The Golden Compass?

Question

What is all this talk about it being a devil movie and churches are boycotting it? Will someone fill me in?

Answer 1

From everything I've read, the author, Philip Pullman, has said in a great number of interviews he's done over the years that he doesn't believe in God and doesn't understand how anyone else can believe in Him. His books point toward that conclusion, but they don't say it outright. Instead, they paint a picture of a senile, helpless, disinterested God. If He really was that way, why WOULD anyone believe in Him?

I've looked at New Line's site for "The Golden Compass," and it paints a picture of a very dark movie with themes that will be pretty intense for children -- the very ones who are the most likely to see it over and over, if it's worth seeing over and over. Right as the world gets ready for Christmas, Pullman and New Line will have kids delving into witches, child abduction, medical experiments (on the abducted children), etc. I described the movie as gently as I could to my daughter, and even tried to make it sound appealing. She said she'd "maybe" want to see it. I have a feeling that will be the case for a lot of kids, especially in the United States, where most people still believe in God in one form or another. "Killing God" won't go over too well here, but I suspect that in countries where religion has receded more, the reception to the film will be a bit warmer.

Still, at a reported $180 million, "The Golden Compass" will have to sell more than 25 to 30 million tickets worldwide to even begin thinking about recouping New Line's investment. This could be a film of principle for some people, who believe that this is a movie everyone "should" see in order to be enlightened. But Hollywood is still, at its core, a business, and no one will take too well to losing millions of dollars on principle. Those concerned about the movie warping the minds of susceptible young ones may not have to worry much; it may turn out to be a film without a core audience, which may make "The Golden Compass" one of the biggest busts in recent history.

Answer 2

Though I am catholic, I read the whole series last July.

The His Dark Materials Series (The Golden Compass, the Subtle Knife, the Amber Spyglass) is written by Phillip Pullman, a well-known atheist.

*SPOILER WARNING*

In the series, the main character (Lyra) fights the church, along with many of her new friends, the Gyptians, Lee Scoresby, and Iorek Byrnison, among many others.

In the the Amber Spyglass (the final book), God is depicted as a very old angel, and killed. The afterlife is depicted as a prison camp, and ends with the destruction of the Kingdom of Heaven.

The film's anti-Christian themes have been toned down, but it still draws criticism.

Answer 3

The answer can be summed up in one word: Politics. Ok....maybe TWO words: Religious Politics.

Currently, its the Catholic Church who are a-stir against the film "Golden Compass". The Catholic Church contends that because the "Compass" author is atheist, he surely then must be on the sly, promoting his atheist beliefs (an oxymoron if ever were one) on impressionable children.

Did anyone take note that not a single religious church gave stir to "The DaVinci Code" when that film came out?

One better: Remember the Moral Majority controversy in the 70s between them and KISS? MM members loudly proclaimed KISS stood for Knights In Satan's Service.

Yet also loud n' proud in Rock music was--and to this day, is--the band Blue Oyster Cult. Check out their official website and then realize the fact these guys have NEVER faced one stir of protest from ANY religious group. Amazing--but so true.

Bottom line: Its no secret Big Church groups hold out their hand of tithe around successful enterprise businesses. Their mantra: "Tithe well---or we'll denounce you to Hell", which amounts to nothing much more than extortion way I see it.

Interesting to note that all such media saturated protests of such music and film from the "religious right", pretty much backfires--causing profits from such opposed businesses to soar. Leaving little wonder why such protests aren't challenged. One better: whispers theorize such business promoters may even cause or create such controversies.

Answer 4

The author is an atheist. Evidently at least in the book, part of it is about killing God. Or a god, I'm not sure. So some people are upset and making a fuss, which is going to bring more attention to the movie than it would have gotten otherwise.

Answer 5

Basically, it doesn't depict the Church in a very pleasant light and one of the characters is out to kill God (though you don't really find that out in the first book)
In the last book, the Authority, (God) a decrepit and senile angel is accidentally killed by the main character. The Kingdom of Heaven is overthrown and everyone works to build The Republic of Heaven in their own worlds.

Very good books. However, I doubt that the movie will do justice to them.

Answer 6

The book was written by a renowned atheist. Apparently in the book the whole point is to kill God. It's dialed down for the movie. But people love to complain.

Answer 7

Read this from Wikipedia, and click on the link on His Dark Materials:

http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=8cedc0a891d80036&clickedItemRank=4&userQuery=the+golden+compass&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Golden_Compass_%28film%29&title=%3Cb%3EThe+Golden+Compass%3C%2Fb%3E+%28film%29+-+Wikipedia%2C+the+free+encyclopedia&moduleId=matchingsites.jsp.M&clickedItemPageRanking=4&clickedItemPage=1&clickedItemDescription=WebResults

Answer 8

I always check every rumor with urban legends, snopes.com


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

And yes, the movie does have anti-religous themes.