Posted on 11/30/2007 8:06:34 PM PST by Coleus
As the movie studios gear up for a big Christmas movie season, one trailer that looks like a blockbuster is "The Golden Compass," which must be trying to cash in on the "Narnia" movies. It has flashy special-effect polar bears in armor and a young heroic damsel in distress facing off against evil forces. The casting is top-notch, led by Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, the current star spy in the James Bond movies. But buyer beware: Narnia it's not. It's the anti-Narnia. Instead of a Christian allegory, it's an anti-Christian allegory. The author of "The Golden Compass," Philip Pullman, is an atheist who despises C. S. Lewis and his much-beloved Narnia series. "I thought they were loathsome," he said of those books, "full of bullying and sneering, propaganda, basically, on behalf of a religion whose main creed seemed to be to despise and hate people unlike yourself."
This book and movie is only the first in his trilogy, titled "His Dark Materials," that gets more and more anti-religious in each book. Pullman hates orthodox religion and "those who pervert and misuse religion, or any other kind of doctrine with a holy book and a priesthood and an apparatus of power that wields unchallengeable authority, in order to dominate and suppress human freedoms." If you hear the ring of anti-Catholicism, you're right. The evil empire in this movie for children is called the "Magisterium," which is exactly the word Catholics use to describe the teaching authority of the Pope and his bishops. The books are more explicit, in which the evil institution is also called "The Church" and the higher-ups are the "Vatican Council."
British columnist Peter Hitchens has explained how our secular thought-shapers would love for Pullman to undercut Narnia's influence on children: "The cultural elite would like to wipe out this pocket of resistance. They have successfully expelled God from the schools, from the broadcast media and, for the most part, from the Church itself." He writes that while Lewis mocked atheists as joyless, Pullman depicts priests as evil and murderous, drunk and probably perverted, and the Church as "a conspiracy against happiness and kindness."
Isn't it a bit perverse to head into the Christmas holiday season hyping an atheist fantasy movie for kids? No doubt sensing this, Pullman and the moviemakers have ventured on a dishonest but energetic public-relations campaign to convince the public that this film isn't really anti-Christian. It's a plea for open-mindedness and spiritual dialogue. The Church is just a metaphor, see. The movie's director, Chris Weitz, spins it this way: "In the books, the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic Church gone wildly astray from its roots. If that's what you want in the film, you'll be disappointed." Weitz says they merely "expanded the range of meanings" for the Magisterium, that it's merely a metaphor for tyranny of any stripe: "Philip Pullman is against any kind of organized dogma whether it is Church hierarchy or, say, a Soviet hierarchy." That would be more believable if Hollywood had a track record of casting a Soviet hierarchy as evil -- and if Hollywood didn't have its own organized dogma of secular fundamentalism.
Nicole Kidman spins it her way: "I was raised Catholic, the Catholic Church is part of my essence. I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic." The media have played happily along in disguising Pullman's religion-bashing. On NBC's "Today," weatherman Al Roker delighted in making "The Golden Compass" the fall book selection of "Al's Book Club for Kids." Pullman appeared on NBC to deny that he was really promoting atheism. He touted letting the reader decide what the author intended, in a "democracy of reading." The closest he came to atheism was saying the book championed "open-minded intellectual curiosity." If that sounds like a transparent dodge, it certainly was. He told the students asking questions to think of the Taliban in Afghanistan. But the menace in Pullman's trilogy isn't called the Caliphate, and its hideous monsters aren't mullahs. They are cardinals and priests, and the heroes are an atheist former nun and two rebellious gay male angels.
The atheists may be angry that the movie waters down Pullman's anti-religious message, but they can take comfort in the fact that many parents (and grandparents and even godparents) will, sadly, buy the hype over this movie and buy this trilogy of vicious anti-religious books for the young readers in their lives. To the Christian book buyer, beware: Instead of celebrating God's son born in the flesh, you'll be celebrating God being killed so that man can advance to true consciousness. For those anticipating the wonder of Narnia, you'll have to wait until next May, when "Prince Caspian," the second installment, returns magic to the screen.
