Christian groups slam Golden Compass

[Alex]

All animals in The Golden Compass talk.

[Gemini Cricket]

I kinda lost interest in the movie when the bear started talking in the trailer.

[Gemini Cricket]

The last movie that I saw that was non-animated and had a talking bear in it, I hated, hated, hated. That film was AI. Then again, Brother Bear had talking bears in it and that was bad, too. Not that I have anything against bears who talk, there are a few on the board... I'm just saying....

[BarTopDancer]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

The last movie that I saw that was non-animated and had a talking bear in it, I hated, hated, hated. That film was AI. Then again, Brother Bear had talking bears in it and that was bad, too. Not that I have anything against bears who talk, there are a few on the board... I'm just saying....

AI had Teddy Ruxpin in it.

[Stan4dSteph]

Is it really all Christian groups? I thought it was mainly the Catholic League who were actively engaged in boycotting the film?

It will be interesting to see what they do with the next two films, assuming they make them. Those are definitely more anti-religion, but maybe they'll be toned down as well. Nicole Kidman is Catholic and I seem to recall her saying she wouldn't be in a film that was overtly anti-Catholic.

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by Stan4dSteph

Is it really all Christian groups? I thought it was mainly the Catholic League who were actively engaged in boycotting the film?

I think other Christian groups have jumped on the bandwagon. I know Focus on Family has made a statement about it and plans to say more.

I just love these two statements. The both couldn't be further from my own values dealing with learning and experience.

The evangelical-activist group Focus on the Family, which plans to release a statement about the film early next week, says it's in agreement with Christian leaders and organizations on the issue. Adam Holz, associate editor of Focus on the Family's Plugged In magazine, told MTV News he fears the movie would "plant seeds" to "ultimately encourage some fans to reject God."

"Each book becomes more provocative, more aggressive and more anti-Christian." — Bill Donohue, Catholic League president, on the "His Dark Materials" trilogy

[Gemini Cricket]

I still think this is some sort of device to get publicity pumping for a film that's getting rather blah reviews...

Other movies I can think of that were boycotted by the Catholic Church:

Hail Mary
The Last Temptation of Christ
Sister Act
Priest
The Da Vinci Code

and
the "Bloody Mary" episode of South Park... where the boycott actually helped increase viewership of that episode.

My mom's really into following "anti-Catholic" films and "pro-family films". So, I hear about it all the time. Right now she's really into promoting the film "Bella".
:shrug:

[Alex]

Re this:

he fears the movie would "plant seeds" to "ultimately encourage some fans to reject God."

It is an irony I didn't want to get into in my review, but

Spoiler:

The "evil goal" of the bad guys in the movie is their experimentation in pursuit of a way to completely protect children from the temptation towards questioning received authority and even awareness of its existence.

So, seeing as I would disagree with such approaches, seeing certain groups advocate just that very thing in response to this movie makes me smile while being sad about it.

As one commentator I saw said, if you're faith is going to be destroyed by a movie, then there were other problems with it (your faith) anyway.

[Alex]

No, it isn't all Christian groups, or even all Catholic groups. Particularly if they judge the movie separate from the books. The Catholic League is definitely calling for a boycott. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops however, says that while the books aren't good for kids the movie itself is pretty good entertainment.

An except of their review:

Even if Pullman's fanciful universe has a patchwork feel, with elements culled from other fantasy-adventure stories -- most especially "The Chronicles of Narnia" (a work Pullman disdains) -- there's hardly a dull moment, and the effects are beautifully realized, including the anthropomorphized creatures like the polar bears whose climactic fight is superbly done.

Richards makes an appealingly no-nonsense heroine, and Kidman makes a glamorous and chilling villain. Christopher Lee, Tom Courtenay and Derek Jacobi round out a distinguished cast, with excellent voice work from McKellen and others (e.g. Kathy Bates, Kristin Scott Thomas, Ian McShane and Freddie Highmore).

Whatever author Pullman's putative motives in writing the story, writer-director Chris Weitz's film, taken purely on its own cinematic terms, can be viewed as an exciting adventure story with, at its core, a traditional struggle between good and evil, and a generalized rejection of authoritarianism.

[Gemini Cricket]

I think this was the same group that wanted Last Temptation and Sister Act boycotted... Not sure though...