Mick Silva's Advice for Writers; Narnia's Makeover for High King Peter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Silva ponders Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer. - High King Peter of Narnia's "small mind" In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, High\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mick Silva's Advice for Writers; Narnia's Makeover for High King Peter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Silva ponders Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer. - High King Peter of Narnia's "small mind" In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, High\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-05-11T16:50:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-17T22:54:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/\",\"name\":\"Mick Silva's Advice for Writers; Narnia's Makeover for High King Peter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-05-11T16:50:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-17T22:54:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Silva ponders Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer. - High King Peter of Narnia's \\\"small mind\\\" In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, High\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mick Silva’s Advice for Writers; Narnia’s Makeover for High King Peter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mick Silva's Advice for Writers; Narnia's Makeover for High King Peter","description":"Silva ponders Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer. - High King Peter of Narnia's \"small mind\" In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, High","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mick Silva's Advice for Writers; Narnia's Makeover for High King Peter","og_description":"Silva ponders Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer. - High King Peter of Narnia's \"small mind\" In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, High","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/","og_site_name":"Looking Closer","article_published_time":"2008-05-11T16:50:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-17T22:54:05+00:00","author":"Jeffrey Overstreet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Overstreet","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/","name":"Mick Silva's Advice for Writers; Narnia's Makeover for High King Peter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-05-11T16:50:52+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-17T22:54:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e"},"description":"Silva ponders Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer. - High King Peter of Narnia's \"small mind\" In C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, High","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mick Silva’s Advice for Writers; Narnia’s Makeover for High King Peter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/","name":"Looking Closer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e","name":"Jeffrey Overstreet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Jeffrey Overstreet"},"description":"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34852\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":34852,"date":"2008-05-11T09:50:52","date_gmt":"2008-05-11T16:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2013-03-17T16:54:05","modified_gmt":"2013-03-17T22:54:05","slug":"the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/05\/the-browser-512-whitman-wins-silva-advises\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Silva’s Advice for Writers; Narnia’s Makeover for High King Peter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Silva ponders<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mick Silva on the voice of the Christian writer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

High King Peter of Narnia\u2019s \u201csmall mind\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

In C.S. Lewis\u2019s The Chronicles of Narnia<\/em><\/strong>, High King Peter did *not* have a \u201csmall mind.\u201d But it seems that American filmmakers are almost incapable of portraying a valiant, decisive, noble leader. It\u2019s as if we don\u2019t believe it\u2019s possible anymore.<\/p>\n

Aragorn<\/strong>, that great king in Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings<\/em><\/strong>, was given a Hamlet-like complex, a severe insecurity, and all kinds of debilitating doubts by the filmmakers. In the Narnia<\/em> movies, it appears that High King Peter is about to fall victim to the same disease.<\/p>\n

See what Steven D. Greydanus reports<\/a> from the Prince Caspian<\/em> junket, over at ArtsandFaith.com. He recounts what was said about revisions to Peter\u2019s character. Apparently High King Peter now has a big ego, but a small mind. So much for the noble, mature leader of Lewis\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

Now remember, Lewis and Tolkien didn\u2019t mind movies being made of their stories so long as the core, the heart, the meaning of the stories remained intact. I\u2019m more and more concerned, from the buzz I\u2019m hearing, that Prince Caspian the Movie<\/em> has little to do with the meaning of Prince Caspian the Novel<\/em>. The storytellers seem to be writing in their own meanings. They shouldn\u2019t have bothered with Lewis. They should have made up their own stories. Ahh, but then they couldn\u2019t have exploited the beloved name of C.S. Lewis, could they?<\/p>\n

Again, I hope I\u2019m wrong. I hope the movie arrives and surprises us by preserving the core of Lewis\u2019s story. But based on reports from trusted friends who have seen it, that looks less and less likely.<\/p>\n

I encourage you: Read the book. Then you\u2019ll be able to make a fair assessment not just of the movie as a movie, but of the movie as an adaptation.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"