Days after its publication, a largely positive review of The Golden Compass that appeared in Catholic newspapers across the country was retracted this week by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The bishops, who could not be reached for comment, offered no explanation for the decision. But Catholic groups, including the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, have urged moviegoers to boycott the film, saying the film and the book on which it is based are anti-Catholic.
“Certainly, there was all kinds of speculation from the day it went up [on the Web site] as to whether or not something like this would happen,” said Jim Lackey, general news editor for the Catholic News Service, a wire service run by the bishops’ conference. He was told Monday to remove the review from the service’s Web site.
Gee …who would have thought that removing offensive anti-Christ material from a Christian house organ might be a good idea. You have got to be kidding right?
Intercessor
I think it is equally important, not just for an honest review of this movie through a theological lens, but an honest appraisal of the character and motives of those who will benefit from the production.
The author, Professor Phillip Pullman, who is being paid millions for the rights to convert his book into a movie, and still more in residuals should it turn a profit, is not simply an avowed atheist or agnostic, but a learned professor who has publicly declared it his life’s ambition to undo Christianity, to be the anti-C.S. Lewis.
Whether such a man makes a true cinematic masterpiece or not, I would never encourage anyone to do anything to contribute to his cause, least of all by spending money to see or purchase on DVD such a production.
Or to think of it another way, if Al-Queda was the main financial benefactor of “The Passion of the Christ”, no matter how accurate a depiction of the actual passion it was, I would recommend that no one see it or spend money on it in any way. To me, to do otherwise is to support the Enemy.
Some of the more illuminating Pullman quotes:
Wait a cotton picking minute!…Who in the world thought that this promotion was a good idea in the first place??? Are they really still on the payroll?? Who needs enemies with friends like that? This is not just a mistake it is sedition and is offensive.
Intercessor
if Al-Queda was the main financial benefactor of “The Passion of the Christ
I’d start supporting Al Qaeda. 😉
Catholic News Service seems to be Catholic in name only, a left-leaning outfit that would be quite content in TEC. CNS regularly sends out pro-Palestinian anti-Israel articles, including the hoaxes naively accepted (such as the ambulance in Lebanon supposedly bombed) , but never writes about bombs on buses in Jerusalem.
I have read these books, and don’t find them anti-christian. I find it both amusing and affirming that Pullman doesn’t succeed in his mission to destroy Christianity-he can’t, because it’s true.
What they are is against the organization of religion that leads to abuses (of all kinds), which I am also against. The god they seek to destroy is not the Creator God, it is a stand in. I don’t want a stand in, either.
Archbishop Chaput has posted a superb review on the archdiocesan website: (Denver)
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.â€
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.
I haven’t seen the movie, and hadn’t planned to or to take my children to it, because I think it is an adult book. The category of fantasy in this country is largely relegated to children, even when it is clearly not directed at children, so I think the book and movie are being mismarketed.
I am referring to the trilogy of books that make the series, which I also think are being misrepresented in the press, mostly by people who aren’t reading them.