The real Golden Compass
"If Jesus is the source of absolute truth, then His words are the 'golden compass' we need to escape the lies of the world and fulfill our destiny."
by Lane Palmer, Guest Columnist
Posted: Thursday, December 6, 2007, 20:01 (GMT)
Think of it as the “anti-Narnia” story, if you will. At least I get that vibe from the Golden Compass author Philip Pullman when he states:
"I hate the Narnia books, and I hate them with a deep and bitter passion.”
What do you think? Did you pick up any message from that subtle statement (which is incredibly ironic since he borrows a significant amount of imagery and plot points from The Chronicles of Narnia for his books)?
Let’s see … the Golden Compass introduces us to Lucy Lyra, who eventually hides in a wardrobe. There’s an alternate world with witches and talking animals and final battles (oh my!). So in other words, he hates the Narnia series with a “deep and bitter passion,” but he was happy to borrow some of the critical elements that make it such a compelling series.
Well, isn’t that special!
What isn’t so special is the apparent dishonesty coming of out the film’s promoters and the author himself. Here’s a small sample:
From Pullman’s web site: “The meaning of a story emerges in the meeting between the words on the page and thoughts in the reader's mind. So when people ask me what I meant by this story, or what was the message I was trying to convey in that one, I have to explain that I'm not going to explain. Anyway, I'm not in the message business; I'm in the 'Once upon a time' business."
Fair enough, except the “once upon a time” actually has clear “messages” from characters in the story like these:
"The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake, that's all."
“Every church is the same: control, destroy, obliterate every good feeling."
And the most telling statement of all from Pullman:
"My books are about killing God.”
I don’t know about you, but when I think “good children’s stories”, “killing God” ranks right up there with what I look for.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a boycott type person. In fact, I’m not even against this movie coming out. It’s a free country with (mostly) free speech as a fundamental right. And I’m not blind enough to ignore that many forms of established religion are incredibly oppressive, and the name of “God” has been used to justify unspeakable evil. My problem lies much more with the obvious dishonesty going on here – as I hope you’re picking up on.
Have your say on this article
The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Friday, December 14, 2007, 0:12 (GMT)
I'd just like to point out that if whoever wrote this article read all three books in Pullman's series, there'd be a lot more truth in this article. Will and Lyra don't kill God - they kill a fake god, a being pretending to be more powerful than God. Doesn't the Bible tell us that there is only one God, and we should worship him and only him?
Furthermore, the Church in the book is nothing like the Christian churches today. For one, there is no mention of Jesus. Seems like a completely different religion, doesn't it? Also, the Chruch is controlling and all-powerful. But I do find one similairity between the members of the Church in Pullman's books and today: you are not willing to accept other ideas. You need to learn to keep your mind open and realize that there are plenty of other ideas that are just as good as the things that we, as Christians, are studying.
One last thing I have to say: in The Amber Spyglass, there is an amazing message about love. The Bible tells us to love right? Maybe you should try reading this series, and watching the movie, and see if you might learn a thing or two from them. You will not get any closer to the Devil by reading or watching a movie. Trust me.
Lyra, Evergreen, CO
Added: Monday, December 10, 2007, 0:58 (GMT)
why do we have to look at the "underlining" message. there is no direct mention of god in the actual movie itself. right?
the book is a book of fiction, right? the movie is magicial and very "unreal", right?
let it be just that, a movie, made from a fictional book.
enough.
jennifer, elysian fields, tx
Added: Friday, December 7, 2007, 1:36 (GMT)
WE NEED TO SEND A MESSAGE, THAT IS WE KNOW WHEN THE
DEVIL IS BEHIND THE PICTURE .... BY NOT GOING !! TO THESE
ANTI-GOD MOVIES
MARTINEZ FAMILY, S.I. N.Y.
