Chronicles of Narnia anti-Semitic?

The Chronicles of Narnia really disappointed me this
weekend. We had high hopes, based on the trailer,
that the film would some sort of great epic and in the
end, the film just fell flat.

What was it missing? Jon Favreau. Zathura went so
much farther in establishing a believable kids fantasy
adventure. Zathura also did something that the
Chronicles did not. Within the first five minutes,
you understood who the kids were - i.e. what are there
strengths and quirks – and what the pressure in their
life was. Chronicles only established the latter.
These British kids have a dad who is at war and they
are being shipped off to the country. I could not
find a single distinguishable character trait until
they put their crowns on at the end and the movie told
us what their character traits were. I never felt the
plight of these kids. I guess you had to read the
book, which I did not. And will not.

So I do have to give Walden Media credit for their
marketing. $67 million for an opening weekend is
terrific. Mr. Dobson and his Focus on the Family and
every Christian church in the country are touting this
as a great, Christian film. In my humble opinion,
this film is really no more Christian than Lord of the
Rings. Or Star Wars. Or the Star Trek where Spock
dies. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the
few. This is a common story device in all literature
and film. The hero has to go through hell to save the
world. Someone dies only to rise again. The same
story appears in every religious mythology in one form
or another. There is nothing uniquely Christian about
the Chronicles of Narnia other than what people have
told us is uniquely Christian. An impartial observer
might disagree that there is any Christian content
whatsoever.

So Mel Gibson’s Passion was criticized for its
portrayal of Jews. If you go along with the marketing
and Aslan is a thinly veiled symbol of Christ, then
his crucifixion scene has some real anti-Semitic
overtones. In the Passion, the Jews were at least
portrayed as people. In the Chronicles of Narnia, the
persecutors of Christ – the Jews – are portrayed as a
bunch of bloodthirsty creatures. Minotaur and
Cyclops. Warthogs. Angry dwarves. Not exactly an
“everyone can be forgiven” mentality. In the end,
Aslan resurrects all of the “good” creatures. None of
the “bad” creatures are saved. Doesn’t seem very
Christian, but it is a worldview that I suppose most
Christian churches ascribe to. Be saved or die.

My Stolen Laptop

So I stupidly left my laptop outside of a meeting room
at the Westin Tabor Center hotel
(westin.com/taborcenter) and while I was in the
meeting, someone walked by the room, grabbed my laptop
bag and another laptop inside someone else's bag.
There's a couple of ironies here.

The meeting was for XPAC, Xcel Energy's political
action committee. Attending the meeting were several
high-ranking Xcel Energy executives as well as two
high-ranking Colorado State Senators. Law makers
inside. Criminals outside.

I guess I figured that given the audience and the
Westin's reputation that my laptop would be safe. I
can't say that I thought much about the decision. I
take full responsibility for my actions. I wish the
same could be said for all those involved.

The Westin was one of the official hotels for the NBA
All-Star game and they also seem to be the hotel of
choice for visiting sports teams and rock stars. The
Westin folks I dealt with were very nice, but
completely ineffectual. One person told me that there
was no security camera in the area where the theft
took place. When I talked to the head of Security he
said they had a camera there. When he reviewed the
footage, they couldn't identify a suspect. So, either
the first Westin guy or the second Westin guy was
lying to me about the existence of the camera. I
wonder if the thief was aware of the lack of security
cameras there. Inside job perhaps?

For their part, the Denver Police have been completely
useless. They were too busy to come down to the
Westin to allow me to file a report. I had to file
one online and I have absolutely no expectation that I
will even hear from a real person. Apparently,
they’re too busy covering up their own crimes to
investigate new ones. Or maybe they’re getting rid of
panhandlers… Nope. They're still there. Come on
Looper, let’s get this city up to par!

I’m still waiting to hear back from my insurance
company also. We’ll wait before we rant on them…
They're going to give me money…

Regardless, if you are in the laptop stealing
business, I would recommend that you go to the
conference room on the second floor on the west side
of the Westin. It's the one whose entrance is
directly across from the entrance to the Tabor Center,
near the ESPN Zone. With luck, you'll encounter a
meeting going on with attendees as stupid as I was and
you can make off with whatever they leave behind, like
a raccoon going through the trash. If you need a
winter coat, there should be a full coat rack there.
Incidentally, the Tabor Center has a camera in their
hallway leaving the hotel, but it's pointed at the
ESPN Zone. So don't turn around if you leave that
way, and you’ll be fine.

And to the person who took my laptop or to anyone who
can recover my 12 in. iBook G4 and all of my data,
there is a reward. Contact me. No questions asked.
If you don’t contact me and I happen to find out who
you are, I will remove your... wait... can't post an
actual threat... might be used as evidence... if the
police investigate...