Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Which way is up for The Golden Compass?
The first of Phillip Pullman's 'Dark Materials' trilogy, The Golden Compass, is about to premier as a film next week starring Nicole Kidman. There's been a firestorm of controversy brewing about the film claiming that it is promoting atheism. Well, at least that's the word on the streets and online; reality is a bit more complex.
First point: It's a fantasy world, similar to ours but in another dimension. One of the great aspects of the story is the juxtaposition of what we recognize in our world and those in main character Lyra Silvertongue's world. They fly motorized zeppelins and have harnessed electricity for some uses, but don't have automobiles and use kerosene lamps. Oh yes, and there are talking armored bear warriors. While the image of 'the church' as an authoritarian entity run amok comes through, owing that this is a parallel (fantasy) world the relationship of this church and those of our real world is highly allegorical. Frankly, I thought the books could've just as easily been an allegory for the Reformation as atheism.
The biggest issues seem to focus on Pullman's personal atheism (or agnosticism) as revealed in some interviews, and moreover that this film is a plot to get children enthused about the books after seeing the film. The notion put forth by the Catholic League and others is that the film waters down the anti-Catholic/anti-Christian messages in the book. They fear parents will innocently buy the remaining books for their kids, who will be brainwashed into doubting the presence of God.
Even the folks at FOX News note in their typically 'unbiased' piece that: "The anti-religious themes get progressively stronger with each book in the trilogy; in the final installment, the characters succeed in killing a character called God — who turns out to be a phony, and not God after all."
Um. . . so they don't kill God after all, I guess?
A note to the folks at Fox, the external animal spirits in the book (souls in our world) are called daemons, not demons, which sorta maybe has a satanic ring to it, but why quibble?
The funny thing is atheist groups are angry with the studio for what they consider a watering down of Pullman's anti-God storyline. This caused the author to quip that, "This must be the only film attacked in the same week for being too religious and for being anti-religious -- and by people who haven't seen it."
And here I thought the Christian right had better things to do in December, like complain about the plot to once again take Christ out of Christmas. Just remember folks, an anagram for 'Santa' is 'Satan'. . . I'm just sayin'.
Happy Holidays!!
The first of Phillip Pullman's 'Dark Materials' trilogy, The Golden Compass, is about to premier as a film next week starring Nicole Kidman. There's been a firestorm of controversy brewing about the film claiming that it is promoting atheism. Well, at least that's the word on the streets and online; reality is a bit more complex.
First point: It's a fantasy world, similar to ours but in another dimension. One of the great aspects of the story is the juxtaposition of what we recognize in our world and those in main character Lyra Silvertongue's world. They fly motorized zeppelins and have harnessed electricity for some uses, but don't have automobiles and use kerosene lamps. Oh yes, and there are talking armored bear warriors. While the image of 'the church' as an authoritarian entity run amok comes through, owing that this is a parallel (fantasy) world the relationship of this church and those of our real world is highly allegorical. Frankly, I thought the books could've just as easily been an allegory for the Reformation as atheism.
The biggest issues seem to focus on Pullman's personal atheism (or agnosticism) as revealed in some interviews, and moreover that this film is a plot to get children enthused about the books after seeing the film. The notion put forth by the Catholic League and others is that the film waters down the anti-Catholic/anti-Christian messages in the book. They fear parents will innocently buy the remaining books for their kids, who will be brainwashed into doubting the presence of God.
Even the folks at FOX News note in their typically 'unbiased' piece that: "The anti-religious themes get progressively stronger with each book in the trilogy; in the final installment, the characters succeed in killing a character called God — who turns out to be a phony, and not God after all."
Um. . . so they don't kill God after all, I guess?
A note to the folks at Fox, the external animal spirits in the book (souls in our world) are called daemons, not demons, which sorta maybe has a satanic ring to it, but why quibble?
The funny thing is atheist groups are angry with the studio for what they consider a watering down of Pullman's anti-God storyline. This caused the author to quip that, "This must be the only film attacked in the same week for being too religious and for being anti-religious -- and by people who haven't seen it."
And here I thought the Christian right had better things to do in December, like complain about the plot to once again take Christ out of Christmas. Just remember folks, an anagram for 'Santa' is 'Satan'. . . I'm just sayin'.
Happy Holidays!!
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