p2pnet - rss feed: Golden Compass: Hollywood heresy?
p2pnet news | Movies:- My daughter, Emma, my wife, Liz and I saw a sneak preview of Golden Compass in Victoria, BC, days before its release and in my post on it, I wrote:
“The Church is … a key presence, but in a bid to pander to religious zealots, it’s been taken out of the movie in what could almost be an analogy of what happens in the book itself.
“In other words, the spirit has been surgically removed: people who’ve read it and who’ve have also seen the movie will know what I mean.”
In a second post, I also said, “it’s guaranteed instant success if only because it’s creating a religious furor the likes of which has only been seen when Britney Spears sat on a fake Catholic priest’s lap for a promo pic”.
But that’s another story.
On Saturday, the Los Angles Times carried an OpEd which said in part, hoping for big box-office returns, “New Line Pictures decided to mute the religious content in its $180-million adaptation of “The Golden Compass,” which opened in Los Angeles on Friday. It’s a conciliatory move, but one that hasn’t made anyone happy.”
It went on >>>
… hoping not to offend sensitive religious moviegoers, New Line excised explicit references to the church in its film version of “The Golden Compass” in favor of a vaguer, more hazily defined threat. Some religious groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, have tepidly endorsed the film on the grounds that most who see it “will scarcely be aware of religious connotations.” But others, such as William Donohue’s Catholic League and James Dobson’s Focus on the Family, persist in warning parents that Hollywood is out to poison children’s minds. Many Pullman fans are also aghast, but for the opposite reason: They want elements of the book that question organized religion to stay in.
We too distrust the airbrush treatment, but not for reasons of faith (though we welcome forthright expression of any and all views on God, politics, the Lakers or any other sensitive subject). We dislike Hollywood’s approach because watering down Pullman’s themes undermines the beauty of his books. Yes, “The Golden Compass” is a subversive book. It is also a spellbinding tale, an insightful saga about growing up, loyalty, morality and love. Taking the religious premise out of Lyra’s quest severs her story from its anchor. It may make commercial sense, but it also makes a muddle of the book’s wise clarity.
It’s a pity the religious groups that oppose Pullman’s books and the film are so frightened of the prospect of encouraging kids to immerse themselves in compelling, thoughtful literature. Surely their beliefs are strong enough to stand up to a children’s story. And surely Hollywood can put more faith in the power of great fiction.
In my post I wondered, “Is the Golden Compass Catholic heresy, or is it just a good fantasy movie which has religious zealots all hot and bothered over nothing?”
“A sloppy use of the word ‘heresy’,” said Carl E. Olson in a Reader’s Write.
Says the LA Times OpEd:
“Fiddling with art to appease narrow-minded interest groups is its own heresy, one with which Hollywood unfortunately is all too familiar.”
Meanwhile Golden Compass, “was expected to have opening-weekend sale of $35.4 million, according to the Hollywood Stock Exchange.com, where participants bet play money on a film’s performance,” says Bloomberg News.
Instead, it pulled in a measly $26.1 million for Time Warner.
Jon Newton - p2pnet
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December 10th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I love to see Political Correctness backfire. Maybe someday they will get the point. (Yeah right!)
December 12th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
So…a book that essentially shows the flaws of organized religion has been modified to appease organized religion?
Well, guess I’m not watching this movie.