Prince Caspian: Ben Barnes & why is he so old?

I know...I just vented on another forum...

NOw I thiink I need to vent here..

IHATEPOLITICALANALYSTSIHATEITWHENPEOPLERUINMOVIESIHATETOMCRUISEIHATEHILLARYCLINTONIHATEGEOMETRYIHATETHATEDEREKMCGINTYIHATESNAKESIHATECOCKROACHESIHATEITTHATCASPIANISSOOLDWHYDOESNTPRUNAPRISMIAHAVEREDHAIRIFTHEYKEEPCHANGINGDIRECTORSTHENTHEMOVIESMIGHTBEMESSEDUPLIKEHARRYPOTTERTHISBETTERNOTBEASBADASERAGONIAMNOTGOINGTOSTANDFORSUSANCASPIANIWILLDIEIFTHATHAPPENSBRUSSELSSPROUTSAREDISGUSTINGIHATETHISNEWSIAMSOMADREALLYMADIHOPETHEYDONTRUINTHEMOVIETHISSUCKSSSSOBADIHATETHISWHYISHESOOLDCASPIANISAKIDANDHESMYFAVORITECHARACTERIAMVERYVERYVERYVERYMADNOWTHELEMONYSNICKETMOVIEISSTARTINGTOLOOKABSOLUTELYAMAZINGANDPERFECTLYADAPTEDAFTERALLOFTHISTHISSUCKSWHATNEXTARETHEYGOINGTOMAKEEUSTACEANDJILLTOOOLDTHISSUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:mad::mad::mad:
 
In my humble opinion...there are some people you don't give a chance to cause it's OBVIOUS they are wrong for the part ! I mean 11 years ?????? And these aren't years like...35-45 where its hard to tell the age...a kid, being played by a 25 year old ??

I have nothing against Ben, I just don't think he's right for the part of Prince Caspian! At least we know for sure he can't possibly be like the one from the book...the kid who begs Cornelius to tell him about the "Old Narnia" and needs to be warned "Why would it matter if aunt Pruniprismia has a son?" Can you imagine 25 year old doing that ? No..no...no NO! And he LOOKS 25 to me, gosh darn it.

FACE THE FACTS: he's cast this old JUST for the romance between him and Susan! THEY'RE OUT TO DESTROY NARNIA!! ANDREW ADAMSON IS MIRAZ IN DISGUISE...changing Narnia to how HE WANTS IT!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHH . Haha, just kidding...but yeah....
 
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Right on, MoonlightDancer. HE IS WAY TOO OLD. And from what I read on narniaweb from Caspiankid's experience auditioning, Caspian is supposed to be a bit more egotistical, and cocky in the movie. :confused: WHAT THE SCHNITZEL DOES THAT MEAN?!?!?! CASPIAN IS SUPPOSED TO BE SWEET AND INNOCENT, YET VERY HEADSTRONG!! COCKY?! WHAT THE....?? THEY'VE RUINED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad:

*Sigh*First they ruin Harry Potter. Then ERAGON. NOW THIS??!!?!? *waits for The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix to become a movie...THEY'D BETTER NOT RUIN THAT EITHER!*

And if Inkheart sucks...well, I'll be REALLY mad.
And if The Spiderwick Chronicles sucks...I'll be INFURIATED!
And if Coraline sucks...I'll go HYSTERICALLY BERSERK!!
And if The Giver sucks...well, I'll either be LOCKED IN A WHITE PADDED ROOM FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, or I'LL JUST DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if I won't be in a padded room after PC...

RUINED
RUINED
RUINED
RUINED
my BELOVED CASPIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I'm kind of inclined to be skeptical. A 25 year old Caspian in PC? He's supposed to be like 12 or so. It'd make more sense in VOTDT, though 25 is even old for Caspian in that one (who's supposed to be around 18 or so, I think).

And a Susan/Caspian thing? Even if it's just flirting, I'm not too excited about it. I heard they're adding a lot, and if the above things are any indication, well, let's just say I hope they don't mess up the movie adaptation of one of my favorite books in the series. I'm going to give them a chance, but as I said before, I'm skeptical...
 
