Posted on 12/11/2007 7:12:52 PM PST by topher
Archbishop’s Column, Denver Catholic Register
December 12, 2007
Sympathy for the devil: thoughts on ‘The Golden Compass’
When the first Harry Potter movie arrived in theaters several years ago, many Catholic families had divided views about the film. Some enjoyed it as an innocent and intriguing fantasy. Others avoided it because of its emphasis on magic. But the screen adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book, “The Golden Compass,” which opened in Denver on Dec. 7, will likely produce far more agreement. No matter how one looks at it, “The Golden Compass” is a bad film. There’s just no nicer way to say it.
I saw it at an 8:30 evening showing on Dec. 8. The theater was largely deserted. That may be a trend. While “The Golden Compass,” released by New Line Cinema, ranked No. 1 in box office revenues on its opening weekend, it took in only a modest $26.1 million. The three “Ring Trilogy” movies grossed between $47 and $72 million on their respective opening weekends, and “The Chronicles of Narnia” had opening revenues of more than $65 million. In fact, secular critics have been less than kind to the movie, and for good reason. It’s long, complicated, and despite a very gifted supporting cast and wonderful special effects, the story is finally lifeless. Much of the movie takes place in the polar north, and the iciness of the setting is a perfect metaphor for the chilly, sterile spirit at the heart of the story. Anyone expecting a playful children’s fantasy would do well to look elsewhere. There is nothing remotely “playful” about this movie.
As many readers will already know, Philip Pullman is an atheist, and “The Golden Compass” — the first book in his trilogy “His Dark Materials” — is a calculated counter-story to Christian-based fantasies like “The Lord of the Rings” and “Narnia.” “The Golden Compass” takes place in a parallel world similar to earth, but dominated by a sinister quasi-religious authority known as the Magisterium. This powerful elite seeks to “protect” people — for their own good — by shielding them from scientific knowledge, represented by the movie’s mysterious cosmic dust and a truth-telling piece of technology called an “alethiometer” (or golden compass). More specifically, the Magisterium abducts young children and literally kills their souls, thereby extinguishing the spirit of free thought and inquiry.
The aggressively anti-religious, anti-Christian undercurrent in “The Golden Compass” is unmistakable and at times undisguised. The wicked Mrs. Coulter alludes approvingly to a fictional version of the doctrine of Original Sin. When a warrior Ice Bear — one of the heroes of the story — breaks into the local Magisterium headquarters to take back the armor stolen from him, the exterior walls of the evil building are covered with Eastern Christian icons. And for Catholics in our own world, of course, “Magisterium” refers to the teaching authority of the Church — hardly a literary coincidence. The idea that any Christian film critics could overlook or downplay these negative elements, as some have seemed to do, is simply baffling.
Strangest of all — and in striking contrast to the Harry Potter and Narnia stories — is the absence of joy or any real laughter in the movie. The talented child actress who plays the film’s leading role is hobbled by a character that is uniformly unpleasant, rebellious, belligerent and humorless; the kind of young person described by one of my parent friends as needing a “long time-out.”
Obviously, parents are the primary teachers of their children. They need to use their own best judgment about whether a film is suitable for their families. But I’ll certainly be encouraging my own friends to put their Christmas cash to better use. In fact, maybe the most cynical and insulting thing about “The Golden Compass” is that its makers would offer this cold, angry, anti-religious fable as “holiday fare” in the midst of a season built around the birth of Jesus Christ. That’s certainly worth a letter to the people at New Line Cinema. With two more books in the Pullman trilogy as possible sequels, it might be helpful if they heard from all of us.
AT-A-GLANCE
New Line Cinema
E-mail: movies@newline.com
Phone: 310-854-5811
Address: 116 N. Robertson Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif., 90048
Fax: 310-854-1824
Archdiocese of Denver ♦ Office of Communications ♦ 1300 S. Steele St. Denver, CO 80210 ♦ (303) 715-3123 ♦ info@archden.org
The movie Bella beat Golden Compass on the stat of dollars per movie theater (screen) for the weekend.
Bella had $8051 per theater
Golden Compass had $7308 per theaterHowever, in FAIRNESS TO BELLA, it did not have the millions of dollars of advertising that Golden Comapsss...
I imagine that there was spent at $30 million on marketing of Golden Compass -- which probably exceeds the production budget of Bella and exceeds the total dollars that Golden Compass brought in for the first weekend...
