The other two books aside, there is nothing specifically anti-Christian in this film if one thinks of Christianity as a theology. The film is not theological. It isn’t even anti-Biblical. Only if one decides to believe that picking on the behavior of Christian believers is the same as challenging the theology of Christians can one even find this movie anti-Christian. From what I saw, the Magisterium doesn’t have a great book that guides them. If religion means "to bind together" the Magisterium must have a theological system of beliefs that binds them together. But nowhere does the film show them peering into a parchment or ancient book. We don't know why the authorities fear and hate Dust so much that they want to protect children from the knowledge of it. We don't even know who created the golden compass, for heaven's sake. Certainly, some great omniscient being must've made it, some great Maker who knows how to create a piece of metal that joins together in a simple compass history, geography, space travel, physics, mind-reading, metaphysics, prophecies, and a child's mind. Nothing is mentioned of this Maker or his history, and in my humble creative opinion, even an allegorical world needs a history. This makes the film anti-authoritarian and a bit anti-clerical… although the storyline does excuse a certain Farder Coram, who looks vaguely priestly and who presumably fights against the Magisterium because he had that little extra-marital love affair with a witch (who cast him off when he got older.) But it doesn't make it anti-theological.
Again, this is the film's major failure. It has succeeded in making an untheological film from a book that is part of an anti-theological trilogy and it has robbed the story of any kind of clarity, pointedness, or complexity. We, the audience, are supposed to dislike the Magisterium simply because they are authoritarian but we don't see where they get their authority from. The film feels so stripped that it could be preaching against rich, white men from power-hungry multinationals wanting to force biogenetic foods and vaccines on children.
Or it could be allegorizing Stalin's Russia. In removing the book's anti-theological moorings, the filmmakers are trusting the audience to be co-creators and bring their own prejudices into the film. I understand that Christian and fantasy films are all the rage and moviemakers need to make money, but where is the moral courage of the filmmakers? They remind me of the days in my college when all the student population were told that if we wanted to support gay pride we should all wear jeans on a specific Friday. Well, everyone wears jeans. So the gay students would say, "See you're on our side." The filmmakers are doing this same thing in a way. It's as if they are saying, "See, we've forced you to watch an anti-religious film you wouldn't have watched if we you had known."
Article comments
1 - ostrova
I haven't seen the movie yet but I just loved the books. Hey, I've got an idea--read the books!
2 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
I also suggest reading the books. Movies based on books are generally failures. Exodus, based on Leon Uris' novel of the same name, was a failure as a film in spite of the stirring theme. The Ten Commandments is practically a Cold War comedy. I'll take the Book of Exodus any day of the week to the bad news mugging of the actors in the movie, in spite of all the boring parts of the text.
3 - carole
True. Go to the source, i say. And read all books. And those who dislike the Church and have an idea of what the Bible purports to say should also try to read the Bibles. All this second-hand stuff does no one any good. -C
4 - duane
Parents trying to lead good Christian lives should be aghast at Pullman and the film producers for their attempt to indoctrinate the impressionable minds of innocent children with baseless nonsense. Parents need to protect their children from the world of alternative viewpoints and fight for their right to indoctrinate their children with baseless nonsense of their own choosing.
5 - carole
Duane: did you read my review or are you so busy working off a grudge against an old evangelical aunt that you can't see what I've already written? Although I do believe individual parents should be able to teach their children anything they wish, that's not what I spoke of in this article. What I wrote about: the failure of a film to adequately portray a book. That's all. Your opinion about religion and whether religion is nonsense should be saved for another article. I hope you can hold onto your witty comebacks until the appropriate article comes along. Incidentally, most Christian parents DO show their kids alternative viewpoints. Obviously, you don't know what it's like to be a Christian parent in the US with so much media, worldviews, and propaganda around. What Christians object to is the fact that this is a book geared to young children who might not know how to correctly answer some very nonsensical atheistic assertions. -C
6 - duane
Good smackdown, Carol. Old evangelical aunt. Hehe. Nice.
I did read your review, and thought it was an interesting spin on the issue, and overall, quite balanced.
I read about the first 2/3 of the book with my son, have not seen the movie, have heard a lot on Christian radio about drumming up support for boycotts against the movie and Pullman in general, which I think is quite silly, like most of the rest of what is broadcast on those stations (need some examples?).
As for sticking to the specific topic, hehe, that almost never happens at BC.
Obviously, you don't know what it's like to be a Christian parent in the US with so much media, worldviews, and propaganda around.
No, but I do know what it's like to be a parent in the US with so much media, worldviews, and propaganda around.
What Christians object to is the fact that this is a book geared to young children who might not know how to correctly answer some very nonsensical atheistic assertions.
Yeah, I know. That's precisely echoes the meaning of my comment #3. If I were feeling combative, I could say, "What I object to is the fact that this is a book geared, in part, to young children who might not know how to correctly answer some very nonsensical religious assertions," and I think, if I were to say such a thing, that you know which book I'm referring to.
But I'm feeling rather conciliatory today, so I will refrain.
Carry on.
7 - Headless Unicorn Guy
Carole: Either "Old Evangelical Aunt" or "Mean Nun with Black Belt in Ruler".
Duane: Golden Compass apparently did not open well; not too much box office. Christian Activist Groups (TM) are already congratulating themselves on Our Boycott Is Why It Tanked; they're going to be insufferable for a long time.
I look at it as the flick was probably so bad not even the "Angry Christians Denounce Your Movie" self-sustaining free publicity machine could make much difference.