'The Golden Compass', Catholics, Atheists and Ignorance
Philip Pulman must just sit back and laugh at all of this
Nicole Kidman, who plays Marisa Coulter, a member of the Magisterium and the one responsible for kidnapping kids and separating them from their souls (daemons), forcing them to walk the Earth as mindless drones before they die (read into that as you will) is convinced the anti-religious themes are non-existent telling "Newsweek", "The story is more about authority now, rather than religion, which was important to me. I've been raised as a strong Catholic, and my grandmother would not be happy, or my dad for that matter, if we'd followed that part of the book."
While Kidman is perfect for the role as her waxy, post plastic surgery face fills the Coulter mold as if it was made for her, I am not sure if she really understands what it means to make a good movie (I also am not sure if she saw the film, because there are a few things still in there). Making a good movie does not mean cutting out the parts that inspire conversation and arguments. These are the parts that get people talking, the elements of a film that get more people to go see it. Making a good movie means leaving these elements in. People went to see Passion of the Christ because of all the chatter, not because they didn't know the story of Jesus and his resurrection and they wanted to see Jim Caviezel get whipped for two-and-a-half hours. People are intrigued by controversy and I think New Line may have missed a big boat by playing it safe.
With regards to the "killing of God" I read a blog post referencing a panel at the Oxford Literary Festival involving Philip Pullman and some of the folks from New Line. The blogger refers to a question asked of producer, Deborah Forte, whether she thought that the scene where they 'kill God' in the "Amber Spyglass" would cause problems. The blogger paraphrased Forte's reply from memory writing, "they weren't killing God, they were killing the Authority, an entity which ought to be anathema to any right-thinking democracy." I am not sure how close to the actual quote they got it, but if the sequels ultimately switch up the story that drastically they are sure to be far less interesting and far less climactic than they would have been.
"The Atlantic" once again comes through with just the right thing to say, "This could be Paris Hilton reading her Bible in prison. Or Madonna preaching about Kabbalah… Hollywood can tweak and polish and recast even the darkest message until it would seem at home in a Fourth of July parade."
I am going to go see The Golden Compass again next week just to see what more I can get out of it and I truly hope everyone supports this film because it will be extremely interesting to see how the rest of the stories are adapted.
If you are thinking of picking up the book trilogy yourself I suggest you do your best to find the UK copies, because not only are American films watered down, but so are our books as words have been omitted in an effort to slightly adjust the meaning. The books you will be looking for are "The Golden Compass" (known as "Northern Lights" in the UK), "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass". As for the movie, The Golden Compass hits theaters on December 7th, find out more about it right here.
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