Gresham Calls Caspian/Susan Kiss ‘Nonsense’
ChristianityToday has posted an interview with Douglas Gresham (co-producer, Lewis’ stepson). You can read it here.
There is one part of the interview I would like to comment on:
CT: There were early rumors that Eustace, after he becomes a dragon, would fight with the sea serpent. That’s not in the book.
Gresham: Some folks were attracted by the idea that the dragon—Eustace—would earn his redemption by having a huge fight with the sea serpent. But I don’t think that earning one’s redemption is possible. It’s a free gift from Jesus. So that scene is not in the movie. That was a nonnegotiable point for me. [Since this interview, CT has seen the film, and would contest Gresham’s assertion that the dragon Eustace doesn’t have a “huge fight with the sea serpent.” Looked pretty huge from our seat.]
Putting this in context, and keeping past reports in mind, it seems much more likely that Gresham was not denying that DragonEustace fights a sea-serpent. Rather, he was saying that the idea of Eustace earning his redemption was removed from the film. We already know that the writers originally wanted this, but Michael Flaherty (Walden Media president) set them straight (report).
The most interesting part of the interview is when Gresham talks about the controversial kiss between Caspian and Susan at the end of Prince Caspian. He mentions an interview he did with NarniaWeb where he famously advised fans to worry more about global warming than a C/S romance. “I knew there wasn’t going to be a romance,” Gresham says, “but I wasn’t going to say so.” CT mentions the kiss, and Gresham responds: “[…] I agree that it shouldn’t have been in the movie; I think it was nonsense. But it wasn’t something I was going to dig my heels in and scream and bite the carpet about.”
Thanks to ‘Jo-Anna/johobbit.’
I mean this in the sweetess way but, your crazy!
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I still like Susan.
Yes, justice is served. 🙂 So nice to hear Gresham say the kiss was nonsense. I think the worst changes to the PC movie was the change in the characters. They were either modernized or changed so drastically that it made the movie unenjoyable. So much fighting and arguing.
One thing I'm looking forward to in the VDT is the characters seem to be more accurate and it looks more enjoyable of a movie.
slightly off topic :)…but in PC's final scene I couldn't get over the fact that Caspian was wearing a dress!
while book purists had a cow about this barely perceptible attraction, I think the main failure was poor pacing, poor editing, endless battles, zero character development, and ZERO HAPPINESS FACTOR! I walked out of the theater totally bewildered as to what movie franchise I had just witnessed for an excruciatingly long 2 1/2 hrs. I thought there movie had ended multiple times before it actually did, ( after the trees attacked,after the bridge scene, after the reep tail restoration, after the river god, after the parade,) it just felt like it would never end. Then there was only a 30 second victory scene, then more draggy stuff. No sense of elation, or warm wrap up. too much muttering in barely perceptible accented voices. I had no idea what was going on during most of the movie the first time, I can't imagine dragging a kid to that.
yeah, but they are the ones putting their money on the line, not gresham.
I think an attraction first from susan, then later from lucy would have seemed really gross- too incestuous-
maybe the battle was an expansion on the book where eustace finally developed courage and honor enough to attack an enemy instead of being so useless- remember when he broke caspian's second best sword, and the crew was impressed-
which is why the castmembers have said they can't read these boards-
yeah, now if they could only learn the fine art of publicity……
And I disagree, in which we then all can live happily ever after. 😛
that's cause i hadn't read the book before i saw the movie, i had no idea caspian was actually originally only a pup!
wow, that was awesome! well put, sir!
ha ha, i thought the same thing, dang that outfit was dorky looking! ( course you want absurd outfits, dresses on guys, check out the BBC dawn treader version – woof, guys in puffy miniskirts and tights! )
It's called a tunic. And yes I know it's a style for girls today but back then it was in for men! 😉
You people are such losers. Why are there responses that are essays long about a movie that came out years ago?
Especially hsawaknoW, what kind of a lame name is that?
well i dont despise the kiss, i actully thought it was sweet and it added more to the movie, but their wasn't much chemistry between caspian and susan during the movie they never showed any affection to each other until the kiss. They might have added in because caspian actully marries another girl in the VDT and they were just trying to add drama to VDT with caspian and susan.
Yes, but in the book that happens after his undragoning.
Aslan is not Aslan in the films and i am fine with AA should have been fired. However you want to say it. Maybe the best they could do at that moment was just wait him out and fire him after. Either way he crossed the line and that was it for me.
