The Golden Compass[movie]

[Miriel]

The reasons why you shouldnt see this movie:

The Golden Compass Vs. The Holy Bible

I think the entire article was effectively shot down by this quote from the very first sentence.

If you actually read the article, you might discover that it's actually pro-Dark Materials and anti-bible. You know... if you bothered to even glance over the whole thing.

[ShunNakamura]

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I think a few of you have failed your sarcasm detector test. For those of you who have failed it just look up Landover Baptist Church. I thought the article was pretty obvious in what it was doing[and was a somewhat enjoyable read though it may have taken things a bit far] .

As for Skyblade's article I thought about going through and posting what is obviously wrong with that review.. but meh, the Christians who are protesting this film are either following the crowd[and likely won't listen to little old me] or they are so closed that nothing but a high powered laser would have any hope of penetrating even the outermost layers. However, to humor you I will post up one easily spotted error that really glares[and is a favorite of mine to go up with].

The villains are trying to “cut” the souls out of children. But in Pullman’s world, those “souls” are called “daemons”. Thus, anyone trying to “cast out demons” is really trying to carve innocence out of the kids.

Le Sigh.

Daemon: 2. Variant of daimon. [
Daimon: 2.An attendant spirit; a genius.
Daimon: a guardian spirit or guardian angel often associated with the communication of advice and inspiration. [Conneticut paranormal research society]

The words daemon, dæmon, are Latinized spellings of the Greek δαίμων (daimon),[1] used purposely today to distinguish the daemons of Ancient Greek religion, good or malevolent "supernatural beings between mortals and gods, such as inferior divinities and ghosts of dead heroes" (see Plato's Symposium), from the Judeo-Christian usage demon, a malignant spirit that can seduce, afflict, or possess humans.

Daimon is the Greek derivative for the term demon. In this sense the term "demon" means "replete with knowledge." The ancient Greeks thought there were good and bad demons called 'eudemons' and 'cacodemons.' The term 'daimon' means "divine power," "fate" or "god." Daimons, in Greek mythology, included deified heroes. They were considered intermediary spirits between men and the gods. Good daimons were considered to be guardian spirits, giving guidance and protection to the ones they watched over. Bad daimons led people astray.

But though the word demon is now practically restricted to this sinister sense, it was otherwise with the earlier usage of the Greek writers. The word, which is apparently derived from daio "to divide" or "apportion", originally meant a divine being; it was occasionally applied to the higher gods and goddesses, but was more generally used to denote spiritual beings of a lower order coming between gods and men. For the most part these were beneficent beings, and their office was somewhat analogous to that of the angels in Christian theology.

Pullman Speaks on the origin of Daemon. From a Scholastic interview.

Not exactly a difficult mistake to think of Daemon as the Christian demon/devil since that is the common thinking of the word, particularly to closed Christians; however, it isn't exactly hard to find what it was meant to mean.

In the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish editions of His Dark Materials the word "dæmon" is changed to "daimon", simply because "dæmon" means "demon" in those languages[citation needed]. In Serbian and Italian editions, dæmon is also changed to daimon. In the Spanish edition, the term "dæmon" is changed to "daimonion". The Portuguese translation of the books render the word as "génio" in reference to the familiar spirits in Greco-Roman mythology.

Anyways easier/faster for me to do a lot of cut and pasting than to write my own 6 page report on daemon/daimon/whatever.

Oh and another which is fun

And yes, the church has had its periods of horrific misbehavior. But Christ is the foundation of the church, and he stands in stark opposi<b></b>tion to oppression, cruelty, and tyranny.

The church in the Golden Compass has no Christ figure; stated by Pullman himself.

Well, to answer the question about Jesus first, no, he doesn't figure in the teaching of the church, as I described the church in the story. I think he's mentioned once, in the context of this notion of wisdom that works secretly and quietly, not in the great courts and palaces of the earth, but among ordinary people and so on. And there are some teachers who have embodied this quality, but whose teaching has perhaps been perverted or twisted or turned, and been used in a fashion that they themselves didn't either desire or expect or could see happening.

So there's a sort of reference to the teaching of Jesus which I may return to in the next book - but I don't want to anticipate too much because I've found that if I tell people what I'm going to write about, I don't write it, something happens to prevent it, so I'd better not anticipate that too much. But I'm conscious that that is a question that has been sort of hovering over people's understanding of the story anyway.

If you want the interview transcript, here it is.



Anyways both articles were enjoyable due to the sillyness of them... sadly it looks like Skyblade's link is serious rather than sarcastic .

[The Unknown Guru]

Ugh. I've read the books waaaay too many times to like the movie. They changed the order of events, lopped off the ending, and crammed it all into about an hour and a half.

When I heard about it, I immediately thought, "That needs to be at least 2 and a half hours long to be any good." It wasn't, so it felt rushed and you really had no idea who most of the characters were and why they were important.

However, Ian MacKellan + Christopher Lee = Awesome, no matter what movie they're in.

[rubah]

Anyone who's read the book would realize it's hopelessly ridiculous, pedantic and extreme view. I've read the book and never at any time did I believe it was anti-Christian. A minor theme or motif is the focus on the excessive aspects of modern society, not specifically of any religion but rather modern life in general, and even that was presented in an objective fashion and rarely obvious. It was also done tastefully and wasn't ever a major aspect of the work.

