Posted by: @glenwit

So far it's been 2 weeks since the rumour first came out - Greta/Meryl/etc. have yet to confirm or deny this. It also has yet to be corroborated by any reputable source, so I'm not quite sure what to think at this point.

Only 2 weeks? It feels like about 6 months to me by now...  

But yes, true, it has never been properly corroborated. Deadline is, I believe, considered a reputable source, but it's unclear how much of the original story they've confirmed and how. It could still be that they have merely ascertained that Meryl Streep is "in talks" for the possible offer of a major role, BUT there hasn't been any absolute confirmation of which role that is. The original report from Nexus Point News said straight out that Aslan "will be female in the series", but Deadline acknowledged that they had been unable to confirm that detail. So it could be that Aslan will be male but have Streep providing at least part of his voice (for whatever reasons), or that Streep is in fact being considered for a different role and the story has been garbled up.

Meanwhile, I've only just noticed that there is a new episode of the Talking Beasts podcast on this very topic — Meryl Streep Might Play Aslan... How Concerned Should We Be? — so I'll see what they have to say as soon as I have time!

EDITED TO ADD: The Talking Beasts episode (which comes with a video) is really worth watching. Shout-out to @gp, @gymfan15 and @impending-doom for doing such a great job!  

I love how civil the Talking Beast podcast is.  Calmly and thoughtfully discussing the concerns we all have, without fanning the flames of a culture war.  The Narnia community is one of the better/less toxic fandoms and I appreciate that.  🙂

While Meryl Streep might be in consideration for Aslan, I still think there's a chance she's being considered for another role and this is all being blown out of proportion.

One theory I have is that in Gerwig's adaptation, both Streep AND Charlie XCX will play Jadis.  I think Streep could play Jadis for the majority of "The Magician's Nephew" and then — after eating the apple near the end of the movie — she obtains a more youthful appearance and is then played by Charlie XCX. It's not quite what Lewis wrote, but it could be a good way to visually demonstrate the apple prolonging life.  

Posted by: @courtenay

Meanwhile, I've only just noticed that there is a new episode of the Talking Beasts podcast on this very topic — Meryl Streep Might Play Aslan... How Concerned Should We Be? — so I'll see what they have to say as soon as I have time!

EDITED TO ADD: The Talking Beasts episode (which comes with a video) is really worth watching. Shout-out to @gp, @gymfan15 and @impending-doom for doing such a great job!  

 

Posted by: @ghost93

I love how civil the Talking Beast podcast is.  Calmly and thoughtfully discussing the concerns we all have, without fanning the flames of a culture war.  The Narnia community is one of the better/less toxic fandoms and I appreciate that.  🙂

I fully agree about this being worth watching!

Civil and calm, in a situation where it would be easy to engage in flame wars. NarniaWeb wouldn't allow anything really bad, but this podcast is more than just 'not bad', it is actively encouraging quiet and serious discussion.

I join the shout-out to our podcasters!  

Posted by: @varna

I fully agree about this being worth watching!

Civil and calm, in a situation where it would be easy to engage in flame wars. NarniaWeb wouldn't allow anything really bad, but this podcast is more than just 'not bad', it is actively encouraging quiet and serious discussion.

Also, it was really funny without making light of fan concerns. 

Thanks for the kind words @ghost93, @courtenay, @varna, & @col-klink  

If the podcast had been recorded a week or so before, the overall tone would have been much more depressing and not nearly as productive or professional - at least from me!

Posted by: @impending-doom

If the podcast had been recorded a week or so before, the overall tone would have been much more depressing and not nearly as productive or professional - at least from me!

Why is that, if you don't mind me asking? Is it because in the past week you've had more time to process the rumour and are overall a bit less shocked and upset? I've had a similar reaction — I'm finding myself still concerned, but not nearly as aghast as I was when this was first confirmed to be not merely an April Fool's joke.

I wonder if it is still possible to have another actor play Aslan. If Meryl Streep would lose interest in the role or maybe she would want to play someone else there might be some hope that a male actor would be chosen. Hopefully, the negative reaction from fans may cause Meryl and Greta to change their minds.  As far as we know the filming process has not yet begun.

This thought just popped into my head... Greta Gerwig is attached to directing two Netflix Narnia films, correct? We're under the impression that she is beginning with The Magician's Nephew. The second film could potentially be The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. There's no way these adaptations could change the title of the most popular book in the series...right? I doubt we'd see The Lioness, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. If the title remains intact and mentions a lion, perhaps this implies that if Meryl Streep is voicing Aslan, she will be portraying a male version or ambiguous version? Not sure if I'm putting too much weight into this thought, but figured I'd share!

@silverchair for what it's worth, a Lioness is still technically a Lion (i.e. belonging to the species Lion)

"Lioness" is just a linguistic convention for certain use cases, therefore I wouldn't necessarily read too much into the exact terminology used 

Hello, I would like to express my opinion that there are very strong rumors that the American actress will be the voice of Aslan. The truth is that this would be a huge fiasco for the production of the next films, as happened with Snow White, with millions of dollars in expenses so that no one would see the film. This is woke thinking and introduces gender issues.

Posted by: @aslan_arg

This is woke thinking and introduces gender issues.

Hi Aslan_Arg, welcome to the forum!

