# What a dumb reason to boycott Narnia **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 2, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149 "2006-01-02T23:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/21 "2006-01-03T14:54:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Wolves are in fact, meek, kindly vegetarian creatures, the main purpose of which is the responsible adoption of abandoned infants. Which brings up the question: does he object to the portrayal of the wolf Romulus and Remus? It’s just as inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/22 "2006-01-03T15:07:36Z")
> [@](#): > > Wolves are in fact, meek, kindly vegetarian creatures, the main purpose of which is the responsible adoption of abandoned infants. Ahh, so wolves are pro-life crazy right wing George Bush supporters? And you say they are NOT evil?? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/23 "2006-01-03T15:20:52Z")
On the face of it, the idea of preserving and respecting wolves as wild animals is a worthy one, but that website, with its bad colour schemes and design, glurgy pictures and embedded sounds all over the place, just makes me wonder just a tiny bit if the author is one of those batshit-insane dog-lovers\* that just decided to take the step to the next level. \*[sup]NB: I’m not by any means saying all or even _most_ dog lovers are batshit insane, I’m talking about the kind of batshit-insane-dog-lovers that stage weddings for their animals and send letters to newspapers purporting to be penned by them.[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/24 "2006-01-03T20:49:14Z")
The truth is Disney is in the habit of slandering wolves and portraying them as evil predatory creatures. It goes far back to “The Three Little Pigs” and carries on throughprojects such as “Peter and the Wolf,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Narnia” (just the latest in Disney’s attacks on gentle wolf-kind). Disney hates wolves! ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/25 "2006-01-03T22:55:43Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I have to admit, but I kinda agree with the guy. It’s a very stupid reason to boycott a film, I agree, and I’m not outraged by it or anything, but wolves are pretty neat animals, and the whole wolves=evil idea strikes me as terribly old and played out. Actually, one of the things that bothered me about the movie in general was the whole talking animal thing. The divisions just seemed so arbitrary. Wolves are evil, but foxes are good. Tigers are evil, but lions are Jesus. The big battle at the end of the movie was confusing in large part because you couldn’t tell what side the animals were on in the battle until you saw them hit something. They’d show you a rhinocerous charging, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to be worried for the good guys, or relieved that they’re getting help, until it hit someone. > > In a related gripe, what was Mrs. Beaver’s maiden name? I once started a thread asking which species of animal were good and which were evil. For instance, all mice are good, all rats are evil, all dogs are good, all cats are evil, all horses are good, all hyeanas are evil. It was interesting to see the responses and the justifications for those responses, variously folklore, cartoons, personal predjudices. Actually the whole “wolves=evil” theme is SO played out that the the countertheme “wolves are noble misunderstood heroes” is played out too. I’ve heard the “wolves are misunderstood” argument since I was a kid, so much that it’s the new orthodoxy. Um, in 2005 it’s not exactly brave and original to claim that wolves aren’t evil monsters. What WOULD be brave and original is to eschew the noble brother wolf glurge that’s out there. It seems that some people aren’t happy with an animal that’s an animal, no, they have to project human qualities onto that animal…it must be evil, or noble, or sexual, or heroic, or whatever. The noble wolf is just as much a Freudian myth as the monster wolf. I sometimes despair that most people are incapable of seeing and appreciating an animal for what it really IS, rather than how it reflects back their own psychological needs and dysfunctions. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/26 "2006-01-03T23:37:25Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > But Steven Colbert was right: Bears are evil. You can see two of them pulling the Witch’s cart. Those are _polar bears_, though, right? Clearly they are in favor of the frozen version of Narnia. IIRC, bears don’t come into the book much, but in _Prince Caspian_, bears are definitely good, if they are talking bears (regular bears are just bears). The bears hold certain ancient rights. Any animal can turn to the Dark Side, however. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/27 "2006-01-03T23:49:15Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It seems that some people aren’t happy with an animal that’s an animal, no, they have to project human qualities onto that animal…it must be evil, or noble, or sexual, or heroic, or whatever. Wait, are you suggesting that [this](http://www.yaeonline.com/images/Pictures/The%20Jungle%20Book/mother_wolf.htm) isn’t a realistic image of a wolf? They _lied_ to me in Wolf Cubs? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/28 "2006-01-04T00:16:28Z")
Definitely an odd sort of website… just goes to show, I guess, that there’s no belief so sensible that it can’t be defended in a flaky manner. I’m all in favor of giving our lupine brethren their due, so I can certainly sympathize with the guy’s general concerns. Even so, I think that even the wolves themselves would be a bit puzzled at the vehement tone of the website. They’d probably be looking at each other and wondering, “Did we miss something? Are we really still in such a precarious position that this Disney movie is going to tip us back over the edge again? What’s up with this guy, anyway? Is he one of those orphaned children we raised in the wild, or what?” Just in case the “Heart of the Wolf” guy ever sees this thread: dude, take a step back and calm down a bit. The Wolves do not want you to suffer cardiac infarction, aneurysm, or legal privation on their behalf. Disney was actually a bit ahead of the curve with their sympathetic depiction of Mowgli’s adoptive parents in \*\*The Jungle Book \*\* (even though I don’t recall that they rated a song-and-dance number; what a gyp), and also produced the film adaptation of Farley Mowat’s **Never Cry Wolf** , if I recall correctly. So their track record isn’t too bad overall. