Catholic bishops give thumbs-up to ‘Golden Compass’

  • Thread starter Thread starter buffalo
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
B

buffalo

Guest
Catholic bishops give thumbs-up to ‘Golden Compass’

“The Golden Compass” — and Philip Pullman’s *His Dark Materials *trilogy of novels on which it is based — has been criticized in some quarters for being anti-religious and specifically anti-Catholic.
But the U.S. Conference of Bishops recently issued its official review of the film — and it’s a rave.
Writing for the Catholic News Service (catholicnews.com), critics Harry Forbes and John Mulderig call the movie “lavish, well-acted and fast-paced.”

more…
 
Well that is a relief. From the previews I have seen it looks like it is in the gnere of Lord of the Rings and we certainly did not need to be opposed to that. Why must we find something to criticize lately in everything?
 
buffalo said:
Writing for the Catholic News Service (catholicnews.com), critics Harry Forbes and John Mulderig call the movie “lavish, well-acted and fast-paced.”

more…
Click to expand...
Does lavish, well-acted, and fast-paced mean not offensive to god, Catholics, and COMPLETELY different the book it is made after?

If so, then I’ll see it. Otherwise, what are they talking about?

The book was terrible and blatant, so unless this completely goes another direction, there review leaves me saddened, but not surprised.

I wonder how many of them have ACTUALLY read the other two books, or at least studied them, to see where the first, more innocuous book leads? I daresay very few. They really should remain silent on issues IF they are ignorant. Now if they are well versed in his trilogy, by all means…
 
goofyjim said:
Well that is a relief. From the previews I have seen it looks like it is in the gnere of Lord of the Rings and we certainly did not need to be opposed to that. Why must we find something to criticize lately in everything?
Click to expand...
I could make a pornographic movie in the genre of Lord of the Rings, but what would that prove?

Since evrery major Christian/Catholic outlet has ripped the movie and the books, and the Bishops said it was “well-acted”, we can only assume one of two things.
  1. the Bishops are right, and EVERYONE else is wrong and hysterical for no reason.
  2. The Bishops are wrong (and they have been before), and the majority who oppose the books and movie are correct.
Hmm, statistically, I wonder which is more likely???
 
An Atheist Children’s Fantasy, THE GOLDEN COMPASS,
Comes to the Big Screen

On Dec. 7, 2007, the movie THE GOLDEN COMPASS based on the first book in the fantasy trilogy entitled His Dark Materials by atheist Philip Pullman will be released in theaters throughout the world. Pullman wrote his trilogy because he was so upset by the Christian evangelism that C. S. Lewis wove into his wonderful series entitled The Chronicles Of Narnia. Pullman is an avowed atheist who has dedicated his life to undermining Christianity and the Church among young readers. The film’s release is another example of a culture deconstructing, a culture where we must declare truth.

Pullman represents God as a decrepit and perverse angel just like Satan in his novels, who captures the dead in a prison camp afterlife. As one fallen angel tells one of the novel’ young heroes:

“The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty - those were all names he gave himself. He was never the creator. He was an angel like ourselves - the first angel, true, the most powerful, but he was formed of Dust as we are, and Dust is only a name for what happens when matter begins to understand itself.”
 
He_Man said:
I could make a pornographic movie in the genre of Lord of the Rings, but what would that prove?

Since evrery major Christian/Catholic outlet has ripped the movie and the books, and the Bishops said it was “well-acted”, we can only assume one of two things.
  1. the Bishops are right, and EVERYONE else is wrong and hysterical for no reason.
  2. The Bishops are wrong (and they have been before), and the majority who oppose the books and movie are correct.
Hmm, statistically, I wonder which is more likely???
Click to expand...
There have been those who have said that Star Trek is antiCatholic which is totally unfounded. So unless one points out to me the antiCatholicism in this trilogy I see it as just another fantasy genre entertainment film. And as for your two points I am under obligation to obey my bishops not my fellow Catholic laypeople. I am equal with the laypeople and there is no ranking of authority there.
 
Reminds me when they gave the “gay” cowboy movie a thumbs up and then had to retract it.
 
