The Golden Compass

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The film, 'The Golden Compass,' was launched on 7th December 2007, and is based on the bestselling novel for teenagers, 'His Dark Materials,' by Philip Pullman. It introduces an alternative world in which the child heroine, Lyra Belacqua, pursues her quest for truth and freedom in the face of various sinister forces, including a Catholic Church infiltrated by narrow-minded Puritans based in Geneva!

...THE GOLDEN COMPASS

Unlike some previous fantasy writers, such as C.S. Lewis (the 'Narnia' stories), and J.R. Tolkien ('Lord of the Rings'), who were deeply committed Christians, Pullman is an atheist, and his negative view of the Church is reflected in the novel, though commentators have said this is played down in the film for commercial reasons.

Attitudes

Pullman’s attitude to religion is closer to William Blake than to Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens. He has been prepared to enter into serious discussion with religious leaders, most notably with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who has spoken positively of the book’s potential both for widening children’s imaginative capacities, and for stimulating discussion on religious belief.

Imaginary World

As regards the creation of an imaginary world, there is clearly a great hunger for this in our society. Besides the authors already mentioned, J.K. Rowling’s 'Harry Potter' is an obvious example. What do you think this can be attributed to? Is it a reflection of the greyness of a world dominated by technology and bureaucracy, for all the new possibilities these have promised? Pullman himself seems to think so, speaking of “setting children's minds alive and ablaze with excitement and passion” as opposed to “filling them with facts and testing on them.”

Dice with question marks on it

What issues do the books and film raise for religious belief itself? Some Christians have accused Pullman of blasphemy, but is it blasphemy to attack what one considers a harmful idea of God? As regards the Church, Catholics strongly resist any attempt to play off Jesus against the Church, but that does not prevent us admitting that Catholic institutions and individuals have sometimes oppressed or manipulated people in a way Jesus would be ashamed of; our Church is one for saints and sinners. In the film and novel, the Church is represented as trying to keep people in a state of ignorance masquerading as innocence. Is that a fair accusation today?

Meet our page welcomer – Golda

Other issues we would like to hear your views on are Pullman’s creation of the personal 'daemon,' an animal representing the person’s inner world, which “helps you grow towards wisdom” (Pullman’s own words). Is this the same as the idea of the soul or the conscience, and if so why does it seem to speak to people today more than these traditional concepts?


	"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." Albert Einstein. Source: www.quoteland.com

Sexual Pleasure

Couple embracing Daemons are also closely related to sexual pleasure, which is why the Church in 'The Golden Compass' is portrayed as wanting to cut people off from them. For Pullman, original sin and the fall, which lie behind the theme of 'Dust' in the film, are a positive step forward, closely related to the sexual awakening of adolescence. Is the Catholic Church’s apparently negative attitude to sex a hindrance in today’s society, or a beacon of light in a sex-obsessed society? Can original sin be re-interpreted as something that 'had to happen,' or does ‘salvation’ mean recovering a lost innocence?

Want to know more? For more information and reading materials about the film and novels please see our links page

Laptop and person holding a phone If you would like to contact us about these or the many other issues the film raises, please send an email to: enquiries@life4seekers.co.uk We'd be very interested to hear your views.

A free information pack about Catholic life and beliefs is also available. Please request one using the email address above or call us on tel: 020 8458 3316. All enquiries are dealt with in strict confidence.

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The image used above of what appears to be a child looking through a large looking glass was sourced from: http://www.moviesonline.ca/gallery.php?movie=The_Golden_Compass

Unless otherwise stated, all other images have been purchased from www.istockphoto.com

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