Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Golden Compass Points to Religious Bigotry

I haven't seen The Golden Compass yet, although I have been aware of the problematic nature of the books for several years. In case you haven't heard of the series, the author Philip Pullman, hates Christianity, and has been pretty vocal about the point of his book being to help free children from the lies of religion, and let's stamp out the damm-ned thing and anyway don't forget the inquisition and ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz.

Where was I? Oh yes, so, I can't imagine going to see this film because nobody pays me to be a critic, and no amount of money would be worth it to me anyway.

But here is a helpful piece featuring friend and Christian critic, Jeffrey Overstreet talking about the substance of the stories. He also cautions Christians about creating any kind of extra publicity for the film by some kind of protest. The best thing to do is to just keep your kids away.

2 comments:

CricketND said...

Hi Barbara: I met you after the Una Fides luncheon in Orlando a few weeks ago. I was the ND grad with the degree in Great Books and a MA in Theo. I am wondering if you could comment on Donna Freitas' Boston Globe article on the Pullman series and give us your take on it. The article is at http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/11/25/god_in_the_dust/. Thanks!

Jeffrey Overstreet said...

Barbara,

I've written a much more thorough (and grammatically correct) piece about The Golden Compass now. It's at:

http://lookingcloser.wordpress.com/2007/11/20/the-golden-compass-questions-ive-been-asked-answers-ive-given/

I've also seen the movie. Based on your reaction to The Lord of the Rings films, you won't like it at all.

But as a fan of Peter Jackson's trilogy, I didn't like this movie either. It moves WAY, WAY, WAY too fast. Its heroine is shrill, obstinate, and completely lacking in the sense of wonder that made Lucy the best thing about the Narnia movie. And the conclusion of the movie just feels empty.