# Aslan is an ass (Prince Caspian spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 15, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266 "2010-12-15T19:17:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/1 "2010-12-15T19:17:50Z")
No, he’s a lion. Shaddup. Okay, I just watched _Prince Caspian_ the other night. Let me get this straight… The 4 kiddos have been gone ~1300 years, Narnia has been invaded by Telmarines, and slaughtered to the extent the Telmarines think they are extinct. The trees are still, the animals can’t talk, etc. Then finally Caspian finds the horn and calls the “Kings and Queens of Old” back, but still there’s not a peep from Aslan. Even when the quartet hook up with Prince Caspian, and end up as his tomb, he’s still in hiding, despite the Telmarines invading in force to slaughter the remaining Narnians and murder Caspian and the quartet. Only when the little girl rides out on a horse past the invading army to go to a specific spot in the woods does Aslan decide to show up. And only after chiding her for waiting so long to come to him does he take any action in the ongoing battle. At which point he awakens the trees, and then mops up the retreating Telmarine army with a giant river avatar that breaks the bridge and eats the villain. (And the villains poor horse.) So eventually he shows up and saves the day, but not before any number of Narnians are wiped out, and generations of destruction to Narnia. Yeah, that Aslan. What an ass. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/2 "2010-12-15T19:28:57Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Yeah, that Aslan. What an ass. Sounds like a pretty typical god to me. And then he expects the survivors to be grateful that they were spared due to his magnificence. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/3 "2010-12-15T19:31:04Z")
Didn’t you hear? Aslan is Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/4 "2010-12-15T19:33:50Z")
My favorite example of this issue in the movies has to be in _Time Bandits_, when the protagonist poses this exact question to the “supreme being” at the end, and he sort of pauses as if surprised and remarks, absent-mindedly, "I think it has something to do with free will … ". 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/5 "2010-12-15T19:39:18Z")
Well obviously he couldn’t help them earlier because they didn’t believe in him enough. Bad things only happen to those who don’t believe. Deity 101. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/6 "2010-12-15T20:25:33Z")
It was Susan’s fault. The little hussy! ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/7 "2010-12-15T21:13:36Z")
The movie made an incredible mess of the book. That said, the whole series sees Aslan progressively fade from direct interaction with the world. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/8 "2010-12-15T21:27:11Z")
It’s not just Aslan. The movie makes _everyone_ an ass. Book Peter is noble and just - a sort of King Aurthur come to life. Movie Peter is petulant and power-hungry.Book Prince Caspian is surprised to basically live out a fairy-tale. He’s courageous and fair, and it’s no surprise that the Narnians almost automatically look to him for leadership, despite being only a boy. Movie Caspian is conflicted and egotistic, wanting revenge and feuding with Peter over power (when Peter guessed he wasn’t going to be ruling Narnia this time) . It’s weird, but the book versions were somehow iconic and yet human - even childishly human. The movie versions apparently aimed for more “realism” and wound up just being annoying. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/9 "2010-12-15T22:58:13Z")
Nah. Aslan isn’t an ass until The Last Battle. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/10 "2010-12-16T07:08:19Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Didn’t you hear? Aslan is Jesus. Freakin’ Jesus _still_ hasn’t shown up to save the day! ---
**Author:** ![Gestalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/90ced4/32.png) [@Gestalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gestalt)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/11 "2010-12-16T08:21:54Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Nah. Aslan isn’t an ass until The Last Battle. Well played indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/12 "2010-12-16T14:21:11Z")
Yeah, he always was a bit of one. Which book was it where he insists that Lucy should have gotten up and followed him off alone into the woods, even when her siblings wouldn’t listen to him? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/13 "2010-12-16T16:50:45Z")
**Anaamika** , that was this one - the bit about the girl riding out into the woods on her own. Okay, Susan goes with her a bit, but then stops to shoot bad guys. Why did I think she said her name is Phyllis to the guy at the magazine stand? **acsenray** said: > [@](#): > > Didn’t you hear? Aslan is Jesus. Yeah, that explains it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/14 "2010-12-16T16:55:42Z")
> [@Gestalt](#): > > Well played indeed! _bows_ ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/15 "2010-12-16T18:46:54Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Yeah, he always was a bit of one. Which book was it where he insists that Lucy should have gotten up and followed him off alone into the woods, even when her siblings wouldn’t listen to him? He doesn’t insist. He merely listens to her: first she protests that she couldn’t possibly have done that, and then she admits that perhaps she could. Whom does she love and trust more, Aslan or her brothers and sisters? _Qui s’excuse s’accuse_ and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/16 "2010-12-16T20:22:56Z")
I misread that. This one she has to go off in the woods to find him, because the others don’t “see” him. That may or may not be the scene you’re thinking of. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aslan-is-an-ass-prince-caspian-spoilers/564266/17 "2010-12-16T21:15:57Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Didn’t you hear? Aslan is Jesus. Who shows up to save the day, but not before generations of destruction, etc. Whaddaya want?! God is the producer of a reality show. Violence = ratings.