The Golden Compass
We were supposed to go see The Golden Compass on Friday, but we didn’t make it out. Turns out it flopped at the box office, and critical reviews ranged from generally negative to that sort of positive review that might as well be a negative one (e.g., “Kids will enjoy,” “Great visuals,” or for other movies the ever-present “Wild ride”).
I actually read The Golden Compass somewhere in later elementary to junior high school, and I liked it to some extent. Yes, it has some stuff that knocks on Christianity, and I understand that the latter two books in the series (which I did not read) involve children killing God. At the time, it was just a pretty good story to me, and I don’t think, quite frankly, that the author was skilled enough to bury subliminal poison in my head. The first book was basically just an interesting fantasy epic-type story.
That being said, it’s really something to get out on Digg or Slashdot these days, just to see the rancor and vitriol that is tossed around routinely regarding Christians. I suppose you get enough like-minded people in the room (especially noisy ones), and it starts feeling like home. And home breeds groupthink.
Here are some quotes from the discussion on Digg:
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I wonder how much of that is due to the religious nutters kicking up their usual fuss…
I’m looking forward to seeing it, based upon loving the books. This doesn’t bode well for the next two films though. :(
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i read on wired that they took out most of the religion bashing that made the book so good. if they left enough of it in the movie it stands a chance of being good.
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I loved the anti-religious theme, but that’s far from enough to make this a good film.
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I have to wonder what the reason would be for people to be this negative about Christianity. Is it just the feeling of rightness taken to an extreme, or is it due to some bad experience in earlier life?
Honestly, there aren’t really enough “religious nutters” to make a dent in a box office gross. Meaning that looking at every household with the Left Behind series on the bookshelf, there is probably a fairly high percentage with an impressive Disney video library, Harry Potter books and movies, and probably a few Taco Bell wrappers in the trash (the Methodist church boycotted Taco Bell due to farm worker conditions).
Not damning any of the above things. Disney is okay with me, Harry Potter doesn’t float my boat but I don’t begrudge the enthusiasm, and Taco Bell is gross in that perfectly awesome way.
My point is that it’s quite hard to mobilize people to vicious reaction when their primary reason for adopting a set of beliefs is to feel peace with their surroundings.
It’s pretty easy to get a bunch of “Yeah!”-type support from people who feel surrounded by a somewhat dominant philosophy all their life.