There seems to be an on-going tug of war between those atheists who want a world devoid of God, and those who believe a God-less world will be the downfall of humanity. And atheists seem to be gaining ground in that battle- including in the realm of Hollywood. On December 7th, 2007 a children's film entitled "The Golden Compass", starring Nicole Kidman and other major players, is being released. It's based on the first novel "Northern Lights" in Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials". Seemingly innocuous, it's actually atheism's answer to the Narnia Trilogy. And although all religious (or rather anti-religious references) have been removed, Christian groups are still calling for a boycott. Their main concern is that children will be inspired to read the trilogy after viewing the film (in its watered-down version), and that unsuspecting parents will then purchase the books, which have a decidedly anti-Church, anti-religious theme. In fact, God is portrayed as a drooling, senile old man, and is killed off at the end, by the young protagonists. Pullman, an avowed atheist makes no apologies for his writings, and has openly admitted:
"My books are about killing God."
And:
"I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality."
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Atheism's Answer To Narnia?
Confessions of a Closet Republican has this to say about Hollywood's latest anti-God effort:
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8 comments:
I'm going to prayer for Philip Pullman AFTER I email this 'alert' to the parents of my 10 year old grandson. Bob, if there's something evil out there, intent on messing with the kids, I know I can trust, you're on it - raising a flag.
mizz e,
Thank you!
One of the things that irks me quite a bit about all of this is that the average atheist doesn't feel that militant activism like this helps their cause at all.
But, as religion goes in Hollywood,so does politics. Most of us aren't communists, but movies made for and by them continue to proliferate.
At least in this case, the dollar wins in the end. These "message" movies have been tanking at the box office. Do you ever read Iowahawk? He has a great parody up about this subject
jeffro,
I followed your link to Iowahawk, and it was absolutely hilariousul Thank you!
I read the trilogy when it first came out, before Pullman explained that he was hoping to write an anti-Narnia and that he wanted to "kill God".
I liked the first book so much I named my dog after the main character. The second was short and odd, and the third was odder still; in some respects, it was like CS Lewis' Perelandra (which I could never read all the way through).
The funny thing is, I don't think he succeeded at all in his task, since the story seemed to be about redemption and rebirth (I don't remember exactly - it's been years). All he is likely to have achieved in announcing his intentions in writing the book is alienating a gigantic audience who would probably have read an entirely different message in his trilogy, but now won't read it at all, nor watch the resultant movies - I certainly won't.
Idiot.
(Just for the sake of clarity, the "Idiot" was directed at Pullman, not anybody here)
julie,
Not only is he an idiot, but also a stupid idiot!
The punch line is that after Compass has been forgotten, Prince Caspian hits the silver screen (May '08).
In was originally scheduled for a December release, but was put off probably to avoid unnecessary conflict. Smart Narnians!
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