Just as a quick heads up, the moderator team will probably object to the use of the term "woke" as it can be viewed as a highly charged political term which is likely to cause arguments over it's meaning. But giving you the benefit of the doubt, given that English is probably not your first language (assuming from your profile you are Argentinian) I would like to challenge that founding notion somewhat...

If I'm assuming from the common definition of "woke" to mean "artificially adding diversity for the sake of diversity" I really don't think that's what is going on here...

The Magician's Nephew as a story already has a strong female lead (Polly) and an iconic female villain (Jadis), so a Female Aslan doesn't really gain you any diversity points in that area.

Plus Meryl Streep, as a white American actress, also isnt gaining the production any diversity points in terms of ethnic representation.

Therefore, I really think that the only reason Greta Gerwig would chose to give Aslan a female voice would be if she felt she had genuine artistic reasons to do - whether those be visual, acoustic or thematic reasons.

The debate as to whether any such interpretations are valid artistic moves is definitely up for discussion, however I really don't think the blanket "woke" criticism really sticks here.

Welcome to NarniaWeb Forum, @aslan_arg!

@icarus is correct when he says that we avoid the use of the term "woke" in our NarniaWeb communities. Even though the person using the word may not mean it in a political sense, it's still a politically-charged term and we ask that our members share their thoughts in ways that will be less likely to be misunderstood and/or stray into political discussion (which isn't allowed on NarniaWeb).

Now, back to the topic at hand...

I think my favorite fan theory that I've seen so far was that the Meryl Streep/female Aslan idea is being pushed by Netflix executives, and the source of the report is in fact Gerwig who wants to show Netflix just how much the internet will oppose it. Honestly, I still find the timing quite strange, given how it was literally April Fools' Day in parts of the world.

Posted by: @icarus

Therefore, I really think that the only reason Greta Gerwig would chose to give Aslan a female voice would be if she felt she had genuine artistic reasons to do - whether those be visual, acoustic or thematic reasons.

The explanation that I would respect the most would be if she just felt that no other actor, man or woman, has as regal a voice as Meryl Streep. Mind you, I wouldn't really relate to that reasoning.  I think there are lots of other actors and actresses just as great as Streep or better, but I could sympathize with the basic idea. 

Posted by: @icarus

Therefore, I really think that the only reason Greta Gerwig would chose to give Aslan a female voice would be if she felt she had genuine artistic reasons to do - whether those be visual, acoustic or thematic reasons.

I've been thinking about it too, and the only reason that comes to mind (especially considering, as you say, adding another female character and using a white American actress doesn't up the diversity factor) is that it's some kind of theological statement — we've had too many male representations of divinity down the ages, so let's have a female one for a change. Which... well, there are those of us who wouldn't necessarily object to a female divine character in a totally different fictional fantasy world. But this is Narnia, and Narnia is firmly based on Christianity, and everyone — I mean EVERYONE — knows that Aslan is a representation of Jesus. That was Lewis's explicit intention, and he never made any secret of it, so it's not as if it's a mere fan theory.

And that's what I just don't get. Greta Gerwig has certainly focused on women's stories and women's issues in her previous films, and I'm guessing she most likely wouldn't object to directing a fantasy movie that included a female divine character. But... in every comment she's made publicly so far about Narnia and about Lewis himself, she's shown nothing but complete respect for this well-known fantasy world and its author. Not even a veiled hint of "Well, of course these books were written a long time ago and we're going to have to think about how to make them fresh and relevant for today's audiences." Let alone "I'm planning to reinterpret the character of Aslan in a way that is totally new and exciting..."

Regardless of what else her plans are, she must have known that even the suggestion of making Aslan female (or outwardly male but voiced by a woman) would instantly drive the entire Narnia fandom — which isn't insignificant in size — into an absolute frenzy and stir up a firestorm of criticism and most likely alienate a HUGE proportion of her core audience before she's even started filming. Regardless of how much artistic or theological sense a female (or feminised) Aslan may make to the auteur — if that really is what she's decided to do — it does NOT make good business sense.

For the most part, I'm still just completely baffled and mostly still in the denial stage — or the I-honestly-don't-know-what-to-think stage — but then just earlier this evening, I read this...

Posted by: @rose

I think my favorite fan theory that I've seen so far was that the Meryl Streep/female Aslan idea is being pushed by Netflix executives, and the source of the report is in fact Gerwig who wants to show Netflix just how much the internet will oppose it.

Honestly, Rose, I reckon that makes more sense than any other theory I've heard or thought of so far!!   Well, sure, it still doesn't sound very likely on the face of it, but neither do any of the other theories that are being bandied about out there... 

Posted by: @rose

I think my favorite fan theory that I've seen so far was that the Meryl Streep/female Aslan idea is being pushed by Netflix executives, and the source of the report is in fact Gerwig who wants to show Netflix just how much the internet will oppose it. 

That actually makes so much sense and now I’d really love for that to be the case lol!

Something else I thought of the other day that I don’t think I’ve seen suggested here yet — what if she’s being considered as a narrator and wires got crossed somewhere regarding her playing an omniscient role? That I would certainly be fine with, and it’s also one of the few roles I can imagine would merit calling in as big a name as Meryl Streep for because it would likely be throughout rather than a smaller part like Aunt Letty. It would be interesting to see a live adaptation of Narnia that retains some of the narration by Lewis, which in a way feels like a whole character of its own.