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always find it odd that not long after I read LotR (and Narnia) I decided to give up going to church
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Interesting. I have to confess I found Narnia - or at least the Last Battle - rather alienating. I really enjoyed the story but I was appalled at Susan being excluded from Aslan's kingdom because as a young woman she was too interested in "lipstick, stockings and invitations." Even though I was still a child, I suspected that I too would be very interested in these things pretty soon, saw nothing wrong with that and felt the author's religious viewpoint was extremely unreasonable. (Also one of the examples Eustace's parents' silliness was their support of feminism...I was a very emancipated little girl and this made me cross
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I never felt 'distanced' by Tolkien and Middle Earth in this way.
Anyway, I shall be seeing Narnia on Boxing Day, and looking forward to it, especially comparing the battle scenes which I always found the most thrilling part of LotR. Tilda Swinton is an extremely interesting actress, the parallels with Cate Blanchett are valid, I think, and I'm intrigued to see what she makes of Jadis. I also wonder how the film compares to an RSC stage production of Lion, Witch and Wardrobe I saw in London few years ago, which was excellent...