Alambil and Tarvis said:
Right on, MoonlightDancer. HE IS WAY TOO OLD. And from what I read on narniaweb from Caspiankid's experience auditioning, Caspian is supposed to be a bit more egotistical, and cocky in the movie. :confused: WHAT THE SCHNITZEL DOES THAT MEAN?!?!?! CASPIAN IS SUPPOSED TO BE SWEET AND INNOCENT, YET VERY HEADSTRONG!! COCKY?! WHAT THE....?? THEY'VE RUINED MY FAVORITE CHARACTER!!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad::mad::mad:

*Sigh*First they ruin Harry Potter. Then ERAGON. NOW THIS??!!?!? *waits for The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix to become a movie...THEY'D BETTER NOT RUIN THAT EITHER!*

And if Inkheart sucks...well, I'll be REALLY mad.
And if The Spiderwick Chronicles sucks...I'll be INFURIATED!
And if Coraline sucks...I'll go HYSTERICALLY BERSERK!!
And if The Giver sucks...well, I'll either be LOCKED IN A WHITE PADDED ROOM FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, or I'LL JUST DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if I won't be in a padded room after PC...

RUINED
RUINED
RUINED
RUINED
my BELOVED CASPIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Alambil and Tarvis, its alright. I know how u feel. Take deep breathes and get a drink of water and u will be fine.
 
TrueNarnianForever said:
uhh...u guys are overeacting.........................
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Okay, I might be overreacting a bit. I haven't even seen the guy act. But you don't understand how strongly I feel about Caspian, and how this casting is so detrimental to the character that Lewis himself created. He is pretty much my favorite human character in the whole series. I've had this certain image of him for years as a sweet, innocent, humble boy, much like the young King Arthur in the Disney cartoon.

Plus, Lewis intentionally made him a kid to emphasize his humility. It's mentioned at least twice in the book that Caspian is "just a kid". Caspian even says this himself to Aslan at the end of the book, when he says that he is not sure if he can be king. This is a pivotal scene, b/c it highlights the great contrast b/t Caspian and Miraz as people and as leaders. Where Miraz is proud, arrogant, overbearing, and inwardly cowardly, Caspian is extremely humble (a quality that links him to Aslan, b/c Aslan is epitomy of humility), considerate of others, and has a quiet bravery to his spirit. Here is the scene which I am talking about:

"Welcome, Prince," said Aslan. "Do you feel yourself sufficient to take up the Kingship of Narnia?"

"I--I don't think I do, Sir," said Caspian. "I'm only a kid."

"Good," said Aslan. "If you had felt yourself sufficient, it would have been a proof that you were not..."

You see, Aslan praises Caspian's admittance being "only" or "just a kid". This humility was obviously of high priority on Lewis's part on his creation of the character. I understand that an older Caspian can still be portrayed humbly, but there is a certain natural innocence and humility that children possess without any kind of effort on their part. In addition, Lewis believed that children often had better insight into the Truth than adults did because of this innocence and because of their openness to everything. (Take the part in the book when Lucy sees Aslan, but her older siblings do not, because they rationalize too much.) I believe these factors were a major part of Lewis's creation of Caspian, and that these are what influenced him to make the main characters of Narnia children. It is an essential asset to Lewis's beliefs about children that Caspian himself is a child. It also may be a connection to the humility of the Christ Child and that of young King David fighting Goliath. It was this humility and open faith, the humility that only one with the spirit of a child possesses, that enabled David to kill Goliath, and it is on this humility that Christ stressed to his followers to base their lives on. Lewis, as a devout Christian, would've wanted to make this clear through his writing. Lewis seems to be a clear believer in Christ's statement that we must become like children (in spirit) in order to be welcomed into the kingdom of heaven. That is why it is so important that Caspian be a boy. He is worthy of Kingship and worthy of admittance into Aslan's Country in The Last Battle because of his childlike innocence and humility. It is much easier to portray such childlike humility by using a younger actor, even one who is Will's age.

