The Golden Compass-Boycotting fine; talking about something you don't know...come on now!?

Question

Spoiler alert! This is for those who plan on never reading the books or seeing all the movies, yet insist on saying they know what it is about.

Myth: The books are about kids killing god.
There is no god mentioned. There is an evil angel called Metatron who takes over after the leading angel goes senile. It specifically says the angels did not create the universes the books are based in.

The kids don't kill him. Adults do-the lead characters parents in fact.

Does this change your viewpoint at all? Or at least will you now phrase your boycott correctly when bashing it?

Problem-the children do not "participate" in the death of the head angel. They witness it. He was senile, being attacked, and dying. The children had nothing to do with his death. Again, he wasn't god anyway.
There is an anti-dogma, authoritarian message in the book-but my question was regarding the whole "kids killing god" nonsense going on.

Answer 1

I didn't realize it was Metatron who takes over. Metatron is the name given to the Voice of God in Catholicism.

Anyway, I think it's a much better soundbite for them to say "Kids kill God" instead of "The parents of the main characters kill an evil angel who usurps power and wants to rule the universe (universes?)."

Answer 2

he author of the book Pullman told the Telegraph newspaper in 2002, "If there is a God and he is as the Christians describe him, then he deserves to be put down and rebelled against. As you look back over the history of the Christian church, it's a record of terrible infamy and cruelty and persecution and tyranny."

The movie version supposedly waters down the anti-religious angle of the books by blandly identifying the bad guys as anyone who oppresses the free choices of others by imposing moral restrictions and intellectual limitations. This is a popular theme in film. From Footloose to Chocolat the "breaking free" movies are popular metaphors celebrating personal freedom. But these movies are generally coming of age stories while The Golden Compass creates a parallel world where the oppressors are thinly veiled leaders of the church, referred to as the Magisterium.

Movie director Chris Weitz has said some of the more contentious ideas have been removed from the film version to make it more acceptable for the general public. However, Weitz noted "there may be some modification of terms. You will probably not hear of the 'Church' but you will hear of the Magisterium. Those who will understand will understand. I have no desire to change the nature or intentions of the villains of the piece, but they may appear in more subtle guises."

Weitz commented on a MTV movie blog, "So, how does one go about adapting a book that has controversial elements into a film that a very wide variety of people can enjoy, without betraying the original? One tries to be clever about it." He continued, "The whole point, to me, of ensuring that The Golden Compass is a financial success is so that we have a solid foundation on which to deliver a faithful, more literal adaptation of the second and third books."

If that's the case, then the next two movies will be even more explicitly anti-God. For instance:

In the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, one of the main characters, Will, is told he possesses a magical knife, "the one weapon in all the universes" that can "defeat the tyrant." That tyrant, of course, is "The Authority. God."
In the third book, The Amber Spyglass, Will is told that "The Authority" has many names, "God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty." These were names God "gave himself" even though "he was never the creator."

One of the final chapters has an ex-nun named Mary telling Will and Lyra, "The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all."

Answer 3

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman is the 1st of darkish trilogy. nevertheless the sequence is truly anti-religious, The Golden Compass is by a strategies the main diffused with the 'assaults.' If any Christians have been to protest, it would look form of stupid for my area, thinking there is not any actual anti-religious importance interior the plot at this factor. Now, if The Amber Spyglass have been to be made right into a action picture - comprehensible to a pair degree, yet it fairly is yet another tale.

Answer 4

Please read what Pullman says about his work....

Pullman. He's never hidden his skepticism about God or his rejection of organized religion. A quick Internet search turns up a 2004 essay he wrote deploring "theocracies" for a newspaper in his native Britain, and his own Web site states that he thinks it "perfectly possible to explain how the universe came about without bringing God into it." "His Dark Materials" features a sympathetic character, an ex-nun, who describes Christianity as "a very powerful and convincing mistake," while "The Amber Spyglass" concludes with the two child heroes participating in the dissolution of "the Authority," a senile, pretender God who has falsely passed himself off as the creator of the universe.

Answer 5

Boycotting that movie is both funny and sad at the same time.

I'm an atheist and have neither read the book, nor seen the movie, but that's because I live in this frickin' god-forsaken country where those will be available in a year or two LOL! But I'll find a way to see what all the fuss is about.
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Answer 6

If you think about it, it really is talking about killing at least the Christian version of god. Anytime you have a message encouraging people to think freely, you jeopardize the control of the local tribal religion over its subjects. The leaders of such cults are smart enough to be able to recognize such threats and will tell their followers anything to get them to spread hatred towards the threats. It's what I call "the harry potter phenomenon" (and i'm trying to get that copyrighted too...) and it happens whenever any real or imagined threats against theocratic control are identified by anyone who may or may not have been serious or intelligent.
If the people actually did their own research into what they were boycotting, do you really think they would go to their dogma-infusion centres in the first place?

Answer 7

The book is decidedly atheist, I believe should not be big deal made about it,just gets more people to see it, want to know what the controversy is about, Perhaps if we would be better Christians full of love for Christ people would see it and want it. We are alot of times trying to impose are teachings on others when the greatest teacher Jesus did it by love,acceptance,not by judgement and condemnation!

Answer 8

I don't think people truly realize how bad these boycotts and protests make Christians look. People who dislike Christians and Christianity like to throw around words like "ignorant", "judgmental" and "intolerant". Does condemning a movie they've never seen, based on a series of books few of them have read (or even heard of) refute or reinforce these stereotypes?

Answer 9

I doubt that would change anyone's viewpoint. All the paranoia is brought up from people who are insecure in what they believe, thus they fear that a fantasy movie might change their mind.

Answer 10

Do you have stock in this film?
They're still not getting my $7

Have a great day.