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'A Wrinkle in Time' Screenwriter Explains Why She Omitted Christian Themes

  • Veronica Neffinger

    Veronica Neffinger wrote her first poem at age seven and went on to study English in college, focusing on 18th century literature. When she is not listening to baseball games, enjoying the…

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  • Updated Mar 13, 2018

Madeleine L’Engle’s popular children’s book A Wrinkle in Time was recently made into a movie. The book contains many Christian themes and also includes several Bible verses and references to Jesus, but the film’s screenwriter decided to leave all of that out.

According to The Christian Post, Jennifer Lee (who was also the screenwriter for Frozen) said she left out Christian themes because she wanted the film to be more “inclusive.”

"What I looked at, one of the reasons Madeleine L'Engle's [book] ... had that strong Christian element to it wasn't just because she was Christian, but because she was frustrated with things that needed to be said to her in the world and she wasn't finding a way to say it and she wanted to stay true to her faith," Lee explained.

And I respect that and I understand those feelings of things you want to say in the world that need to be said that are out there. In a good way, I think there are a lot of elements of what she wrote that we have progressed as a society and we can move onto the other elements,” she continued.

Although the book explicitly mentions that Jesus is a fighter of evil and the main character, Meg, is strengthened by Scripture verses, Lee believes her decision to omit all these references is justified.

"In a sad way, some of the other elements are more important right now and bigger — sort of this fight of light against darkness. It's a universal thing and timeless and seems to be a battle that has to keep being had," she said.

The film has not received a very favorable rating from critics or audiences, however, which perhaps calls Lee’s decision into question.

 

Publication date: March 13, 2018