Awhile back I wrote about how you could get your own daemon from The Golden Compass website. After visiting the site again, I noticed they have a new movie trailer up that can be posted to blogs, etc . . . I offer it you, my gentle readers, for your viewing enjoyment.
I read Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials (of which The Golden Compass is the first book) a few years ago. My daughter Desiree also read them. And while we don’t necessarily buy into the worldview that is presented in the novels, we did find them intriguing and exciting reads. Concerning the books, wikipedia has this to say about their plot:
The trilogy follows the coming of age of two main characters, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a multiverse of parallel universes and a backdrop of epic events. The story begins in Northern Lights [titled The Golden Compass in America] with fantasy elements such as witches and armoured bears. As the trilogy progresses, it acquires allegorical layers of meaning, introducing a broad range of ideas from fields such as physics (quantum physics), philosophy (metaphysics, philosophy of religion and, arguably, a degree of hylopathism), and theology (biblical symbolism).
Now, for the trailer. . .
For a wealth of information on the books, you can visit one fan’s unofficial website here. The official website for the movie is here.
Technorati tags: The Golden Compass, books, movies, films, trailer, video
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Phil wrote,
Not my comments, but that from a secular observer:
Pullman contrasts innocence and experience, good and evil. He redefines Mary as a fallen woman and Eve as the redeemer of men, and presents God as an ordinary angel before killing him…’I'm just as interested in the Creation story as the fundamentalists are,’ says Pullman, ‘but in the part played by the tempter, who leads us to the kingdom of good and evil, which is wisdom, as an act of kindness towards those beings who had been kept as prisoners by the authority … http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,542616,00.html
“1Th 5:21 & 22 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.”
Link | October 29th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Randy wrote,
As a pastor of a protestant church, I am shocked that you would endorse a trilogy of books - and its first movie - written by a staunchly outspoken atheist. Further, if you read the books, you know that Adam and Even kill God. As a youth minister myself, with children of my own, I can’t even begin to imagine someone in your position to be so irresponsible to those who listen to you in the pulpit. Pullman has been quoted as saying his biggest goal in life is to pull in children and their parents with this movie to read his books and “kill God” in their minds, thus pushing his atheism on others. What are you thinking?
Link | October 30th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Will wrote,
Randy,
I have read the books, and though Pullman is an avowed atheist and no doubt has all kinds of motives for writing his books (perhaps including the one you mention), I find the books themselves to be a harsh, albeit needed, critique against the abuses of some organized and and all state-run religion. If I want to read good theology, I know where to find it, believe me. Taken on their own merit, Pullman’s books lend themselves to all kinds of discussions about religion, church, faith and spirituality. My daughter, after she had read the books, and I talked about some of Pullman’s views found in his work, and I can assure you that she has not been moved to “kill God” in her mind. In fact, I believe that books like Pullman’s can actually strengthen the faith of his readers by causing them to think deeply about what they believe, as well as formulate thoughtful responses to the ideas that are troubling.
Christian Critics of fantasy and science fiction books often derail them for their unorthodox views and storylines. This was true of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the Harry Potter series, the writings of Stewart O’Nan, and many, many others, And while all three of the authors of the aforementioned works consider themselves Christian, this has not lessened the criticism that came and still comes their way. This, in spite of the fact that, in my oipinion, in all of these works, and even in Pullman’s books, we can find elements of truth that cry out to be recognized and dealt with. That is what I am thinking.
Phil,
I hope some of what I have written above also serves to address what I think about the “secular observer’s” thoughts that you quote. Pullman is not the first person to have a real problem with authority or with what he sees as the authoritarianism of much of the institutional church. I think I need to delve more into his background to discover more about the environment in which he was raised, but I would be willing to bet that he had some very bad experiences with Church and organized religion that led him to believe the way he does. Thanks, however, for the scripture quote, which I assume is all your own doing. There’s nothing like a smack across the psyche with the Bible to make one see the error of his ways.
Link | October 30th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
The Golden Compass - My Two Cents Worth: One Thing I Know wrote,
[...] while back I posted the trailer of the upcoming movie The Golden Compass on this blog. It took awhile, but two folks finally saw [...]
Link | December 6th, 2007 at 1:30 pm