I still like the films only because of the echo of Narnia, but not because they are Narnia. If i think of them as being Narnia then i just dislike them.
Hahaha, rofl, this comment had me in tears. How did Ben Barnes get talked into wearing a silk dress? Hahahaha
I have to say more. I know it is very tricky, but i really think it must be Aslan that comes to him first and not because of anything Eustace did. It is just so important because nothing that you do, not even asking means anything. Eustace looks up lost and confused and not knowing what is going to become of him to see Aslan walking towards him. It is just very important that it be done correctly.
I will wait and see at this point. That is all we can do.
Seriously, geat a life and stop making fun of us Narnians. Alsan Foever
First of all, I don't believe in global warming (gasp! I'm a heretic, I know), and secondly, Suspian was just stupid. It was more than nonsense, and I think it should have been one of the main things Gresham contested. Oh well… and why does he come out just before VDT and say that it was nonsense? Why didn't he talk about it before (unless I missed some previous interview where he did talk about it)?
.
I will say it again, I didn't like the Suspian. Not so much because romance is bad or even beacuse it didn't go along with the book.
I think the real problem is it dimishes Caspian's character. Sure, what girl wouldn't like to fall in love with a prince? But Susan is older in the book. If they would have made Caspian the proper age, there wouldn't have been an issue with put in the romance in or not.
To me the kiss/romance merely made Caspian look like a hopless flirt. When he falls in love with RD in the Voyage, it's supposed to be so sweet because he's NEVER fallen in love and I've always imagined him saying and doing awkward things.
On the other hand, the romance seems a bit undevloped in the film (which I did not notice until the last time I watched the movie). I had always felt there was something missing and after watching the deleted scenes I realized that they hadn't built Susan and Caspian's relationship enough. The romance felt rushed. It's like they meet each other…great we all know they instantly like each other and then it seemed suddenly they kiss… I'm not saying I like the romance, but since they did put it in there, I wish it were just a bit more developed.
I personally thought the kiss was fine, integrated well with the storyline, and was done tastefully. In fact, it somewhat made sense to me.
good thoughts, I know age is the big issue, which is actually why I don't mind certain things like this, since ALL the kids are actually older than they are in the books, especially now with the 3 years difference between PC and VOTD, the movie versions of these characters will behave differently from those the books, like the adolescent romance. Although I don't remember what Caspian's age was in the book, I was under the impression that he was about the same age as peter, and the fact that they were planning to begin production on VOTD right after PC, and since Caspian "should" age 3 years, I can see why they would make caspian older to begin with. I can't wait to see him as an old man btw.
Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!Amen!
I disliked suspian! BAM! Now What?!
Well stated facts King Tirian!!! 😀
QStheG Caspian chooses star because he truly loves her and got to know her a lot better for months instead of a few days with a queen he didn't get to know. Lilliandil/Caspian is better!
I read somewhere that Susan and Caspian were both suppose to be thirteen in PC, so they were physically the same age. But Susan had also grown-up in Narnia and had even had marriage proposals. Don’t forget this was the same woman a man tried to start a war over when she refused to marry him. So while they’re about the same age physically, in terms of life experience she’s much older. The kiss does not seem like something book Susan would have done because she and Caspian were at such different points in their lives. It seems like the filmmakers ignored her background when they decided to add in this kiss.
Why does everyone consistently blame Caspian for this? He may have been glancing at Susan in practically every scene, but the majority of the flirty dialogue was Susan's and she initiated the final scene and the kiss. The most Caspian did was hug her after the kiss.
I'd agree with pretty much everything Shelly Belly said. After all the dark stuff, we really needed more of a happy ending than just a blink and you'll miss it parade and a short farewell scene. Honestly, it almost felt like when you're writing an essay answer on an exam and there's only a few minutes left and you go from writing an elegant answer to a crappy rushed one just to get finished before the end of time.
I'm fairly certain it's been scrubbed from the internet. Your only chance of viewing it would be if someone saved it to their computer somewhere and I suspect they would get into legal trouble should they post it anywhere.
There is no Lucian outside of the creepy minds of random fangurls writing fanfics on the internet. There's no hint of Caspian being interested in Lucy in the film and it would be thoroughly revolting to even consider doing such a thing.
I relentlessly amused at how many comments this story has gotten.