Caspian, in a sense, is like Lucy's character because of his innocence and humility and openness to what everyone else thinks are fairy tales. Lucy believes in Narnia when her siblings do not. Caspian believes in Old Narnia when all of Telmar does not. Also, on the subject of actors, think of Georgie Henley's portrayal of Lucy. It perfectly embodied Lucy's innocence partly because Georgie was the right age for the part. To a point, Ben Barnes could pull off such innocence, but it would be much more difficult to do so because he simply is not a child and does not have that natural aura of childhood "sweetness" that Georgie has. He could be an excellent actor, but Caspian's essential core character would never be the same, because that childlike innocence just would not be there.
 
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Of course I'll give him a chance. I'm just disappointed because I think Caspian would be much BETTER done if he were a young boy, for the reasons I already stated.

However, if Ben stinks as an actor, I guarantee I will vent again.
 
Yeah, well I don't doubt that he'll be at least an okay actor. And PC probably will be great, because...it just will be. But if it goes completely haywire, Georgie Henley and Liam Neeson will save it from being a total loss.

However...if they ruin Reepicheep, no one will EVER hear the end of it from me. EVER. And I mean that. My anger will be expressed on my siggy for as long as I am on these forums.
 
I'm not going to judge the film one way or the other before I see it. I'm sure Andrew will make PC a great film. That said, according to the Narnian timeline, Caspian was born in the Narnia year of 2290. He defeated king Miraz and became king of Narnia in 2303 making him 13 at the time. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader took place between 2306 - 2307 when Caspian was 16 - 17 years old. I think this thought was partially behind the casting of Caspian. Since the two films are going to be filmed back-to-back, they needed someone who could carry the older age as well. I'm sure Ben Barnes would have no trouble playing a 17 year old character and even resembling one. So since Edmund and Lucy will look pretty much the same and not 3-4 years older as they are supposed to be in the VOTDT, they wanted to keep a consistancy in the ages being played. At least that's my theory. Now whether it was the right thing to do, I'll leave that for others to decide.
 
MoonlightDancer said:
In my humble opinion...there are some people you don't give a chance to cause it's OBVIOUS they are wrong for the part !

FACE THE FACTS: he's cast this old JUST for the romance between him and Susan!
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good point.

Alambil and Tarvis said:
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I agree with your post on the child/humility thing. Like I said earlier- that is the reason why Lewis said humans from here are TOO OLD for Narnia.

Alambil and Tarvis said:
Of course I'll give him a chance. I'm just disappointed because I think Caspian would be much BETTER done if he were a young boy, for the reasons I already stated.

However, if Ben stinks as an actor, I guarantee I will vent again.
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I'm extremely disappointed, and if Ben's acting does not live up to the standards then, I think I shall become Anti-Barnes. It's not that I'm not willing to give Ben a chance, it's just that the gigantic age factor plays a huge part in how I personally feel about him.

Aslan13 said:
I think it is the shock of age not acting skills
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NM (in your above post #403), I think you just put some things into (a little more) unbiased perspective for me.....

As much as I HATE to admit it, I think I am biased against this man. (Not boy.. man)

*sigh*
 
WEll yeah, it's like...I just don't think they are taking the Prince Caspian book seriously, as Alambil and Tarvis said...it's all about the BOY Caspian. AND HOW WILL IT MAKE SENSE when Susan and Peter are told they are too old for Narnia and then Caspian who is older than them both stays??

Casting him is a total disrespect towards Lewis who emphasized the BOY! BOY KID BOY not MAN.:mad:

I don't think I'm over reacting. Narnia has always been very important to me, and it's sad that they don't even care about the book. I guess what I'm saying is they are going this far, they obviously don't care, so how many more changes are they going to make???
 
MoonlightDancer said:
HOW WILL IT MAKE SENSE when Susan and Peter are told they are too old for Narnia and then Caspian who is older than them both stays?
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You have to remember that Peter and Susan can't go from their world (Earth) to Narnia, because they are too old, but Caspian's world is Narnia.
 
ABright5 said:
You have to remember that Peter and Susan can't go from their world (Earth) to Narnia, because they are too old, but Caspian's world is Narnia.
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Yes, Caspian isn't from the outside world. He has to grow old, doesn't he? For the events in Silver Chair to take place.

This whole conversation reminds me of reading a thread about Georgie Henley, when it was announced she was the lucky girl who got to play Lucy, and EVERYBODY was horribly upset by her. And just think, she ended up being a perfect Lucy, and by far the best actor out of the Pevensie children.
 
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