With the film, The Golden Compass opening on Friday, interest in the film (and the original trilogy of “His Dark Materials” books) is peaking. We’ve seen more traffic on this blog today than ever before because of our original post about the movie. We’ve also received a lot of very interesting comments from readers.
Two of the best pieces we’ve read over the last few days about the entire controversy surrounding The Golden Compass come from writers who have both seen the film and read the books. Film critic Jeffery Overstreet, who was quoted in our original post, answers a number of reader questions about the film, such as:
- Should Christians be afraid of The Golden Compass?
- Do Pullman’s stories pose a threat to children?
You also can hear an audio interview with Jeffery Overstreet about The Golden Compass by clicking here. The interview is part of a podcast by Bob Lepine on “How Stories Shape Our Children.” (Those with iTunes can access this episode by going to their iTunes Podcast tab and entering "Ear Reverent" in the search box.)
In addition, Al Mohler just posted a thorough and thoughtful commentary about The Golden Compass film and books on his blog. Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, puts the issue in a solid, biblical perspective:
A good first step would be to take a deep breath. The Christian faith is not about to be toppled by a film, nor by a series of fantasy books. Pullman has an agenda that is clear, and Christians need to inform themselves of what this agenda is and what it means. At the same time, nothing would serve his agenda better than to have Christians speaking recklessly or unintelligently about the film or the books.
This is about the battle of ideas and worldviews. While Christians will not celebrate the release of this film, we should recognize the mixture of challenge and opportunity that comes with millions of persons watching this film and talking about the issues it raises. When the movie is mentioned in the workplace, in school, on the playground, or in the college campus, this is a great opportunity to show that Christians are not afraid of the battle of ideas. …
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has enemies; this we know. Christian parents must be informed about His Dark Materials and inform others. We must take the responsibility to use interest in this film to teach our own children to think biblically and to be discerning in their engagement with the media in all forms. We should arm our children to be able to talk about this project with their classmates without fear or rancor.
Philip Pullman has an agenda, but so do we. Our agenda is the Gospel of Christ -- a message infinitely more powerful than that of The Golden Compass.
On Friday we’ll post another update on this issue, including some reviews of the film.
Stumble It!