Yes, I would! Absolutely! I can’t think for myself at all. I copy everyone and everything. In fact, I’m thinking of renaming myself “militantnutcase” because it’d be such a cool name, especially if “militant” were spelled correctly.
Yes he is, and he made Mohamed out to be an animal. I think every Muslim should be informed of this, especially in Sudan.
Nice comeback. Right out of the middle school playbook to immediately snap back with a personal attack on my forum name. FYI, if militant wasn’t taken at the time I might have used that one instead.
Ah, that’s a shame. But I’m sure that, one day, you’ll find your own special place in the world where the name “militantnutcase” is available!
Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Does my name offend you? =P
Then why do you post on an internet message board trying to influence others? Shouldn't they be allowed to form opinions without your help?
People have a right to be informed in the face of a deliberately deceptive multimillion dollar ad campaign.
But it's okay for you to hate and despise people unlike yourself, like C.S. Lewis for one.
Wow,I have to warn the family.They just lost 20 tickets from us.We have a lot of grandchildren.
I am not afraid.Let me see it for free.
In other words, the good guys won’t be referred to a “son of Adam.”
Baptist ping
No, but there's a common thread of condemning and denouncing works of art - books, films, cartoons, whatever - without any first-hand knowledge about them, based on what some religious authority tells them. The world will be a better place if people think and make decisions for themselves
Intelligent people can learn from the experience of others, not just their own. I've never been drunk and driving a car at the same time. I've never tried marijuana, cocaine, or heroin. I've never cheated on my wife. But I know plenty o people that have done some, or all, of them. Some got away with it. Most of them paid the price.
I can take the author's own remarks and decide if I want to contribute money to him, or not. I don't necessarily have to read his book, or see his movie, first. I won't be seeing this movie, but my 19-year old daughter plans to. I will be interested in her reactions.
Trolls, perhaps?
It’s simply a matter of people getting tired of being verbally or “artistically” abused constantly. It gets old after a while to see your faith mocked, to see yourself and your fellow Christians accused of being violent sadists who represent a faith that is a fraud. It especially gets old when other faiths are protected from such attacks by Political Correctness.
It’s a double standard. It’s considered to be “intolerant” to mock Islam. Ron Howard or Dan Brown wouldn’t dare put out a movie or book that called Mohammed a fraud and Islam a fake religion based on violence and conspiracy. Both men are cowards and would fear a Jihad being declared against them. But even beyond that, they know that they’d be branded as “intolerant” if they mocked any faith other than Christianity. So they safely mock Christianity, a religion that isn’t protected by liberal “soft totalitarian” sensibilities, and whose practitioners don’t do anything more violent than carrying picket signs or writing columns disputing the film.
Ironic, isn’t it? An ultraviolent faith like Islam doesn’t get mocked by artists because they fear being slaughtered. Instead, they mock Christianity, and even accuse it of being murderous, because they know Christians can safely be mocked without losing one’s life, one’s freedom, or one’s invitation to a Beverly Hills cocktail party.
It just gets old after a while. It’s sickening to see these authors and directors posture and preen and brag about what “courage” it took for them to take on big, bad Christianity, when many of us know full well they wouldn’t attack Islam in such a manner for obvious reasons. They wouldn’t attack Hinduism, Buddhism, or Native American religions, either, because while it might not be life-endangering, they’d regard such as attacks as being “intolerant” under the rules of Political Correctness.
Urinate of a crucifix and you might get a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and anyone who objects will be called “intolerant”. Urinate on a Buddhist symbol, and you won’t get the grant because you’ll be called “intolerant” for treating a Buddhist symbol badly. Urinate on a Koran? Don’t even think about it.
Thanks for posting this. We, of course, will not be seeing it.
We have seen MAYBE 5 movies in the theatre in the past 10 years. We decided to vote with our money and the entire family saw Narnia in theatre paying full price FOUR TIMES.
Upon hearing that Prince Caspian was coming out in May, my son just did a cartwheel down the hall. LOL
I don't expect every film to pay homage to Christianity, and I enjoy some films that are a little over-the-top, but I just get sick of seeing Christianity mocked and ridiculed so often. And it adds insult to injury to see the mockers donning the clothes of Martyrdom and pretending that it took courage to attack Christianity.
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