My girlfriend's mom is a Jewish Messianic and told me yesterday that the movie I watched, The Golden Compass was demonic and is really bad for children to see. She also said that stories like Harry Potter and Lord of the Flies are also demonic. Even Pokemon is demonic because it means Pocket Monster in Japanese and she told me that her friends told her that they have seen Pokemon figures moving by itself during the night because there were little demons living inside those plastic toys. I personally find this very comical but I still listened to her and made her feel that she is right although I think she is going way out of the line in the her knowledge of the spiritual realm.
2007-12-19 09:20:04 · 25 answers · asked by Go For Broke 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I too have seen the Golden Compass, and there is nothing particularly demonic about it. I am sure that your girlfriend’s mom is adamant about the supposed Satanic undertones of the Golden Compass because the Catholic League has recently published articles , is involved in a mass email campaign and is aggressively hitting the talk show circuit stating that the Golden Compass is actually promoting atheism for kids, and teaches kids anti-Catholic propaganda.
From reviews I have read concerning the Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, of which the Golden Compass is based on the first book in the series, there is much criticism explicitly of Catholicism in the books, and Christianity is ridiculed in general. In fact the series ends with a major protagonist killing God. Philip Pullman is a very public atheist and his trilogy, does according to those critics who have read it, have an atheistic bent to it.
Yet, from the commentary written by film critics, the actually cinematic version of the book, “The Golden Compass”, is almost entirely stripped of controversial content. The Magesterium , which in the book actually is an explicit metaphor for the Catholic Church, is turned into a generic totalitarian institution, with no direct connection to Roman Catholicism. The daemons that are paired with all living creatures in the film, and the issue concerning “dust”, which is a preoccupation of one of the main characters, loses its spiritual significance in the film rendition of “The Golden Compass”.
After watching the film for myself, I can say that the film critics were right that the “The Golden Compass” is fairly innocuous as movies go. All the hype about how atheistic the film was is just that, pure hype. The film makers took the easy and cowardly way out and denuded the film of all things that could have the potential to be inflammatory. Besides, when all these religious groups rail against the movie all they are doing is sensationalizing it, and thus making it more popular than ever. Will these people ever understand that the more you forbid something, the more people will want to see it?
2007-12-19 10:27:09 · answer #1 · answered by Lawrence Louis 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Follow your instincts for sure. That nice lady sounds like her elevator might not make it all the way to the top floor.
There is nothing demonic in the movie The Golden Compass. The problem for some fundamentalists is that the author(s) use the term "demon" to talk about the animal spirits of the people in that world.
The original meaning of the word "demon" (daemon) was just SPIRIT, not devil. Of course that's what it means to most people now, but that's not the meaning in this movie. In The Golden Compass it only means "soul" or "essence," and they were represented by different animals.
Besides that, I can definitely see why some fundamentalists don't want people seeing this movie: in the movie a small group of radical conservatives want to control what everybody in their world thinks and believes. They want to separate people from their souls. Sound familiar?
That's pretty much what some radical fundamentalist conservatives want to do today in the real word -- take away our right to think and believe something different from them. I think the movie is warning us that this kind of political control is dangerous and harmful.
2007-12-19 09:25:45 · answer #2 · answered by Acorn 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Grace and peace to you . I have not watched the Golden compass yet, so I can only speak into the broader problem with some of the movies, and how the preach a worldly doctrine. Lets take one example, Night at the museum, the part where robin Williams character intercedes in the dispute between the night watchman and the monkey, He asks "who's evolved, who's evolved,". That is one thing to look at as to why some people have the attitude that your girl's mom has, is that the secular world is always able to preach a Godless point of view at a time and in a way that people are not seeing or realizing they are being preached to, they had just promoted the theory of evolution, with most people unaware . hope this helps you understand her a little better. peace
2007-12-19 09:45:33 · answer #3 · answered by strider 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some people believe that anything mentioning something magical or as far as we know, impossible, believe that things are demonic, or sending out anti-religious messages. The book series that the Golden Compass is in does have anti-religious messages, but they have been cut out of the movie completely. And the daemons in the movie aren't the kind of demons WE think of, they are just like our souls.
Some people just have different beliefs, that's all. If she or anybody else brings that up again, I'd just smile and nod and politely change the subject.
2007-12-19 09:29:54 · answer #4 · answered by Jeet 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Sorry, I just laughed for about 10 minutes.
I hope you really don't believe what she's saying because they are obviously not true. I'm a Christian and I've read and seen The Golden Compass and the rest of the series. I've read and seen all of the Harry Potter series. I love Pokemon.
That is just ridiculous. I'm sure I'd be dead with all the demonic things I've seen. She either has too much fear inside of her or, she's just really, really delusional and needs help immediately.
2007-12-20 13:00:20 · answer #5 · answered by wingedd. 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Religious people are more superstitious, than anyone I can think of.
Granted, there are those, smart enough to understand that this is a work of fiction.
The rest that feel that The golden compass is evil, and that Harry Potter, is evil! Seek help, immediately.
'Lord of t he flies'' does not even apply, here.
2007-12-19 09:47:23 · answer #6 · answered by evictus 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
People often fear what they do not understand and I'm willing to bet that this person never even ATTEMPTED to understand these things due to FEAR of what the MIGHT imply. It is hypocritical to bash something that you have no real knowledge of? On what basis does she consider these things to be evil. The premise of Harry Potter, for example, is about a boy who finds himself under bad circumstances but chooses to fight evil where ever he finds it. Is it evil simply because the story includes magic or doesn't refer to God? No, it is blind criticisms like hers that are truly based in evil as they seek to instill fear based upon assumption and superstition.
2007-12-19 09:29:02 · answer #7 · answered by Rance D 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
That's funny
2007-12-19 09:27:13 · answer #8 · answered by migrainegirl1 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, it is not demonic but it does contain demon characters. Are you going to let your girlfriend's mom of all people make your life decisions?
2007-12-19 09:24:06 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I suggest "The Passion of Christ" then. It is wonderfully stimulating. All the wonders of crucifixion are a delight, well told too! The whipping was truly magnificent and of course to know that it is the absolute truth makes it much more stimulating. No fantasy there. Just plain ole truth.
2007-12-19 09:27:45 · answer #10 · answered by Tricia R 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