Can Wonder Woman Save Narnia? | Talking Beasts

This is a spoiler-free discussion.

What can the Narnia movies learn from DC’s Wonder Woman? Are movie heroes becoming increasingly complex? Would audiences rather relate to heroes than aspire to them? Listen to Glumpuddle and Ryadian’s discussion and post your thoughts below.

The C.S. Lewis Minute is brought to you by William O’Flaherty, author of C.S. Lewis Goes to Hell and creator of EssentialCSLewis.com.

Think you can stump a NarniaWebber? Submit Narnia trivia questions to podcast[at]narniaweb.com with the subject “Stump” (please do not include the answer).

Talk to us! This episode was an experiment; our topic was only indirectly related to Narnia. What did you think? Should we try more topics like this on occasion? Please post your thoughts below or send an e-mail to podcast[at]narniaweb.com. Positive and negative feedback are equally appreciated.

13 Responses

  1. Fireberry says:

    I don't think this is off-topic at all. This WW movie gave me lots of "Narnia feelings". I think talking about this movie helps us articulate our hopes for "Silver Chair" etc. Thanks for this!

  2. narnia fan 7 says:

    Great podcast guys! I thought Wonder Woman was just ok. I had a few problems with it. But it was so nice to have a hero in a DCEU movie that I actually liked and cared about. And it didn't say away from things that some people might think are to cheesy(though I did think it got a bit heavy-handed at the end). In that way it really reminded me of Captain America The First Avenger with the sincere way it handled it characters and themes. I'm hoping Joe Johnston will also bring that to Silver Chair.

  3. Eysee says:

    Same here, as with the comments before mine- I think the topic is pretty relevant plus, I feel more optimistic for the Silver Chair movie after this. Great podcast!

  4. Glumpuddle says:

    There were just a few key aspects of it that were very refreshing on first viewing, so I do wonder if the movie won't age well.

  5. Anfinwen says:

    Honestly, I think movies have steered away from doing the right thing just because it's right due to the fact that many people cannot relate to that. Society has moved away from the idea of an objective right and wrong as they increasingly reject religion and it's accompanying moral standard. Right and wrong are taught as subjective things based on differing viewpoints and privilege. People don't want to be reminded that there is a right thing they ought to be doing whether they like it or not. When we are young we see things as black and white, but as we age we begin to see the gray areas. This can lead to disbelief in any right and wrong. It's good to have a reminder that right still exists and will ultimately win, even if many years hence.
    I enjoyed the podcast and still felt that it was very relevant.

  6. no thank you. not now, not ever.

  7. Roger says:

    Maybe the analogy between Wonder Woman and The Silver Chair holds some weight. Maybe The Silver Chair is where Jill becomes Wonder Woman, and The Last Battle is about seeing Jill as Wonder Woman. The analogy is not complete but worthy of consideration.

    I like your conversation about humor. Humor buys a lot in movies. Puddleglum is an excellent character to portray humor if the humor is in character. The humor must fit the story. Puddleglum is the counterbalance of the serious Jill. I have thought for a long time that Puddleglum should been cast with Robin Williams. Sad that he is gone. He would have been great.

    No battles please. Do not name TLOTGK. We do not want a friendly, personable Green Witch. We do not need to see how evil see is; the story tells that. Sorry for the soapbox.

    Jill learns to do things for the right reason in The Silver Chair.

    You covered a lot in this Podcast. Excellent.

  8. Anhun says:

    WWI started out with eastern European politics, but the British and Americans became involved in no small part due to the atrocities that the Germans committed against civilians.

  9. FilmReel says:

    I listened to this on Monday and then later I bought some tickets to see wonder woman on Tuesday.

    Wonder Woman 7/10

    The first two-thirds of the movie were awesome but then the last third was really generic and cheesy.

  10. Glumpuddle says:

    I agree about the ending. Lots of green screen, explosions, and smoke. I did like the twist with the villain though.

    At the end of the day, it’s still just a popcorn-muncher blockbuster and Narnia deserves better than that. But there were a few aspects that felt refreshing.

  11. friendOfNarnia2 says:

    IMO, everything was awesome except for that final battle with Ares. Though, I was so invested in the characters at that point that the CGI fest didn't bother me as much.

    They got the character of Wonder Woman just so right.

  12. FilmReel says:

    I hope it's more than a popcorn-muncher blockbuster but when Joe says that he wants to make it the most commercial movie possible it doesn't sound that promising.

  13. bbcnarniafan says:

    I hope they make the Silver chair good and the Hero's good and smart who use their heads