Last week my wife and I went to see “The Golden Compass” in the theaters. I wanted to see for myself what this movie was all about and how much of the buzz was true and how much was wildly fabricated.
So…I thought I would list a few pro’s & con’s and then close it out with some thoughts…
PRO’s
- Great story (story…I didn’t say plot, there is a difference)
- Very creative, imaginative & suspenseful
- One of the most engaging fantasy films I have seen in a while
- Great acting, CGI & artwork (done better than Narnia)
CON’s
- Oddly ‘dark’ for a fantasy film
- Concepts that don’t line up with Christianity (but so do most fantasy stories)
- Plot could be developing into ‘something worse’ (hard to say at this point)
- Too scary for kids (even USA today said it wasn’t suitable for kids under 10)
The hard thing for me is wondering how I would’ve ‘viewed’ the movie without hearing the buzz before hand. By that I mean…the talk of an atheist writer trying to convert the world to atheism by his new movie (simply because he is an atheist). Which, that thinking makes no sense to me! Does that also mean that when a Catholic writes that their desire is to make everyone Catholic or when a Mormon writes their desire is to make everyone a Mormon? Just curious…
Don’t get me wrong, you can see his ‘beliefs’ somewhat through the movie and I am sure as things progress we’ll see that more. However, Pullman is a successful writer. So I have a hard time believing he just up and decided one day…’I think it’s time to make everyone an atheist…I know, I will trick them…I will write a fantasy book… ha ha ha!’
The caution that many ‘christians’ have taken to this movie isn’t a bad thing, However, I do wish I could say I believe the passion by most to ‘discourage viewing’ the movie was rooted in the right place (and not just to destroy what threatens our beliefs at any cost).
Is Pullman trying to convert everyone to atheism? Honestly, I don’t know, but I do think that what probably what turned him off from God wasn’t God…it probably had more to do with people. So, for me, I want to be very careful to not turn him further away because of the ‘uproar of ‘christian opinion.’
Would I recommend taking your kids to see this movie…no! But (at this point) that ‘opinion’ is based much like ‘USA Today’s’ recommendation that it just isn’t suitable for kids under the age of ten.
In the end, I hope we take the same ‘caution’ with everything our kids view & listen to (not just stuff from people who believe differently). I LOVE the ‘Harry Potter’ movies but if I had kids I wouldn’t let them watch them until I had watched them to be sure they were ok! That would just be my calling as a parent…
But then again, this is just one man’s opinion…and who am I? No one really! I would encourage you to research it and form your own opinion. Maybe some of you already have? Care to share…
December 20th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I saw the movie. Didn’t think it was great. Underdeveloped characters and everything was too easy for the main character - not enough tension or stress to make it compelling for me or my 13 year old son. I walked away wanting to watch Lord of the Rings again.
I do think that Pullman has an agenda. He may be an atheist but he is still very religious - atheism is his religion and he wants to convert people. The undercurrents of this were toned down in the movie but i think these elements will come the front if other movies are produced from the other books in his series. Pullman boldly states that the books are about killing God to be free from Him. i posted some links to related articles on a new blog for parents at the church where i work. http://www.launchnews.blogspot.com
John