Golden Compas

[yungblood6]

I just got back from seeing the Golden Compas movie. I enjoyed it, but what i want to know if any one can help me with is whats this big religious debate that every one keeps talking about that is stopping people from seeing this movie? Maybe i was just too into the movie to see what they are talking about.

 

[Dbomb3]

i think the story is written by an atheist er somthing, thats what i heard.

 

[kronau]

it was sapposed to give out the message that there is no god so i didint go see it

 

[biohazard1]

well thay call thows thangs demonds thats why

i hated the ending thow

 

[cassieboo]

well if they are sending out a message that there is no god i could see why people wouldn't go see it & why parents wouldn't let their kids see it.

 

[Adamquest64]

That's dumb. It's called "The Golden Compass", not "God's Happy-Time Christian Adventure."
People shouldn't be so offended, it's a work of fiction. You know, like the Bible.

 

[Mc_Evan]

Lol .^

 

[Syntax]

A children’s fantasy film that stars Nicole Kidman and features a little girl on a quest to kill God has some Christian groups upset over what they believe is a ploy to promote atheism to kids.

The movie, “The Golden Compass,” is adapted from the first novel in a trilogy called “His Dark Materials” by English author Philip Pullman, an outspoken atheist. Critics fear that the film, due out in December, will encourage children to read the anti-Church series.

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"These books denigrate Christianity, thrash the Catholic Church and sell the virtues of atheism," said Bill Donohue, president and CEO of the Catholic League.

The film itself is unlikely to offend — because New Line Cinema has tried to keep religion out of it, focusing on the story of a little girl named Lyra and her journey within a strange, parallel universe.

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"'The Golden Compass' is an entertaining fantasy about love, courage, responsibility and freedom," a New Line spokesman said. "We look forward to the Dec. 7 opening."
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o 'The Golden Compass'

But the removal of the Godless themes from the movie has some Christian organizations seething.

"They’re intentionally watering down the most offensive element,” Donohue said. “I'm not really concerned about the movie, [which] looks fairly innocuous. The movie is made for the books. ... It's a deceitful, stealth campaign. Pullman is hoping his books will fly off the shelves at Christmastime."

Some atheists and fans of the books aren't happy, either. They say the studio has caved to pressure from the Christian right by sanitizing the tale for the big screen.

In "Compass," the curious 12-year-old protagonist, Lyra (played by British newcomer Dakota Blue Richards), stumbles on an adventure very close to home when she overhears talk of an amazing substance called Dust, which can unite the world but is so feared that many are scrambling to eradicate it.

Lyra travels to an alternative universe where everyone has a spiritual alter-ego, or demon, in animal form — and she goes there not knowing what she'll find or what her role will be. In her quest for the truth, she receives a magical golden compass that has the answers for those savvy enough to decipher it. Kidman plays Mrs. Coulter, who turns out to be Lyra's mother; Daniel Craig (the current James Bond) co-stars as her "uncle" Lord Asriel — who is really her dad.

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. The series has soared to the top of bestseller lists in the U.K. and other countries but has not caught on in the United States.

The Catholic League has mounted a PR campaign against the movie after researching Pullman's own writings about his series. The organization has published a pamphlet called "'The Golden Compass': Unmasked," which is for sale on its Web site.

Evangelical groups like The Christian Film and Television Commission, run by Ted Baehr, and James Dobson's Focus on the Family say they're taking a wait-and-see approach to the movie, although Baehr has plenty to say about the literary version of the series. (Both Baehr and Donohue say they've read "The Golden Compass" and had staff members read the other two.)

"I don't think a boycott will be effective. We have to see the film before we make that evaluation," Baehr said. "We'll put out writings on the book. Children who buy into this are going to be trapped in a sad, desperate world."

Pullman, a co-screenwriter on the project, hasn't commented much on the controversy, but in an interview last week with the Western Mail, a Welsh newspaper, he defended the movie version of his fantasy.

“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," he said. "I have very friendly and happy relations with the filmmakers, and I'm very happy with what they are doing."

Trade publications like The Hollywood Reporter and Variety have been buzzing for years about New Line Cinema's deliberate attempts to water down the movie version in anticipation of the backlash from faith-seeking moviegoers. The film has been in the works since 2004.

Chris Weitz, the movie's director and co-screenwriter, wrote on a "Dark Materials" fan site three years ago about the push-and-pull at the studio, according to film source IMDB.com. Followers of the writer's trilogy had been complaining in chat rooms about the news that the first movie would be stripped of its down-with-religion references.

New Line "expressed worry about the possibility of perceived anti-religiosity" and instructed those making the movie that if the Godless themes stayed put, the project would turn "unviable, financially," Weitz wrote in December 2004 on Bridgetothestars.net. In those discussions, he said, Pullman suggested that the Church and God in his trilogy could become "any arbitrary establishment that curtails the freedom of the individual."

"You will probably not hear of the 'Church,'" the director wrote, sparking one fan to retort that Hollywood had engaged in a "blatant cop-out to the Bible Belt of America."

Pullman has not been shy in the past about verbalizing his beliefs — or, some might say, nonbeliefs — and his intentions in writing the "Dark Materials" novels.