“THE GOLDEN COMPASS” SPARKS PROTEST

Catholic League president Bill Donohue discussed the league’s reaction to the upcoming movie, “The Golden Compass”:
“New Line Cinema and Scholastic Entertainment have paired to produce ‘The Golden Compass,’ a children’s fantasy that is based on the first book of a trilogy by militant English atheist Philip Pullman. The trilogy, His Dark Materials, was written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism. The target audience is children and adolescents. Each book becomes progressively more aggressive in its denigration of Christianity and promotion of atheism: The Subtle Knife is more provocative than The Golden Compass and The Amber Spyglass is the most in-your-face assault on Christian sensibilities of the three volumes.
“Atheism for kids. That is what Philip Pullman sells. It is his hope that ‘The Golden Compass,’ which stars Nicole Kidman and opens December 7, will entice parents to buy his trilogy as a Christmas gift. It is our hope that the film fails to meet box office expectations and that his books attract few buyers. We are doing much more than hoping—we are conducting a nationwide two-month protest of Pullman’s work and the film. To that end, we have prepared a : Agenda Unmasked,’The Golden Compass that tears the mask off the movie.

more…
 
buffalo said:
“THE GOLDEN COMPASS” SPARKS PROTEST

Catholic League president Bill Donohue discussed the league’s reaction to the upcoming movie, “The Golden Compass”:
“New Line Cinema and Scholastic Entertainment have paired to produce ‘The Golden Compass,’ a children’s fantasy that is based on the first book of a trilogy by militant English atheist Philip Pullman. The trilogy, His Dark Materials, was written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism. The target audience is children and adolescents. Each book becomes progressively more aggressive in its denigration of Christianity and promotion of atheism: The Subtle Knife is more provocative than The Golden Compass and The Amber Spyglass is the most in-your-face assault on Christian sensibilities of the three volumes.
“Atheism for kids. That is what Philip Pullman sells. It is his hope that ‘The Golden Compass,’ which stars Nicole Kidman and opens December 7, will entice parents to buy his trilogy as a Christmas gift. It is our hope that the film fails to meet box office expectations and that his books attract few buyers. We are doing much more than hoping—we are conducting a nationwide two-month protest of Pullman’s work and the film. To that end, we have prepared a booklet, ‘The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked,’ that tears the mask off the movie.

more…
Click to expand...
Maybe I will meet up with the protestors when I go to see the movie. It iwll be like crossing the picket line when fellow coworkers are striking. I need my job more than complaining about getting more pay.
 
goofyjim said:
There have been those who have said that Star Trek is antiCatholic which is totally unfounded. So unless one points out to me the antiCatholicism in this trilogy I see it as just another fantasy genre entertainment film. And as for your two points I am under obligation to obey my bishops not my fellow Catholic laypeople. I am equal with the laypeople and there is no ranking of authority there.
Click to expand...
A little common sense would do these discussions some good.

Can I assume you’ve read the books and know what you are talking about? If so, that’s fine. But your analogy of Star Trek leads me to believe you are just grasping and haven’t read them. Might as well bring up the Salem Witch trials or Crusades; they are usually used as the one-trick-pony fall back for anyone opposed the Church.

Just be honest enough to admit you are going to see it because you want to. You don’t have any issue moaning about the Bishop’s and Church’s stance on homsexuality every time it comes up around here, so stop acting as though you swear fealty to God’s Church.

You aren’t OBLIGATED to see it by the Bishop’s. They have NO AUTHORITY in terms of this movie, it is their opinion.

If you want to see it, go ahead, but don’t act as though it was some mandate of obedience from Yaweh or something.
 
What is even more laughable is this part:

"The religious themes of the later books may be more prominent in the follow-up films, they note, but for now “this film — altered, as it is, from its source material — rates as intelligent and well-crafted entertainment.”

It has been said numerous times that the reason that this movie is more subdued by Pullman is to suck people in so they want to come back; then the attack can begin.

I swear our Bishops just can’t seem to ever get it right. This isn’t Calculus or String Theory, guys. I stand by what I said in another topic. The Church in America won’t get any better until they retire or pass on, and we have some young, TRULY CATHOLIC blood infused.

Basically, it is like saying “smoking weed is fun and exciting. We realize cocaine and other later drugs present a host of problems, but as it stands, marijuana rules.”
 
He_Man said:
A little common sense would do these discussions some good.

