About that whole "Golden Compass" thing...

“The Golden Compass” Pleases No One
by: Kiera M. McCaffrey, November 21, 2007

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on how “The Golden Compass” is being criticized by friend and foe alike:

“Poor Philip Pullman—he’s getting it from all sides. In today’s U.K. daily The Telegraph, it states that the movie version of Pullman’s book, ‘The Golden Compass,’ has had ‘a troubled transition to the screen.’ To be specific, it says that ‘The adaptation has managed to upset both Christians and atheists, the former because of the book’s anti-religious themes and the latter because those very themes have been watered down and virtually excised from the film.’ The article also says that the ‘watering down’ has been condemned by the National Secular Society—they like their bigotry naked. Say what you want about the group, they’re at least honest, which is more than can be said about Pullman and his lackeys.

“Everyone should watch (click here)the interview that Pullman has with Donna Freitas, a Boston University professor who recently tried in vain to bail him out. It’s pathetic. Equally embarrassing is her comment about the film in the November 8 Chicago Sun-Times. She said it’s ‘a thrilling, cutting-edge work of Christian theology.’ It’s gets better: ‘What’s distressing about Donohue’s message is he’s talking about [the book] as if it’s this atheist manifesto geared at children. He’s forgetting this is a wonderful literary fantasy for children.’ This leaves me speechless.

“Not to be outdone, the official response from Scholastic, the mega-publisher of educational materials which is co-producing the movie, is to brag how the film ‘celebrates freedom, love, courage and responsibility.’ Guess they forgot about the atheism and the Catholic bashing.

“Best of all is movie critic Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel. ‘Pullman’s subconscious directs the novels not towards an all-out assault on Christianity. He didn’t set out, as he has glibly claimed, ‘to kill God.’ Really? So in the mind of this Freudian deconstructionist, Pullman really likes Christianity. Look for Moore to get a job teaching psychology or philosophy at a local college. They’ll love him.”

Keira M. McCaffrey is the Director of Communications for the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Ganked from Campus Report Online - a worthy site I might add.

Okay, here's the MOGS-eye view.  For the utter hell of it, I went ahead and read this first part of "His Dark Materials", haven't gotten to the other two books yet, might not at all, but here's what I think:

It's a well-written fantasy.  It's the kind of book you want to read to your kids or get them to read on their own.  At the same token, the mishmash of themes - steampunk/gaslamp-ish fantasy mixed with pseudo-religious mysticism - while the world presented "works" (it has internal consistency and logic, enough to suspend disbelief), the grabbag of "cool stuff" (armored talking polar bears, airships, witches, ersatz gypsies) I felt like I was reading a novelized concept album, or perhaps "Michael Moorcock for kids" - especially with the whole alternate universe/dimensional travel, based in "another England".  It's a very "modern" fantasy, as much informed by pop culture, movies, music and video games, but the roots of early fantasy - (the overwhleming sense of "wonder" and "loss") are there.  I don't know much about the author himself, but for some reason the book made me think of the old Nintendo role-playing games, especially the later "Final Fantasy" games, probably due to the "science fantasy" trappings and the pace and flow of the story...this ain't Tolkien, that's for sure.   

Despite these unsettling features, I still found it enjoyable, but definitely a book that parents ought to read with their kids and talk about.  There's some truly wonderful set pieces.  There's big huge issues dealt with in it (death, religion, the endangerment of children, social change, war, you know, grown-upish stuff).

As far as the religious controversy goes, here's my take on it. 

I didn't see it anti-religious so much as anti-Catholic, and not because I thought the author had any particular hate for the Church itself, more that:

1) he's English, and given English animity towards "popery" and the history of English relations with the Catholic Church in war and peace since the time of the Tudors, I attributed it to a smart author basing a conflict in his story on a complex and driving conflict in real life. 

2) it's (the Church) a convenient source of things like "secret" societies, cloistered, ritualistic organizations, things whose trappings make great fodder for fantasy works, where you honestly need a little bit o'that stuff.  Take some real world, often misunderstood and much-rumored about fancy-sounding forbidding-sounding ancient and scary-looking Church Stuff, twiddle with it and make it sinister, and voila, instant villains!

Why not base your villains on the Church?  As Dan Brown showed, it's pretty easy to sell a million books by doing just that, and I'll admit, a large, poweful body up to its armpits in ancient texts, dead languages, obscure doctrine, saints, sinners, miracles, secretive bodies with Latin names - a ready made template that just takes a little creative "push"....

However, in making the Church and its henchmen a bunch of kid-stealing evil experimenting heartless bastards, I was less offended by the idea of holy villainy than I was by the blindingly simplistic execution -  I thought the author did it rather clumsily and heavy-handed, but hey it is a kid's book. 

The anti-Narnia, "The Golden Compass" is not.  Your kids ain't gonna turn atheist from reading this thing, if that's what you're worried about, or hoping even.

So, for parents, let the kiddies read it, let 'em see the movie.  HEY HERE'S AN IDEA.  Use it as something you can sit down and talk with them about!  Talk about your ideas and beliefs, why you believe them, what message the book had, you might be surprised at the results - like getting to know your offspring.  Or, go the other route, and just go in and enjoy the ride, and be thankful it's not yet another Harry Potter book or Disney movie.   

Comments

[Dyrim]

HDM is one of my favorite series...I read them all when I was 12 or 13, and didn't connect any religious significance at all to them. Of course - I do that with all books. I think it's a wonderful story, well told, and waaaaaaaay better than most of the kid's and young adult lit that's written nowadays.

I saw Pullman at the Tattered Cover once...he didn't overtly say anything against the church, but I was 13. I could have missed something. I have read some online transcripts though where he said things like writing the "anti-Narnia."

-D.