'The Golden Compass', Catholics, Atheists and Ignorance
Philip Pulman must just sit back and laugh at all of this
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I've been surprised by how little criticism I've got. Harry Potter's been taking all the flak. I'm a great fan of J.K. Rowling, but the people – mainly from America's Bible Belt – who complain that Harry Potter promotes Satanism or witchcraft obviously haven't got enough in their lives. Meanwhile, I've been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God."
~ Philip Pullman in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald in reference to his book trilogy "His Dark Materials" which includes "The Golden Compass" (December 13, 2003)
I saw no other way to begin than to just get it all out in the open. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, a watchdog group that monitors portrayals of the Catholic Church in the media is out in full force asking people to boycott New Line's film adaptation of author Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" describing it as a "backdoor way of selling atheism." (video here)
Pullman, an admitted atheist, in an interview with Newsweek commented on Donohue saying, "To regard it as this Donohue man has said—that I'm a militant atheist, and my intention is to convert people—how the hell does he know that? Why don't we trust readers? Why don't we trust filmgoers?" Pullman sighed. "Oh, it causes me to shake my head with sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world."
The kicker to Donohue's arguments is that neither he nor his merry band of naysayers has seen the film. Instead they are selling a 23-page brochure called "The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked" for $5. It serves as the Catholic League's response to the upcoming film. Are you as baffled as I am that they are actually selling this brochure rather than just publishing it online for any and all to read? Not to mention that their contention is that no matter how much anti-religion has been washed out of the movie, it only encourages kids to read the books and must therefore be boycott. Silly I say.
As far as the books being anti-religious, or anti-Catholic as seems to be the consensus, I can say after seeing The Golden Compass once already that it is in no way outwardly anti-religious, at least it won't appear to be to those not familiar with the source material, which is the audience I am assuming Donohue is concerned about. I have read that on top of referring to the oppressive governing body in the story as the Magisterium, the book also refers to it as "The Church"; this term was left out of the film. So was any reference to "sin" in the terms that Pullman apparently uses in his trilogy, referencing the original sin of Eve and the garden of Eden. This, unfortunately, is where I think the film missed out on a major opportunity to really tell a magnificent story, create a little controversy and make a ton of money.
In all their attempts to wash away the anti-religious themes I have to agree with Pullman when he told The Atlantic, "I think if everything that is made explicit in the book or everything that is implied clearly in the book or everything that can be understood by a close reading of the book were present in the film, they'd have the biggest hit they've ever had in their lives."
The three page piece in "The Atlantic" is the best of the many that I read on the subject. They explain how executive producer Toby Emmerich refers to the cosmic element in the film known as "Dust" as something "akin to the Force" in Star Wars; this is a departure from the book. The article's author, Hanna Rosin, goes on to take a major stab at the film saying, "This is Hollywood at its most hazily indignant and self-congratulatory… a band of grubby, half-crazed heroes takes on the System and wins."
I am sure you are wondering where all the God killing comes in from the quote at the beginning of this article and asking yourself, "If the film is so watered down why are these Catholic League people so upset?" Well, they are afraid of what the future may hold. This includes kids reading Pullman's books, two more films being made as well as people thinking for themselves and Heaven forbid having alternative beliefs.
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