One More On "Golden Compass"

Wow. This "Golden Compass" controversy has really taken flight! In case you missed it, the movie (and books) were deemed "Dark and Dangerous" for presenting anti-religious themes in a child-accessible package. To be fair, it was also cited for comments made by its openly atheist author, Philip Pullman. For myself, the primary effect of the furor was to prompt me to ask Santa for the trilogy. I think I have a good chance of getting it. :-)

The best collection of critical articles were posted over at the Sci Fi Catholic website. They do a great job of listing the legitimate articles written on the movie (and books), all from a Christian point of view. It is an excellent site! On a side note, who knew that there were Catholic-based science fiction websites? I learn things every day!

Finally, and this should be my last post on the subject (until I actually see the movie), here is a five minute preview of the movie. Five minutes can't be too dark and dangerous, right?

I wrote about this topic previously in http://www.filmfodder.com/scifi/archives/2007/11/golden_compass_1.shtml

"Golden Compass" Deemed "Extremely Dark and Dangerous"?
I am fairly positive toward Christianity. Except for some jabs at Laura Mallory for trying to ban Harry Potter (and that Creation Museum post from a few days ago), I typically am on the same side with the Christian community. For example, the global warming folks say that the 'Rapture' crowd is actively trying to destroy the world to bring about the second coming. I say that's a bit crazy! Sure, they welcome the second coming, but purposefully destroying the world is not a part of the prerequisites (as far as I know, at least).

So, when I came across this article on One News Now, I was dismayed. The article (found here) has this line as part of the introduction:

"I plan to review the movie, but I haven't had the opportunity to see it yet. So, in the meantime, here is some information that will help you understand why the film has the potential to be extremely dark and dangerous."
"Dark and Dangerous"? My first thought was - it's just a kid's movie. How can it be dark and dangerous?

So, delving further, the article builds the case that "The Golden Compass" and its source books, Philip Pullman's series "His Dark Materials" may look like a "Narnia" clone, but in actuality, is a vehicle to turn children toward atheism and against Christianity.

I thought that this might be going overboard a bit at this point, as I still see "The Golden Compass" in the view of an epic adventure movie, rather than a subversive attempt by Satan to divert kids from the Church. But, from the comments posted to the article, I was evidently wrong. To wit:

"Warning children of the danger this movie presents to their children's belief in God should be one of your highest priorities!!!"
"This is just another scrimmage in the all out war against Christianity"
"This is just another trick of Satan - I have read the back of the book and we win"
"I will never go see this movie, and will warn others about it, as well"
This was a common theme - much in the way of fear, condemnation and warnings, but very few from people who have actually seen the movie or read the books!. It would seem to me that one would have to know something about the source material before issuing mass condemnations. The commenters were harsh, calling for God to put a stop to the movie, even though they really only had a short article as fuel for their actions.

To be fair, about 10% of the posts were from people who did have some knowledge of the source material. They all agreed (whatever their viewpoint) that Philip Pullman was an excellent author and the stories are well crafted. Some of these were positive, advocating discussion of the movie, and some negative, verifying the athiestic themes present in the books.

I personally think that it looks like a great movie. My interest is increased now that I know that the books were actually very well done (according to the commenters). I have never understood the position that we should stop people from seeing (or saying) something, just because it may offend some segment of the population. In fact, discussion of the thing that may be offensive is exacty what we need to keep society moving forward.

So, when you go see the movie, keep the religious connotations in mind. And, decide for yourself what to think about it!

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