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I just taught a class on this movie....... Pullman seems to be a very hate-filled man.......
Thanks for posting this. It made me realize some of the roots of Herbert’s “Dune” as well.
There are definite parallels between Nietzsche’s work and these books, but some of the points in this article are a stretch.
Until I read the mainstream reviews, I was considering taking my little kids to see this movie. Then I learned of the author’s militant atheism. I waffled. Then I read the reviews that say most of the anti-religious tone was not very readily apparent, because the movie was poorly done and disjointed. So I figured, the kids might still like the CGI animals, etc, the “Narnianess” of it. Then I read about some of the brutal fight scenes in it. So that did it, I probably will NOT take the kids to this movie, even if I think the atheism would go over their heads, I think the suckage of the movie, plus at least one graphically violent scene at the end, makes it a no-go.
Interesting.
I read the first in the series, which most have agreed is well written. Parts of even it bothered me, though.
Couldn’t get more than a few dozen pages into the second book, as the subtext became increasingly more obvious.
What I find most intriguing is the fact that the lust for power to dominate others, presented by Pullman (at least according to this reviewer) as the ultimate good, is portrayed by Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings as the ultimate evil from which all others spring. The Ring itself is the embodiment of coercion and domination. In LOTR the good guys don’t force others to follow them even when it looks like doing so might be necessary to defeat absolute evil.
Does might make right - or does right make might?
reference for the forum...about the article’s author:
Mark T. Newman
http://www.movieministry.com/about.php
Newman terms himself a “film interpreter” (not a critic).
Looks to me like he’s trying to fill a slightly different niche than
Ted Baehr (sp?) who comments on film a lot from a Christian worldview.
But Newman seems to be going a bit further in a deeper examination of
film themes and concepts.
ping
Don't parents look up information about books before giving them to their kids? Our daughter got these from the library, but I did read about them, and discussed them with her. She was a teenager at the time, and reading them didn't harm her religious beliefs, but again, that could be because we discussed the stories as she read them, and compared them directly to the Narnia series, which she'd read earlier.
My priest encouraged us to read all of the philosophers, Nietzsche wouldn't be excluded. He’d sit down and explain it to you. Let’s just say Father Hart and Bishop Sullivan had no fear of any earthly writings and stories of men. It just really grinds me wrong when Catholics start to find themselves amongst the ‘book burning’, ‘snake handling’, ‘witchcraft’ paranoid types. One thing I treasure about the Catholic faith is the open-mindedness of free-inquiry, yet maintence of moral objectivity.
BTW, I recommend the trailer. The movie simply looks abysmal. I think it’ll flop.
How's that for irony.
Sounds like the mid 1990s...
Here’s another review of this moive, from the “Focus on the Family” people.
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/thisweekonly/a0003516.cfm
But isn't a "atheist" someone that believes there is no God
While these people talk about killing god, hating god... seem to be they must believe there is a God... this is more Satin like, wanting to murder your way to the top to be "god"
Has anyone actually read the book!
I thourghly enjoyed it. The animals are an alligory of the human soul, the evil characters, Lyra’s parents are both working in concert though seperately for different reasons, seeking to overthough the power of the first sin, on man, forcing us out of the Garden of Eden.
The evil characters try cutting away the creatures from the children for some obscure reason having to do with crossing over to a paralle universe, killing the child in the process.
Without spoiling the first book it is challenging to your belief system, but if your beliefs are so weak they cannot withstand this small prick then your beliefs are to weak to withstand the coming assault that Islam will bring to our future.
I have read the most evil book available today the “Koran”. I am not dettered or corrupted by the rediculous insane ravings of it’s false prophet.
This not a movie for children at any rate, not because of some troubling religious view but because of it’s complex battle of good and evil, they probably won’t understand it and will only enjoy the base story and the special effects.
I will netflix it in the spring and I’m sure I will thouroughly enjoy it!!
This story reminds me of the debate by evangelicals ‘of which I consider myself (Baptist)’ over Harry Potter. Don’t christains realize that witch craft is not real, a fantasy. Do they think we should be burning people at the stake!
If you choose not to see the movie, let it not be out of fear but out of disinterest to seeing the movie.
Thank you for bringing this up. I’m grateful that so many people are getting the info out about this movie, so that they may avoid it.
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I liked the books very much - thought the third book could have been better written. Will probably see the film this weekend, though I doubt it'll be as good as the book (which was called 'Northern Lights' over here: a far better title than 'Golden Compass' IMHO).