The Burr in the Burgh

E.J. Park has written a fine article for the latest issue of Christianity Today called A Tale of Two Kitties. Now, I love this article for so many reasons. First, because I have two kitty cats and anything with the above title is going to make me say, “Awww.” But seriously, the article touches on two fictional cats that mean a lot to me, for vastly different reasons. The article’s subtitle sums it up: “Lovers of Aslan should heed the warnings of the creator of Hobbes.”

Bill Watterson is the creator of the much-loved comic strip (retired in 1996) Calvin and Hobbes. As fans know, Hobbes is a stuffed tiger toy for the impish Calvin and who comes alive – in Calvin’s imagination? – when they are alone. Hobbes is Calvin’s conscience, the better angel of his nature.

Even though there are countless millions to be made, Watterson has not permitted his comic strip to be used for merchandise. You won't see Calvin wishing you a happy birthday on the front of a Hallmark card. You won't find comic strip panels on coffee mugs or T-shirts. According to Watterson, it would ruin the characters he has created to pull them from the comics and put them into another medium. Giving voices to an animated Calvin & Hobbes Halloween special, for instance, would change them in some fundamental way. Or so Watterson believes.

I have been a huge fan of C.S. Lewis's Narnia books since my youth. I was delighted when I learned that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was being made into a film. And over all, I was happy with it. But now, I'm thinking hard about what Bill Watterson has to say about his characters and the CT article by E.J. Park.

Transforming Aslan from the medium of text to film was always a risky idea. Aslan is a Christ-figure and generations of readers have deeply felt attachments to him as an image of the Savior. Since in my opinion, the film does a fair job, I have given it a pass. But now, seeing Hasbro Aslan action figures and Aslan t-shirts, and Aslan plushy dolls, that changes things. There is something troubling, maybe even sacreligious, about playing with an Aslan toy amidst the Barbie dolls and army men. Or is there? It's just a lion. No, it's an imaginative portrait of Jesus that is being marketed, commercialized and profited from. As Parks says, "Of course, this article is not really about Aslan at all. It is about the Lion behind the lion. For it is one thing to commercialize fictitious kitties; it is quite another to commercialize the way of God."

Is the medium the message? To some extent, I think so. Parks writes: "The fact is, the spirit of a work always differs between forms, because every form has its own characteristics and limitations. ... The story and character might be similar in two works, but they are distinctly shaped by each work's form. Reading a book is never the same experience as watching a movie, which is never the same experience as playing a video game, which is never the same experience as wearing a T-shirt."