Posted on 12/03/2007 9:53:18 AM PST by Pyro7480
The protests against the forthcoming anti-religious film, "The Golden Compass," are "fundamentally ridiculous" and are perpetuated by "America's religious fear-mongers." That's according to Laura Miller in an opinion article in the Los Angeles Times (Sun., 12/2/07).
But that's not all. Writing about the various e-mails that Christian groups have sent to warn the public about the disturbing themes in "Compass," Miller spews:
[Y]ou have to wonder how much actual reading goes on in the sort of household that welcomes e-mails like the ones denouncing 'The Golden Compass' ...
Good ... grief. Just when you thought the level of condescension could not get any worse at the Times.
The man behind The Golden Compass is a British author named Philip Pullman. The forthcoming movie is based on the first book of Pullman's trilogy called "His Dark Materials." Quite simply, Pullman has openly declared, "My books are about killing God" (source) and "I'm trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief" (source). So is it any wonder at all why Christians are determined to warn believers about this film?? The ads for the film, which stars Nicole Kidman, give no hint of its troubling underlying themes. Many viewers could be duped into thinking it's just another innocent made-for-children fantasy flick. Hence the warnings by various Christian groups and individuals.
Apparently, Pullman's books have been a hit in Britain for a number of years. Miller adds, "What's really astonishing, and telling, is how long it's taken America's religious fear-mongers to notice Pullman."
Well, Laura, not everyone keeps up to speed on the latest in children's literature across the Atlantic. Pullman is on this turf now, and what's really astonishing is your arrogance and ignorance.
—Dave Pierre is the creator of TheMediaReport.com and a contributor to NewsBusters.
Personally, I don’t pay attention to this kind of debate.
I’ll watch the movie when it comes to cable, just as I did The Lion, the With and the Wardrobe, Passion of the Christ, or any other movie recently ‘protested’ by one side or the other.
Its helpful to remember its only a movie.
A link to the plot. Religious implications aside, it sounds truly horrible. http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=8869&ccid=13
Hmmm, what about all the anti-war flicks coming out of the woodwork now, do you consider them “only a movie” also?
Unfortunately, you are mistaken. This is a movie based on a series of insidious children’s books, the author of which, Mr. Phillip Pullman, has repeatedly stressed the purpose of the trilogy: to “kill God” and destroy Christianity.
There is no ambiguity about the author’s intentions (or the movie’s).
ping
All their name calling and denigrating Christians as a bunch of illiterate, knuckle-dragging, mouth breathing Neanderthals, isn’t going to change our minds nor shame us into paying either for his books or movie.
I could care less about the film’s take on religion, or even the plot at this point. I’ve seen the ads. Visually, the film looks atrocious. Two hours of horribly animated polar bears? You gotta be kidding me! This movie must be embarrassing just to watch.
“It’s helpful to remember its only a movie”
A father listened to all the reasons his children gave for wanting to see a particular PG-13 movie: it had their favorite actors, everyone else was seeing it, even some church members said it was great, it was only rated PG-13 because of the suggestion of sex-they never really showed it, the language was pretty good-they only used the Lord’s name in vain three times in the whole movie, the video effects were fabulous and the plot was action packed. Yes, there was the scene where a building and a bunch of people got blown up, but the violence was just the normal stuff, it wasn’t very bad. Even with all these explanations for the rating, the father wouldn’t give in. He didn’t even give them an explanation for saying, “No.” He just said “No.”
Later that evening, the father asked his kids if they would like some brownies he had prepared. He explained that he had taken the family’s favorite recipe and added something new. They asked what it was. He calmly replied that he had added dog poop. He stated that it was only a tiny bit and that all the other ingredients were gourmet quality. He had taken great care to bake it at the precise temperature for the exact time. He was sure the brownies would be superb.
Even with all the explanations of the perfect attributes of the brownies, the kids would not take one. The father acted surprised. There was only a small amount of poop, so what could the problem be? He assured them that they would hardly notice it at all. But they all held firm and would not try the brownies.
He then explained that the movie they wanted to see was just like the brownies. Satan tries to enter our minds and our homes by deceiving us into believing that just a little bit of evil doesn’t matter. With the brownies, just a little bit makes all the difference between a great brownie something really gross. He explained that even though the smallest amount of dog poop makes the brownie totally unacceptable, they seemed to having no problem watching a movie of similar ingredients. The people who make movies and TV shows would have us believe their entertainment is acceptable for adults and youths; but they are no more so than dog poop brownies are good to eat!
Now when this father’s children want to do something or see something they should not, the father merely asks them if they would like some of his special dog poop brownies and they never ask about it again.
This chick writes for Salon.com. Did you expect anything more than derision, arrogance, and pseudo-intellectual pap?
Much ado about nothing. The studio is driving this train trying to get buzz up about this movie. It wasn’t cheap to make.
I prefer not to put a nickel in this man’s pockets.
And so we see, yet again, the LATimes in true MSM liberal form, attempts to marginalize Christians simply because they justly raise unmask an anti-Christian movie. No attempt by the LATimes to really understand the issue, just a knee-jerk anti-Christian reaction of denigrating Christians for their beliefs.
As in all cases, if you’re a good parent and have already taught your children about Jesus and God you should be alright.
That’s the part that bothers me most, I don’t care which side it is squawking, it’s the parents job to teach their children and control what they see pure and simple.
We complain when the left wants to censor something they don’t like in the theaters, but then we do the same damn thing to something we don’t like and it’s alright.
So please, if you don’t want your kids to see it don’t let them, or at least explain things in context to them, but don’t start trying to prevent other people who accept it for what it is, a movie.
And as for all the anti-war movies being made, they’re all failing in the theaters because most Americans don’t want to buy into their tripe, but you can’t prevent them from being made or shown.
The 1st amendment wasn’t just made to protect speech you agree with, it was made to also protect speech that you don’t agree with.
According to some early reviews, the movie is not well done, and one reviewer complained that the movie was not anti-religious enough. Another one said that the movie was so disjointed and rushed, that any anti-religious themes will be mostly missed.
LOL. That’s great.
There’s a book called “The Beautiful Side of Evil” by Johanna Michaelsen that addresses that kind of issue; that Satan sugar coats evil to suck people in.
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