Nice to have friends in good places -- got this as an email from someone who works closely with the Good Archbishop, the Good Shepherd of Denver...
Looks like fools gold to me. I doubt the compass even points in the right direction. No wonder the movie is losing its audience.
bttt
I strongly suspect this humorless, rebellious protagonist is a reflection of the author's own cold world-view. The majority of atheists I've met also reflect similar traits as well, although a minority are as pleasant as any person one might encounter.
For Charles J. Chaput to see this movie in a largely deserted theater in the Denver area bodes very badly for the film...
Archbishop Chaput is very serious about defending Christians and Christian faith...
Why not have Archbishop Chaput, Archbishop Burke, Cardinal O'Malley, and Cardinal George review movies for the USCCB NCCB.
After all, when Cardinal Rigali became the pro-life chair, he did a wonderful job of making announcements about things.
WHy hire someone at USCCB NCCB to foul up Catholics as the current reviewer has done...
Or maybe Archbishop Chaput's review should replace the review on USCCB website...
With regard to the ways of Satan, C.S. Lewis wrote in “The Screwtape Letters”, about two of Satan’s favorite tools.
In a letter from the senior temptor, Screwtape, to his nephew and temptor in triaing, he advised that the most important thing to convince their human targets is that the temptors and diciples of Satan don’t exist.
In a later writing after the nephew has expressed frustration at his lack of success in getting his target to commit murder, Screwtape assures his nephew (Wormwood), that “Cards are as good as murder, if cards do the trick.”
(Meaning that the sin does not need to be spectacular to obstruct the path to Heaven.)
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:
Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
Let's all Email the USCCB a copy of the review!!!!!
(of course, if they listen it'll be the first thing they've done right since they DIDN'T fire their stupid movie reviewer after he praised Brokeback Mountain to the skies on the USCCB website!)
As long as we are send the USCCB reviews, we could send them this one too.
Archbishop Chaput was trying to get people to change the USCCB review, and that was his tack last week (through my connections at his office).
The thing about what Archbishop Chaput writes is that he is viewing a movie on opening weekend on a Saturday night with almost no one in attendence.
OUCH!
For the makers of the film hear of a review like this one, they know it is trouble...
They may try to spin well there is controversy so each person should see it approach will fail with this review.
The Bishop of LaCrosse did the right thing -- it is just that Chaput's approach may also help the Gentiles (those who are not Christians)...
The Bishop of LaCrosse is an approach to protect his flock (his main intent).
Both are correct.
In a sense, one has to play devil's advocate -- how would you view these reviews if you are Christian and maybe have a very fuzzy view of God and religion.
I think I like Chaput's approach because of the title: Sympathy for the devil...
I think if I was a non-Christian who did not necessarily believe in God, I might be leery of such a movie -- just because helping the devil does not sound like a good thing to do...
So there is also activism in the review...
But I think he should have gone one step further -- recommend replacing Golden Compass in theaters with Bella and start a marketing campaign by New Line Cinema...
This is what a real bishop looks like.
Good article by Archbishop Chaput.
...And it certainly serves New Line Cinema right for having the gall to release such a dismal film at Christmas time, when the commemoration of His Birth is in full swing. Talk about a 'What were they thinking?!' moment.
The joke fits Philip Pullman, an avowed atheist, and a bear (a key character in the film Golden Compass).
The joke is as follows:
An avowed atheist loved nature, and went hiking one day. As he looked around, he saw how beautiful things were, and exclaimed: "What beauty there is here on earth, and I know that God did not create it."Later there was a brief shower, and a rainbow appeared, to which the avowed atheist exclaimed: "What a beautiful rainbow that I know that God did not create this rainbow".
The atheist hiked further. Suddenly a ten foot black bear appeared, and the atheist started running for his life. He suddenly found himself trapped by the huge black bear.
Out of desperation, he prayed feverishly to God to help him.
God FROZE the bear just before the bear was about to start eating the atheist. At the same time God appeared to the avowed atheist.
The avowed atheist, seeing how the situation had changed, said to God:
"I know I have thought all my life that you do not exist and taught others that. For me now to acknowledge your existence would be hypocrisy on my part. I bid you, however, in the interest of mercy, to make this bear a CHRISTIAN bear."God responded: "Your request is granted."
At that God disappeared and the bear was unfrozen.
The bear knelled down on his knees and prayed: "We thank thee, O Lord, for these gifts we are about to receive from thy bounty, and the meal that is before us."
After praying, the bear had his dinner -- the avowed atheist...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.