaze Media.
/**/“C.S. Lewis didn’t invent Aslan as a charming character or a clever literary device. He was explicit: Aslan is Jesus,” she continued. “Tampering with Aslan is an attempt to tamper with Christ. Aslan is getting a female makeover not to depict Christ, but to dampen Him. To make Him safer, gentler, more palatable. Doing so reflects a deeper cultural effort: the feminization of Jesus.”
Blogger Annie Crawford writes on Salvo, “…to change the gender of The Lion, of The King, of the Incarnate Son of the Emperor Across the Sea who symbolically represents the deity of Christ within Lewis’s imaginary world is to completely alter the structure and meaning of Lewis’s sacramental cosmos.”
In an op-ed for conservative talk radio publication, 770KTTH, Jason Rantz suggested a few other Hollywood actors that would be better suited for the role.
“Liam Neeson already played a brilliant Aslan. Morgan Freeman has already played G-d. Jared Leto looks like the Historical Jesus. Book one of them,” he said.
There’s even a petition on Change.org calling on Netflix to “Preserve the Gender of Aslan.” It states, “Make no mistake, an altered Aslan is a false Aslan. A false Aslan is a false Narnia. The integrity of the character must be preserved at all cost.”
Others are saying it is a bad move for different reasons.
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