The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass is a 2007 children's fantasy film based on Phillip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials, and was released on December 7, 2007 by New Line Cinema. The Golden Compass is an exciting fantasy adventure, set in an world, like ours, where people's souls are portrayed as animals, talking bears fight wars, and Gyptians and witches co-exist. The fantasy is about a girl named Lyra, a 12-year-old who begins with trying to rescue a friend who's been kidnapped by Gobblers. She ends up on a quest to save not only her world, but ours as well. It stars Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, Eva Green and Dakota Blue Richards. The film won an Oscar along with another 2 wins and was nominated for another 26 awards. It was nominated for the National Movie Award for the best family film in the UK.
Since the movie was produced The Golden Compass has received more attention not for its use of fantasy, but instead for something very real: religion. The religious connotations are probably too large for a small child to grasp but the Catholic Church is protrayed to have the ugliest of all the demons to represent their true spirits. Philip Pullman subtly places religion into the setting, to influence the plot and characterization. He tried to make a story line showing the otherside of religion and the opposing views of C.S Lewis', The Chronicles of Narnia. Pullman has very strong personal religious views and has been very open to share them with the public, when asked. He said, "I'm caught between the words 'atheistic' and 'agnostic'. I've got no evidence whatever for believing in a God. But I know that all the things I do know are very small compared with the things that I don't know. So maybe there is a God out there. All I know is that if there is, he hasn't shown himself on earth. . . I am all for the death of God." He said that "the Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake" and he is not afraid to base his fantasies underlying these views. The movie tries to imitate the Catholic Church as the villain and removes religious references. Pullman's objective is to bash Christianity and promote Atheism. At the end of trilogy, "God" is killed and the demons are made the leaders of the worlds. They are planning to make the other two books into movies with the hope of a children audience all over the world.
This picture is a scene in the movie where good is fighting evil and evil wins. Though God is not referenced directly, there is a version where subtitles pop up on screen to remind viewers when things symbolize God and religion.
The question posed is why has the film received so much bad publicity due to the anti Christian views and has won an Oscar along with 26 other nominations? Why has it been nominated the best family film of the year? What can we do as Christians to keep God alive in the world when media, like Pullman's, tries to kill Him?
His new book, The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, will be published next Easter. Quite ironic. The book will provide a new account of the life of Jesus, challenging the gospels and arguing that the version in the New Testament was shaped by the apostle Paul.
I think your question goes back to the discussion we had in class last week, about keeping entertainment and religion separate. Yes, The Golden Compass does have religious overtones, but it is still a movie-it was made to entertain.
ReplyDeleteI saw the movie and I really enjoyed it. The combination of fantasy and adventure makes it overall good family film. As you mentioned, even though the anti-religious references may be blatantly obvious within the books, I don't think the movie portrays that as much, and when it does, I don't think that children who liked this movie are old enough to understand the religious themes. The movie is more about Lyra's quest to save her friend, and not about the anti-religious quest that continues through the series. The plot following Lyra's quest is what makes this good family movie because it doesn't get caught up the religious controversy.
One thing about this trilogy is that the first book doesn't really explain the concept of killing God. Not until the middle of the second book does it really explain that plot point. Since the anti-religious content is so much heavier in the last 2 books, I feel that has contributed to why the other two books have not been made into movies yet.
In Hollywood, if a movie is a success (and already has sequels written), it is only a short matter of time before the sequels come to the big screen. Since that has not happened yet with The Golden Compass series, I think it shows some concern on the side of film makers, probably in part due to the content of the books.
If we understand the this movie was made to entertain, then we don't have to worry about what the actual book suggests. And still, when it comes to fiction, people can write about anything. If someone wants to write about killing God in fiction, go ahead; it is still FICTION. I don't see why anything is this book/movie should be any different from the reaction given to Dan Brown novels which challenge the religious system as well. Both do a great job and entertaining people.
I remember when this movie first came out and all the hype around it. I know there was a lot of people in Utah specifically that were boycotting against the movie. I was wondering why they were going to that extremes and if the movie was really anti-god/religion as all the hype made it out to be.
ReplyDeleteSo I eventually saw the movie and actually kind of enjoyed it. Like Chris said above it was a fun adventurous movie that had a fantasy theme that I liked. I also remember thinking at the end of the movie- what was all the hype about- I didn't feel like it was overly anti-god. I had to really focus and seek out the religious undertones and even then I think because the lack of the last 2 book made into movies, I still didn't feel like it was anti-god, more just presenting an interesting side to things.
It goes back to the discussion in class about how because movies are made to please a large audience and make money, they didn't want to make the movie too extreme that it will push people away. So although this movie did have religion within it, I think by all the movie effects and how the film was made, the religious factor was not as distracting or prominent in the film. So basically the film took on a religious-sensitive film but down played a lot of it so it would appeal to the audience. It is more concerned about appealing to them it seems, than actually bringing up any sort of religious controversy.
While I understand where Chris and Kellee are coming from with their points that this movie is entertainment I tend to disagree that this film is a great family film. Yes the movie does have neat special effects and popular Hollywood stars but the fact is that this trilogy promotes atheism. Even if the viewers are 7-15 year olds that don’t fully understand what is going on they are going to go and see and want to learn more. By seeing the movie their interest will be peaked and they most likely read the books and then be subjected to material that is, in my opinion, inappropriate. I am not arguing that atheist people are bad or that individuals are not able to make their own decisions but I do think that because this film is portrayed as ‘entertainment’ children are going to be exposed to material that they are not mature enough to handle.
ReplyDeleteHere is not only my opinion but what I know- there is a God, furthermore that God is a God of kindness and love and when you have a children’s series that says differently and may or may not indoctrinate the youth of the world to believe that there is not a God there is a problem. It is the responsibility of those who believe in a God to stand up for what they believe. It is against the first amendment to say that this movie can’t be shown but we can certainly make sure that our voices are heard and our beliefs are shared.
Well, I know the film had excellent special effects and that is why it won the Oscar. But I don't think the film was very successful at making any big political point, maybe the books were a bit more clear.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, I think it is important (although unfortunate) for every side of the argument to have a say, even about God. I am sure the studios probably don't want to make the film political, they will probably water it down as much as they can in the sequels to draw in more families. But it is looking doubtful that there will be any sequels because it was not as successful at the box office as they would have liked.
I think the role we can take is to make more films with good messages that testify of Christ (even if in a subtle way). It is important for us to get our message out there in anyway possible and I think films is a great way to do so.
I attended the LDS film festival last year and saw some great films with great messages. We need to promote those films and help them succeed to counteract films like this one.