Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Golden Compass

Ok, so I watched the Golden Compass this weekend, and I know there is a lot of religious controversy surrounding the books and movie. Can someone please explain to me what exactly the problem with it is. I mean I've never read the books before so I don't know.
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4 comments:

  1. Adam CohenJanuary 28, 2009 at 2:20 PM

    This can be completely wrong but from what I remember from the books this is the only reason I can see some less open-minded people having a problem with the stories.

    Its not entirely with that book. It is in a series of 3 books and it seems that most of the controversy is in the third book, The Amber Spyglass. The problem most people have is that the representation of "God" has become weak and is extremely fragile. The girl, Lyra, and a boy, Will, open a case that contains a weak angel, "God," thinking they are letting him free. At this point, "God" dissolves into the air. So basically, people saw this as the children killing God. Another problem people have is at the end of the third book there is a clear allusion to the Garden of Eden with Lyra and Will in the place of Adam and Eve.

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  2. Adam CohenJanuary 28, 2009 at 3:04 PM

    I also forgot another reason for the outcry about the movie. A lot of people interpreted the Magisterium as a current body of the Roman Catholic Church. Many felt that there was some Anti-Catholicism involved in the writing and that the book and movies were attempting to turn children away from the Church and God.
    There was a facebook group at some point devoted to keeping people from going to see. I think a lot of people freak out too much over works of fiction even if they have an agenda or not.

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  3. AnonymousFebruary 2, 2009 at 1:14 PM

    I figured there was supposed to be symbolism between the Magisterium and the Catholic Church, I just wasn't sure. Thank you, you have been very helpful. I think I might have to read the books now!

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  4. Andy DuncanFebruary 4, 2009 at 2:14 PM

    The Philip Pullman trilogy that begins with The Golden Compass (titled Northern Lights in the UK) is brilliant, well worth reading. The movie is a mixed bag, and wasn't very financially successful, but the books are infinitely better.

    Pullman is an avowed secularist freethinker, and those themes become increasingly prominent in the series. Another source of controversy was, of course, a sex scene, but that doesn't occur until the third book.

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