The novelist has said they are in response to C.S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia," the popular children's fantasy series of which "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is the first book — written by Lewis to teach Christian ideals to kids.

"I loathe the 'Narnia' books," Pullman has said in previous press interviews. "I hate them with a deep and bitter passion, with their view of childhood as a golden age from which sexuality and adulthood are a falling away." He has called the series "one of the most ugly and poisonous things" he's ever read.

In spite of complaints about the forthcoming film, Pullman fans and atheists are still excited about the exposure it will give his novels. They say the American literary market is sorely lacking material for those who don't believe in God, and they scoff at the idea that the series is hazardous to children.

"Philip Pullman and I would say it is religion that poisons everything," said Annie Laurie Gaylor, co-president of the atheist advocacy group the Freedom From Religion Foundation, and a co-host of Freethought Radio, a talk show that recently went national on Air America Radio.

Gaylor said her now-18-year-old daughter read the "Dark Materials" books "over and over" when she was a middle-school student about the same age as the heroine.

"What this book is about is casting off Church authority," Gaylor said. "I think it's very, very positive. There should be something for freethinking children. It's a very good yarn."

Others believe that the uproar over atheist themes and their absence from the movie is much ado about nothing, because children and parents will form their own interpretations anyway.

One thing "Compass" debaters seem to agree on is the quality of Pullman's writing; even his critics begrudgingly praise his prose. Donohue, for instance, calls him "very talented."

"The writing of his 'Dark Materials' is so masterful that it is bound to spark the spiritual imagination of anyone who reads it," said Craig Detweiler, co-director of Reel Spirituality, a pop culture and religion think tank at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif.

"In this era of the messy marriage of politics and religion, we desperately need more imaginative expressions of faith and doubt."

Detweiler accused conservative Christian activists like Baehr and Donohue of cashing in on the controversy for their own gain, just as they accuse Pullman of doing. And he thinks the controversial author could actually have the opposite effect on readers than the one he or his critics think — and lead people to find faith in a true higher power instead of merely a dogmatic, power-hungry establishment.

"It undoubtedly makes people question, but inspires them to look harder for more authentic religion," Detweiler said. "Pullman takes license in pointing out the scary, false gods and destructive idols we've created. In that sense, I think he's doing a great service."

Link to the article: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,305487,00.html

 

[The L.S]

One reason I hate this thing is the way people are mindlessly associating this with Tolkien and Lewis. I am quite sure they wouldn't be amused by it.

And I don't see why you can't be offended by it. Its everyones right to agree/disagree with it.

And quite frankly, seeing this extreme hatred of everything Christian makes me even more disgusted with this author. Isn't tolerance one of the virtues alotta atheists promote?

 

[yungblood6]

wow i think people need to chill out because i didnt see any thing about girl trying to kill god or any thing for that matter, i got she is out to stop a organization that seeks to controll the world by changing its children and shutting up those that appose them. I don't see where all this catholic crap and other things came into play at. it didnt even have a mention of god throughout the whole movie. The only thing i could see parents worried about is the whole little pets that they call demons but its played in such a fantasy role its not offensive in any way. I took my girls son to see it and im sure he is not going to think that hard into it he just liked the fantasy, people need to just chill out go see the movie its good.

PS i didnt like the ending either but thats how they do movies that are going to have sequals nowadays.

 

[The L.S]

They will not show the whole picture just yet. They cant afford to fully 'shock' anyone. they need to build a fanbase with this first one, then really get into it with the sequels. And the main controversy is with the books right now.

 

[FRuMMaGe]

I just got back from seeing the Golden Compas movie. I enjoyed it, but what i want to know if any one can help me with is whats this big religious debate that every one keeps talking about that is stopping people from seeing this movie? Maybe i was just too into the movie to see what they are talking about.

You cannot see it from the film.

It doesn't really happen in the first, but in the second and third it does.

The books were FAR better than the film though. I hope they improve the film for the next in the trilogy.

 

[Chewy]

wow i think people need to chill out because i didnt see any thing about girl trying to kill god or any thing for that matter, i got she is out to stop a organization that seeks to controll the world by changing its children and shutting up those that appose them.

That organization probably symbolizes Christianity.

I don't see the big deal though, if a movie promotes Christianity it doesn't get any negative reaction, so why should a movie promoting atheism be frowned upon.

People are way too narrow minded nowadays, they only believe what they want to believe and try to stop others from expressing their points of view just because it opposes their own.

 

[[DT]]

The Anti-Christian/Anti-Catholic themes are highly diluted in the screenplay.

The Box Office Report shows it had a 3500+ screen opening and only did ~$26M, so given the estimated $150M budget, I'd say sequels of the same magnitude are unlikely - i.e., a massive financial failure (maybe Direct to Video sequels?).

Pullman's problem is his anti-Christian themes get so obvious and overwrought that by the 3rd book (The Amber Spyglass), it's all just gets exponentially crappier (from Norther Lights).

I thought it was a *strange* place to end the movie too - it's before the ending of the book, leaving it in a strange limbo (er, there's a critcal life/death character moment at the end of the book that's omitted - covering their PG-13 asses?).

 

[AndThen?]

This movie has the potential to be great: It's got Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig! Don't let religious beliefs hold you back from seeing this movie. And yungblood said, there are no religious elements to this film.