popular thinking

THE HOBBIT, THE WIZARD AND THE RETURN OF THE JEDI

(This story originally appeared under my byline in the Boston Herald on Dec. 9, 2005, but in graphic form -- Web link under repair)

Forget all the biblical talk surrounding The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Because to many audience members, that question is moot.
Some haven’t read C.S. Lewis’ books (difficult to imagine for you parochial school alums, but yes), while many others already have seen many of these elements in recent epic fantasy films.
To them, this movie might as well be called “The Hobbit, the Wizard and the Return of the Jedi.”
Quibble all you want about who stole from whom.
Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were contemporaries, whereas George Lucas and J.K. Rowling constructed their fantasy worlds a generation later.
Yet each saga includes similar ingredients.
The recipe: Start with an innocent person or persons hidden away from evil, but have him/her/them destined for greatness and heroic deeds. Send them on a magical mystery tour (cue the wardrobe). Have them encounter ultimate evil (cue the witch). But introduce a mentor (finally, the lion) who prepares the innocents and makes sacrifices for them.
Have one of the innocents tempted to switch sides (hello, Edmund).
Make sure a magical force (who said Force?) can rule over the fantasy world.
Finally, you need a climactic battle and a happy ending.
Sound familiar now?

The Lord of the Rings
- Innocents destined for greatness? Hobbits.
- Magical mystery tour? Their journey redefines over the rivers and through the woods (and climb every mountain, too).
- Ultimate evil? Sauron. Now there's an evil eye!
- Sacrificial mentor? Gandalf.
- Tempted to turn evil? Gollum.
- Overriding force? One ring to rule them all.
- Climactic battle? Many, many battles, featuring much scarier enemies than the pseudo-orcs in "Narnia."
- Happy ending? Aragon gets to be king, marries his elf-lady, and everyone bows down to the hobbits.

Star Wars: A New Hope
- Innocents destined for greatness? Luke Skywalker whines
- Magical mystery tour? Luke wants off Tatooine. Luke gets very far away from Tatooine. Luke learns maxim: Careful be what one wishes for, yes.
- Ultimate evil? Darth Vader
- Sacrificial mentor? Obi-Wan Kenobi (“If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine”).
- Tempted to turn evil? Han Solo, who threatens to bolt, only to come through in the end.
- Overriding force? The Force.
- Climactic battle? Take that, Death Star.
- Happy ending? A ceremony that looks exactly like the ending of “Narnia.”

Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone
- Innocents destined for greatness? Harry Potter.
- Magical mystery tour? Hogwarts Express, now departing from Platform 8 1/2.
- Ultimate evil? Voldemort.
- Sacrificial mentor? Take your pick, every book/movie has one professor who takes one for the team.
- Tempted to turn evil? Professor Severus Snape: Bad? Good? Sorta bad, sorta good? We’re still waiting to find out the ultimate answer.
- Overriding force? Magic. If we need say more, then thine name is Muggle McMuggles.
- Climactic battle? Harry has his first encounter of many with He Who Must Not Be Named.
- Happy ending? Guess who wins that encounter. And Gryffindor wins the House Cup! Whoop-dee-doo.

NOTE: For the home game, try to retell/recast the “Narnia” story using these other sagas: “The Matrix,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan” and “The Wizard of Oz.”
Enjoy!