Thursday, December 15, 2005

Oy Vey Indeed!

The Rev. Dr. Mom just sent me this article from the Honolulu Advertiser about the attempt to market the recently released Chronicles of Narnia film from the pulpit. Now, I'd heard that the film's producers--Disney and Walden Media--were trying to tap into the market that sent Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ to such heights, and were using many of the same Christian marketing companies. But this seems to me to be walking a very fine line, if not crossing it:
Attention, pastors: Walt Disney Pictures is so eager for churches to turn out audiences for "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which opened yesterday, that it's offering a free trip to London — and $1,000 cash — to the winner of a promotional sermon contest.

The only requirement is that sermons must mention "Narnia," based on the hugely popular children's books by C.S. Lewis about four British children who walk through an uncle's magic armoire into an enchanted kingdom.

[...]

Some Hawai'i preachers have indeed mentioned "The Chronicles of Narnia" in their sermons — but none interviewed said they wrote those sermons with a prize from Disney in mind.

When Episcopal priest the Rev. Ann McElligott, dean of St. Andrew's Cathedral, heard about the contest, she was so flabbergasted she couldn't speak for a minute.

"Oy vey!" she finally said.

"I have used snippets from the chronicles occasionally, because its imagery fit beautifully in the sermon," said McElligott, explaining that Anglicans like herself — and, notably, Lewis — follow a liturgical text for services and, therefore, sermons.

"I'm OK (mentioning) the movie coming out, but I am very cautious about this. To me, (the contest is) just gross commercialization, to get more people to go to the movie. It makes me want not to (mention the movie)."
Way to go, mum!


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