The book or the entire set of three? I can't see how anyone could read the third book and not come off with the impression that pullman dislikes [at least] the catholic church.

[Clouded Sky]

While it wasn't an AWESOME movie, it was, at the least, a rather enjoyable movie. It can't hold a candle to the books, but then, what movie can?

As for the whole religious issue surrounding the movie: WHO CARES? It's a well written work of fiction, the movie is a wonderful fantasy.

Though there are definitely times I wish some/all of it were real.

[ShunNakamura]

Though there are definitely times I wish some/all of it were real.

DAEMONS!!!! It would be so cool to have a "guardian spirit/divine advice giver"! Not to mention imagine the games you could play as kids when you have that type of spirit[would also be cool to have it shapeshifting as an adult(we all know what makes the daemons settle, right? well I have not meet those requirements yet and I am an adult )].


Anyways I wish the movie was better. From the comments[not just here but elsewhere] it sounds like it will be a bit meh. I liked the LotR movies and I was hoping this would be time number two that a book-turned-movie would be GREAT. These movie producers need to learn to take as much time as they need[in movie length or by breaking it down into smaller segments].

[Skyblade]

Out of curiosity, how many of you have read the books? You seem to be saying that it's well written and executed, while a lot of what I've heard is that it is too rushed because it tries to cram too much of the book into too short of a time frame, and I'm wondering if that's true and you guys are able to follow it better because you are already familiar with the world, plot, and characters.

[ShunNakamura]

I have read the books. However, I have only read The Golden Compass once I believe[Amber Spyglass and Subtle Knife I own and have read when I didn't have new books to read[about 3 times each]].

[MJN SEIFER]

While I think of it. He was pretty good at lord of the rings. So maybe he's better in films, most of the things I've seen him in are TV shows - and in them he was awful.

I'll try to see some more FILMS with him before I decide for sure.

[Raebus]

Here's a tip, watch more of the films he's been in before judging him on TV shows alone. Most actors aren't as good in TV shows or don't show their full acting skills. I'm sure you'll enjoy most of his movies.

[MJN SEIFER]

Thanks for the tip.

[Shauna]

Apparently it was something to do with a mix-up at the American publishers. But yeah, 'HAI GUISE LOL WUT PHIOLLSPHERS? WUT NO WAY MAN WE'LL CALL IT THE SORCERER'S STONE' comes to mind.

Apparently Pullman decided to name it "The Golden Compass" over in America, for whatever reason - I was told because Americans don't know what the Northern Lights are, but I don't think that's true. It was released as "The Golden Compass", but Pullman immediately regretted his decision but then it was too late. Or something like that. xD

Or this is all lies, and this is the real reason! or from Wikipedia:

The superficial resemblance of protagonist Lyra Belacqua's alethiometer (depicted on the book's cover) to a large compass caused the North American publishers of Northern Lights to retitle the book The Golden Compass.[1] The Golden Compasses was an early proposal for the name of the trilogy (instead of His Dark Materials), taken from Milton's Paradise Lost, where it refers to the drawing instrument, rather than the navigation instrument.

Anyway, I look forward to seeing this movie. I don't expect it at all to be anything like the book, but I still look forward to it.

Also: wtf@Ian MacKellen hate.

[Badge]

I'm still pissed at the United States of Dumbass for changing the name of the book.

Yes. The United States Government intervened and demanded that the book's name be changed. :rolleyes2

Apparently it was something to do with a mix-up at the American publishers. But yeah, 'HAI GUISE LOL WUT PHIOLLSPHERS? WUT NO WAY MAN WE'LL CALL IT THE SORCERER'S STONE' comes to mind.

WHATS A PHILOSOPHER!? its got too many sylables! SORCERER!! YEAHHH!!

WTF IS NORTHERN LIGHTS...I LIKE COMPASSES!! YAY GOLDEN COMPASS

*nods*
Phillip Pullman's Dark Materials are my favourite series of books ever, why do the have to change everything! It could have been called something harder like Aurora Borealis but he kept it simple, Northern Lights, it's not hard people D=

[Heath]

To save you all the trouble of going to see this movie, I'm going to tell you of all the awesome stuff that happens;

- Children get harmed
- There's an airship-flying cowboy
- A giant bear played by Ian McKellen literally smacks the jaw off another bear

That's about it.

Let's not forget Eva Green.

I saw it this evening and was really impressed with it. I usually prepare myself for disappointment with things like this, but I was pleased with it. Hate the name change (or at least wished they'd called it 'Northern Lights' outside the US like with the books), but oh well. Well worth seeing, certainly even if you've not seen the book. The ending was a bit flat to be honest but I suppose that's to be expect considering they really missed the ending off. I think I understand why someone said it went a bit too fast because I thought that too, but I wouldn't say it impeded my enjoyment of the film.

This film wasn't terribly anti-religious. However telling Christians to "get over it" isn't terribly constructive. I'm sure many Atheists have problems with Christians put forward negative views about them, so y'know. Some of them give as good as they get and all. However, as I've said before, I think the book is worth reading to be discussed in relation to faith as the Archbishop of Canterbury said.

Good God though, Mrs. Coulter's daemon is absolutely foul. Moreso than I remembered it being.

[Rostum]

The commercials make it look really lame, but I guess I'll go see it eventually. I have never heard of the book though, so I guess it wouldn't have that to live up to for me.