I don't want to have any dispute with you.We're all have own opininon
I kind of have to wonder whether those who are criticizing Mr. Gresham actually read the interview. He makes it very clear that he saw the "silly" kiss as pretty insignificant and irrelevant in the larger scheme of the story. Yet, some people are making it sound as if he was very concerned about and absolutely hated the kiss, which gives the impression that he was being two-faced in the publicity for PC because he didn't complain about it then. Why should he have? If this was something that he thought destroyed the film, then of course he would have been two-faced if he still acted as if the film was great. However, we have no evidence that he was covering up his real attitude toward the film as a whole just because he didn't want to sink the series.
Beyond this, why do people doubt that he has influence on these films? He is one of the producers after all and spends a great deal of time on set. I have been pleasantly surprised by how many overtly Christian themes they have kept in these films. That is not typical of Hollywood, as I think most will agree. I think that is much better evidence that he does have influence than whether or not a "silly" kiss that he apparently only mildly opposed got in the film too.
Sure, Ultimate Loser, you're right, because anything that is a couple years old is totally irrelevant today. People should only talk about what is current, because the past has no value at all.
What about truly old movies like Citizen Kane and Gone with the Wind. I suppose they wouldn't even deserve a sentence worth of discussion in your eyes?
I'm not blaming him…I am simply saying how it affects his character. Susan was equally to blame. I just feel like it affects Caspian more because he is in the Voayge.
acutally hsawaknoW isn't my only name on Narnia Web. I have about 45 names (some of them very clever) and spend the greater part of my day posting. You may not know this but about 95% of the comments of this topics are acutally me. I even have fake arguments with myself just to entertain people like you!
Me too! So much fuss. 😉 I'm with Mr. Gresham on this. It was pretty silly, but not exactly earth-shattering. 🙂
I'm not trying to dispute with you either, by the way what I said wasn't an opinion it was 100.100.100.100% fact!
Wow! That is a really good point. I had never thought of it before. 😀
I did not like the kiss/romance because I think it made Aslan look foolish. I mean he knows what will happen in the future (as the books make clear) but yet he "allows" the kiss even though he knew they wouldn't see each other again and Caspian was going to meet his future bride. So much for being the wise ruler of Narnia!
ever since the movie came ou, these have been the exact feeling of me and my 2 sisters, who LOVE the movie otherwise. I'm very glad that they decided to change Eustace earning his redemption. And the quote "…it's a free gift from Jesus"…what a great testimony!
true…i hate it when anyone "cheapens or weakens" Aslan!!
WOO HOO FOR GRESHAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't the big deal is. All my friends liked the kiss and I thought it was OK
it's not a big deal for me.. it's lovely 😀
Suspian does = nonsense! Thank you Gresham!
I agree, I hated the kiss, but whatever, atleast he does fall in love with Lilliandil, and it does work out, yes the romance was VERY undeveloped, but it's over, and haven't we discussed this already? I really like Gresham's quote, "it's a free gift from Jesus."
Yea I like what y’all are saying but it was also Disney since they were helping with this PC i think that’s why that was there. you know??
Hi. I was a little confused by Douglas' comments as he said he knew there "wouldn't" be a romance. Was he misquoted? It really bugs me when the relationships between characters are changed for a movie from what they were in the book. Sometimes it works out, but generally it is bad news. I do think it backfired on them as PC did not do as well at the box office, and so many of us die hards don't care for the movie. I was so upset after seeing PC that I didn't even remember there WAS a kiss, lol.
Oh right, PC was a bit younger in PC. I've always thought of him as older than all the kids, but that's because of V of the DT I guess. Still, I thought he was about Peter's age, which would make him older than Susan. Anyway, the romance between them was ridiculous beyond belief! It detracts from the point that C.S. Lewis was making. I have to add that I'm also extremely sad that they didn't develop the PC's Nurse part of the story.
Why? A lot of people were really disappointed in the changes to the novel. It was such a loose adaptation and for me at least, the romance/kiss was the last straw. The Christian symbolism was completely lost, perhaps because they were developing the "love story" which I use loosely, lol. 😉
Amen! I so agree Mr. Gresham! I do understand he has to pick his battles. I'm just very glad that V of the DT will be close to the book with only a few departures. It always amazes me that a book that sells millions of copies suddenly isn't "interesting" enough and needs to be changed for the movie. grr
I wish it could be "over" but it never will be due to it being etched in the movie for all time, for generation after generation to watch. People still need to discuss this topic obviously, which I think is fine to do. It's been brought up again because of Mr. Gresham's comments.