the golden compass is the anti-narnia

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 1:56am

i dont know if this has already been discussed, but after a friend told me about philip pullman's real message i am definitely not going to see "golden compass".

Philip Pullman, who wrote the "His Dark Materials" trilogy of which "The Golden Compass" is the first book and an upcoming movie, is a proclaimed aetheist.

These books are the anti-Narnia, Pullman hates CS Lewis - he has said in interviews that he doesnt think it is possible that there is a God and the word "spiritual" has no context in the modern world. He calls Christianity "a very powerful and convincing mistake."

But more disturbing is that the central plot of the final book in the series is of a boy and girl (meant to represent Adam and Eve) who succeed in murdering a character named Yahweh.

In 2003 he said in an interview that his books are "about killing God" and the trilogy is about "trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief."

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 2:08am

Who is "God" again?

[mateo]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 2:12am

...or you can see it this weekend at a theatre near you.

Get your tickets at the door or beat the lines with Fandango: http://www.fandango.com/movies/1/movieoverview.aspx?mid=109296&

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 2:20am

Do your impression of seeing it at a theater near you.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 2:20am

Do your impression of seeing it at a theater near you.

[PhebusApollo]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 3:40am

Ironically, this book was a required summer reading text during freshman year at my Catholic high school.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 4:01am

I don't see the problem...

The books are WONDERFUL. Really, everyone should take the time to read them.

I'm worried about the film, though...Probably won't live up to the books....

[nitsua]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 4:45am

Who cares? It has Daniel Craig. I'm so there!

PS: I'm athiest and I had no problem enjoying the Narnia books, or the movies.

Updated On: 12/7/07 at 04:45 AM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 8:32am

Yea, it's always to shock to find that not all people share your own personal religious view.

This just in: Apparently, some people are born with brown skin. Probably just a rumor.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 8:33am

mr. matt i will not have you poisoning young and impressionable minds with your "brown skin" nonsense! now admit you made the whole thing up just to get attention and you won't have to go to the shed.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 9:16am

The point is moot. NARNIA got great reviews...the reviews for COMPASS are mediocre at the very best.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 10:10am

Stephanie Zacharek in Salon.com calls it "crap":

"The great bummer is that the movie version of "The Golden Compass" is unlikely to inspire anyone to read anything. Most of what's magical about Pullman's novel has been mechanized, obviously at great expense: It must cost a heap of dough to make animal figures look like they're talking, and there's barely an instant in "The Golden Compass" when you can't hear the money gears turning. This is the kind of movie that was made by throwing dollars at stuff, as opposed to using imagination, thought or even just common sense. Whatever complex or interesting ideas might have been found in the source material have been watered down, skimmed over, mashed into nonsense or simply ignored."

Posted: 12/7/07 at 10:27am

I'm confused- you're not going because the author is an atheist? Do you boycott Woody Allen movies too? What about John Carpenter? Mick Nichols? Joss Whedon? All atheists.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 10:30am

and you are SUCH a shining example of the christian lifestyle, right children&art, DFW, or whatever you call yourself right now.......

do a damn search next time, you lazy oaf.

this has also been discussed by many, MANY librarians in many places in regards to parents wanting the books removed from school libraries, and in some cases burned (how very Nazi of them).

fart, you are such a damn hypocrite.......

[Pippin]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 11:38am

I can't wait to see the movie (obviously, given my current Sig and Avatar.)

The books are amazingly written and it is a beautiful story, more a young girl's journey to find herself in Adulthood than killing God.

Yeah, this movie will turn your kids against God. What a dumb-ass argument. Really. If that is the case, then your faith in God was never great to begin with, if a little movie is going to completely make you turn against your religion.

Atheists who Saw Narnia didn't go right to the church and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, I'm sure. It's a movie, not a theology lesson.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 11:58am

Actually, the reviews are oddly schizophrenic with the more prominent reviewers being very positive about the movie. Ebert gave it four stars (saying it was deeper than Narnia, Potter AND the Rings) and the NYTimes and the GuardianUK also were very positive about the movie. The reason Narnia was well received is because the story is much simpler and it's a beloved 70 year old book every critic had read as a child. If it had been a more "obscure" work like The Golden Compass it would have gotten the same sort of reviews.

Unfortunately a more note perfect and ambitious Golden Compass does not exist because of crackpots like the initial poster, but if it does well the rest of them will get made and will be necessarily more ambitious movies. They will also be better received because audiences and critics will be equipped to follow the characters already.

Americans are bizarre. A lot of church groups LOVE His Dark Materials because it gets kids *gasp* thinking about their beliefs.

[Roninjoey]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:02pm

I think Iorek needs to lay the smackdown on some of those dogmatic, blind followers who dream so blithely of a fascist society. Hope you've got some good bear armor.

Updated On: 12/7/07 at 12:02 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:05pm

Philip Pullman, who wrote the "His Dark Materials" trilogy of which "The Golden Compass" is the first book and an upcoming movie, is a proclaimed aetheist.

These books are the anti-Narnia

Yeah, and? The easy answer is that you just stay in your home in Jesusland and not go to the movie. This news is enough to make me go! Thanks for posting, dfw!

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:08pm

All I know is the extended trailer shows some of the cheapest and cheesiest CGI I have seen in a long while. Terrible stuff!

What is this, 1992?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:16pm

Who cares?! It's got Sam Elliot and Daniel Craig and it's pissing off the Jesus freaks. I'm buying TWO tickets!

[Revolutionary]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:16pm

Oh please. This is a family movie, it's not going to be delving super deep in anti Christian theology. And although it's based on the book, I read that they changed A LOT of it, so it's not going to be like the LOTR movies which basically followed the book chapter by chapter.

Anyway, I have a huge gay crush on Eva Green. She's a dreamboat.

I was going to go to a screening of this last week, but I got held up in class so I didn't get a chance to. They were having screenings left and right for some reason, usually that's a pretty good sign that the movie doesn't suck, right?

[nitsua]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:19pm

MMM... Daniel Craig...

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:19pm

Up next: Entire civilization found beyond the US border. How did it survive? We'll tell you right after this...

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:20pm

You got held up in class? Our children aren't even safe at school since the abolition of school prayer!

[dfwtheatreguy]

Posted: 12/7/07 at 12:21pm

i know people who are not Christian may think my original post was close-minded - but i think that the idea of creating a children's film about rejecting and essentially killing any sort of religion and/or spirituality is morally reprehensible.

the "God" that Pullman kills is not necessarily the Christian God, it's the Supreme Being that any of us worship.

to cloak this message of distain and hatred for any sort of religion in a movie aimed at children is just disgusting - children may not be as firm in their belief systems as adults. i just think that anyone seeing this movie should understand what is really underneath, that's all.

i know there are more than one points of view in the world, but this one seems to be hiding itself behind animated polar bears instead of being direct and honest.