Can I assume you’ve read the books and know what you are talking about? If so, that’s fine. But your analogy of Star Trek leads me to believe you are just grasping and haven’t read them. Might as well bring up the Salem Witch trials or Crusades; they are usually used as the one-trick-pony fall back for anyone opposed the Church.

Just be honest enough to admit you are going to see it because you want to. You don’t have any issue moaning about the Bishop’s and Church’s stance on homsexuality every time it comes up around here, so stop acting as though you swear fealty to God’s Church.

You aren’t OBLIGATED to see it by the Bishop’s. They have NO AUTHORITY in terms of this movie, it is their opinion.

If you want to see it, go ahead, but don’t act as though it was some mandate of obedience from Yaweh or something.
Click to expand...
Likewise they could not forbid me to see a movie. I haven’t seen Brokeback Mountain yet but I might someday. And btw I haven’t gone against the Church’s stance on homosexuality. Take some time to read my position before judging it.
 
And by the way, the only satanic about Star Trek was having Shatner direct ST V, or sitting through the monotony of ST 1…
 
The American Bishops also approved Brokeback Mountain until everyone started complaining.

The Golden Compass is blatantly anti-Catholic, anti-Christian and anti-theist in general, directed at children. The author himself says that his books were written to push atheism and, though toned down from the books, the movie does the same.
 
Jim, the Golden Compass is not just secularist like Star Trek is. It is a direct attack on Catholicism and Christianity in general. I do not know how much the movie takes after the books, but the books themselves have undisguised attacks on the faith all throughout.

At the very least, the movie’s “villain” is the “Magisterium” - which is about the most thinly veiled reference to the Catholic Church there could be. The film’s main character, from what I have read, is a deceitful girl who tries to murder her own mother - her mother, apparently, having tat least once in the film to saved her daughter’s life.

What does the Lord of the Rings mean to you? Well, it has the grand fantasy aspect. But I think it is also a story about heroism, loyalty, legitimate authority (think about the King of Rohan and about Aragorn taking his place as King of Gondor), good moral values, and generally fighting for good.

The Golden Compass, on the other hand, is a film about lying, attempted murder, and trying to overthrow an effigy of the Catholic Church.
 
Guys, the bishops didn’t review this movie. Some secular consultant to the USCCB did. Their reviews are generally NOT proofread and voted on or critiqued by the bishops beforehand. Saying the bishops approve the movie is just plain wrong. At worst, they merely made a poor choice to be their reviewer.

Any review of this movie ought to include an analysis of the author’s purpose in writing it. To ignore the motive behind the creation of the story is to deny the genuine meaning of the art form of cinema. Art isn’t primarily about beauty, it is about making a point through beauty. If you argue that the point made by the art is irrelevant, you only reveal your own ignorance of art.
 
The Bishops really should get someone from the clergy or religious to do this. Maybe a nun who can give these Hollywood types some proper shame for the filth they put out 😃
 
manualman said:
Guys, the bishops didn’t review this movie. Some secular consultant to the USCCB did. Their reviews are generally NOT proofread and voted on or critiqued by the bishops beforehand. Saying the bishops approve the movie is just plain wrong. At worst, they merely made a poor choice to be their reviewer.

Any review of this movie ought to include an analysis of the author’s purpose in writing it. To ignore the motive behind the creation of the story is to deny the genuine meaning of the art form of cinema. Art isn’t primarily about beauty, it is about making a point through beauty. If you argue that the point made by the art is irrelevant, you only reveal your own ignorance of art.
Click to expand...
The problem is, the USCCB is not a film critic in the secular sense of the word. If we wanted that, the USCCB could hire Roger Ebert to review the films. The purpose of the film reviews is to evaluate the material from a Catholic perspective to advise the faithful as to the moral content of the movie.

Now, you are correct that the bishops did not evaluate the movie, but the person who evaluated the movie did so in their names, and so the bishops have a choice: To repudiate the review or else to stay silent and lead people to believe it has the support of the bishops.

The USCCB reviewer has shown remarkably poor judgment on the movie and on Brokeback Mountain when it comes to approaching a movie from a Catholic perspective.
 
Steeltemplar said:
The Bishops really should get someone from the clergy or religious to do this. Maybe a nun who can give these Hollywood types some proper shame for the filth they put out 😃
Click to expand...
Perhaps Mother Angelica has some free time. 🙂
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top