History YMMV / TheProblemOfSusan

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: After a decade of revisionist fairy tales like ''Literature/{{Wicked}}'', ''Series/OnceUponATime'' and especially ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'', Neil Gaiman's efforts here seem pretty cliched and arbitrarily dark. Especially with how RonTheDeathEater is applied to Aslan.

* RonTheDeathEater: Probably the biggest criticism of the story is how much it goes out of its way to demonize Aslan.

** Is Professor Hastings going NeverMyFault to the God that deserted her? If she is really Susan from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' then Susan was the first one who deserted her siblings - since she's not there at the Friends of Narnia meeting and wasn't on the train with them when they died. On the other hand, as Professor Hastings points out, it's DisproportionateRetribution to make her have to identify her brother's body when he was decapitated, with flies buzzing around the corpses.

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied entry into Aslan’s Land due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Neither seem interested in considering C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Susan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a young girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan’s failing in becoming “too keen on being grown-up” was that she had become petty and arrogant. And rather than viewing her as being permanently banished for that like Greta and Hastings do, he had hope Susan would overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”
--> ''“The books don’t tell us what happened to Susan. She is left alive in this world at the end, having by then turned into a rather silly, conceited young woman. But there’s plenty of time for her to mend and perhaps she will get to Aslan’s country in the end…in her own way.”''

** Greta’s nightmare is so over the top with its dark imagery it is hard to take seriously.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: After a decade of revisionist fairy tales like ''{{Literature/Wicked}}'', ''Series/OnceUponATime'' and especially ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'', Neil Gaiman's efforts here seem pretty cliched and arbitrarily dark. Especially with how RonTheDeathEater is applied to Aslan.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: It’s definitely *not* the same target demographic as the original book, specifically due to the explicit sex between Aslan and the White Witch.

** Greta's nightmare has Aslan and Jadis having sex after killing her and her siblings.

** If Professor Hastings isn't Susan, then was her turning to children's literature a means to cope with the trauma of losing her entire family, and the Narnia Books hit too close to home? Meanwhile, the professor just looks back on her life with contentment during her DyingDream.

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied entry into Aslan’s Land due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Neither seem interested in considering C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Susan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a young girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan’s failing in becoming too “grown up” was that she had become petty and arrogant. And rather than viewing her as being permanently banished for that like Greta and Hastings do, he had hope Susan would overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied entry into Aslan’s Land due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Neither seem interested in considering C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Susan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a young girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan’s failing was that she had become petty and arrogant. And rather than viewing her as being permanently banished for those actions like Greta and Hastings do, he had hope Susan would overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied entry into Aslan’s Land due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Neither seem interested in considering C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Susan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a young girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan’s failing was that she had become petty and arrogant. And rather than viewing her as being permanently banished for those actions like Greta and Hastings do, he had hope Susan could overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”

* {{Narm}}: Greta’s nightmare is so over the top with its dark imagery it is hard to take seriously.

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied entry into Aslan’s Land due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Neither seem interested in considering C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Susan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a young girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan had become petty and arrogant. And rather than viewing her as being permanently banished for those actions like Greta and Hastings do, he had hope Susan could overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied entry into Aslan’s Land due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Neither seem interested in considering C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Susan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a young girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan had become petty and arrogant. He also wrote in another letter that he had hope she could overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”

** Greta's nightmare has Aslan and Jadis having sex after killing her and her siblings.

* DeathOfTheAuthor: Greta believes Susan is denied heaven and needs to repent due to “not believing” and “the sin of Eve” (lust/sex). Professor Hastings suggests Susan was being arbitrarily punished for simply “liking nylons and parties”. Both completely ignore C.S. Lewis’ own explanation for why Sudan is excluded: in response to a 1955 letter from a girl named Marcia, he wrote that Susan had become petty and arrogant. He also wrote in another letter that he had hope she could overcome those character flaws and rejoin her siblings, but such a story would be “longer and more like a grown-up novel than I wanted to write.”

* {{Narm}}: Greta’s nightmare is so over the top with its dark imagery it is can be hard to take seriously.

* RonTheDeathEater: Arguably the biggest criticism of the story is how much it goes out of its way to demonize Aslan.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: After a decade of revisionist fairy tales like ''{{Literature/Wicked}}'', ''Series/OnceUponATime'' and especially ''{{Film/Maleficent}}'', Neil Gaiman's efforts here seem pretty cliched. Especially with how RonTheDeathEater is applied to Aslan.

* ShallowParody: Can certainly come across as this nowadays, especially if you are familiar with Lewis' own comments on Susan’s fate.

* {{Narm}}: Greta’s nightmare is so over the top with it’s dark imagery it is can be hard to take seriously.

* RonTheDeathEater: Arguably the biggest criticism of the story is how much it goes out of it’s way to demonize Aslan.

* ShallowParody: Can certainly come across as this nowadays, especially if you are familiar with Lewis’ own comments on Susan’s fate.

* Narm: Greta’s nightmare is so over the top with it’s dark imagery it is can be hard to take seriously.

** [[NightmareRetardent If you aren’t put off by how gratuitous it is]], Greta's nightmare of Aslan and Jadis killing the children. Aslan eats her whole body but just leaves her head!
* RonTheDeathEater: Aeguably the biggest criticism of the story is how much it goes out of it’s way to demonize Aslan.

** Greta's nightmare of Aslan and Jadis killing the children. Aslan eats her whole body but just leaves her head!

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is Professor Hastings going NeverMyFault to the God that deserted her? If she is really Susan from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' then Susan was the first one who deserted her siblings - since she's not there at the Friends of Narnia meeting and wasn't on the train with them when they died. One has to wonder if Professor Hastings is just claiming she was punished as a result of "finding sex" as a way to avoid confronting what she really did in her past.
* NightmareFuel: Greta's nightmare of Aslan and Jadis killing the children. Aslan eats her whole body but just leaves her head!