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/29 "2006-01-04T00:39:55Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Disney was actually a bit ahead of the curve with their sympathetic depiction of Mowgli’s adoptive parents in \*\*The Jungle Book \*\*. Ahead of the curve in a nineteenth century kind of way, of course. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/30 "2006-01-04T00:56:51Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Ahead of the curve in a nineteenth century kind of way, of course. 😃 Oh, now you know what I mean; I’m not trying to take any credit away from Kipling, of course. But even back in the 1960’s I don’t think the general public perception of wolves was quite at the favorable level it is now, where people commonly buy calendars featuring images of their adorably fuzzy high jinks. Somewhere I’ve got a book from that era about North American game hunting, which remarks that shooting wolves from a helicopter is both fun and extremely sporting. So there’s been significant progress since then, is what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/31 "2006-01-04T01:25:49Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Which brings up the question: does he object to the portrayal of the wolf Romulus and Remus? It’s just as inaccurate. I wonder if the guy has seen [this](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/43963) yet. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/32 "2006-01-04T02:42:44Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Those are _polar bears_, though, right? Clearly they are in favor of the frozen version of Narnia. > > IIRC, bears don’t come into the book much, but in _Prince Caspian_, bears are definitely good, if they are talking bears (regular bears are just bears). The bears hold certain ancient rights. Any animal can turn to the Dark Side, however. According to Colbert, any Bear is a grave threat to the American Nation. And now they want to publish scandelous information about our celebrities they obtained after rooting through their garbage cans, destroying our entertainment industry, and thus our economy. This will not stand! We will fight the Ursinefacists, wether the pinheads at the UCLU like it or not! ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/33 "2006-01-04T03:55:45Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > According to Colbert, any Bear is a grave threat to the American Nation. Big ones with alternate lifestyles are a grave threat indeed. Make no mistake: [They’re after your basket.](http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/6285/yogi31yj.gif) ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/34 "2006-01-04T03:59:54Z")
I blame the furries and their yiffing. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/35 "2006-01-04T04:45:00Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > According to Colbert, any Bear is a grave threat to the American Nation. And now they want to publish scandelous information about our celebrities they obtained after rooting through their garbage cans, destroying our entertainment industry, and thus our economy. This will not stand! We will fight the Ursinefacists, wether the pinheads at the UCLU like it or not! We’ve got the Russians rooting through celebrity garbage cans and destroying the entertainment industry? Where do I send my thank you note to Putin? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2006, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/36 "2006-01-04T10:22:14Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Oh, now you know what I mean; I’m not trying to take any credit away from Kipling, of course. But even back in the 1960’s I don’t think the general public perception of wolves was quite at the favorable level it is now, where people commonly buy calendars featuring images of their adorably fuzzy high jinks. Somewhere I’ve got a book from that era about North American game hunting, which remarks that shooting wolves from a helicopter is both fun and extremely sporting. So there’s been significant progress since then, is what I’m saying. Not to worry. Kipling, of course, wrote an excellent book called _The Jungle Book_ (or two, to be exact), but any similarities other than the names and species of a few characters are quite coincidental. Some people might be surprised to learn that Rama was the name, not of Mowgli’s adopted father wolf, but of a herd bull; that Kaa, so far from trying to eat Mowgli, was one of his closest friends and advisors (and certainly didn’t take any shit from Shere Khan or anyone else); that the monkeys did not have a jazz-singing orang-utan for a king :rolleyes: and that Hathi was not a comic British-colonel type but the wisest and most powerful creature in the Jungle. On the other hand, the songs were modern classics, almost without exception. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/37 "2006-02-07T07:21:57Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > I thought it was going to be about the fact that Maugrim (the chief wolf) was the only character that had an American accent. Doesn’t even start to make up for all the villains with English accents that Hollywood has foisted on us for the last 20 years! Anyone read the new CSL bio _The Narnian_? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/38 "2006-02-07T14:36:13Z")
I think the poor guy is just lashing out due to the embarassment of [this](http://spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/268). –Cliffy ---
**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:** [February 7, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/39 "2006-02-07T14:53:28Z")
BTW, I noted there was a quick shorthand in the movie. Winter creatures (wolves, polar bears, snow tigers, etc.) were all on the witch’s side. I’m surprised mre people didn’t pick up on this. > [@Lemur866](#): > > I once started a thread asking which species of animal were good and which were evil. [snip] all cats are evil Cats are evil. Proven fact. > [@](#): > > Actually the whole “wolves=evil” theme is SO played out that the the countertheme “wolves are noble misunderstood heroes” is played out too I agree. But if it works, it works, and it works in Lewis. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2006, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149/40 "2006-02-07T15:21:43Z")
Besides, Maugrim was well written; not just a cold-blooded killing machine, but a creepy and deeply intimidating character who came very close to persuading Peter that he, Peter, didn’t have the balls to kill him. A good job by the scriptwriter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-a-dumb-reason-to-boycott-narnia/338149.md?page=3)