Killing God? - The Golden Compass

This is what the award winning British Author, Phillip Pullman has been accused of. The first book of his trilogy “His Dark Materials” has been recently adapted by Director Chris Weitz for New line Cinema’s most expensive film ever made: ‘The Golden Compass’.

Having opened in the U.K on 5th December, this movie adaptation of the first book “Northern Lights” has us follow the adventures of a streetwise 12 year old girl called Lyra Belacqua (played by Dakota Blue Richards). She travels through multiple worlds populated by witches (one of whom is played by Eva Green), armour-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of the ‘ruling’ order, a nefarious church known as the “Magesterium”.

The movie is the bait for the books which are allegedly and fundamentally anti-religion. One of the novel’s pagan characters puts it, “every church is the same: control, destroy, and obliterate every good feeling”. The books get even darker with adult themes such as female circumcision and castration.

Given this, it seems frightening that Pullman wants kids to buy the books after having watched ‘The Golden Compass’. He reportedly wants kids to decide ‘against god and the kingdom of heaven’ which has drawn fire from concerned Christians, who have dubbed Pullman’s work as ‘atheism for kids’.

Apparently a proud atheist, and described as the most dangerous author in Britain, Pullman wants to ‘kill God’ in the minds of children. Having sold 15 million copies worldwide, he opposes C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” and wrote the trilogy in contrast to the latter. His long term aim is to convince us to object to ideological tyranny which endorses a rejection of this world, in favour of an idealised after-life.

Adapting such an adult book for a PG audience is nothing short of ridiculous and dangerous. Challenging the minds of children by presenting them with different ideas is to be encouraged, but perhaps not ideas that bash the foundation of faith based value systems.

Can you imagine an army of 12 year olds on our streets all challenging God? And aren’t existential dilemmas usually reserved for adulthood? Quite interestingly and paradoxically though, perhaps Pullman wants to diminish ‘passive faith’ at a young age in order to avoid such existentialism later in life.

Casting our minds back to ‘The Wizard of Oz’, challenging the authority of a senile ‘God-type’ wizard was evident but with values such as hope and faith still intact, much to the pleasure of Dorothy. In grave and great contrast, Pullman’s two child heroes dissolve the authority of a senile authoritarian ‘God’ type character.

I’m sure readers of the trilogy will be curious to watch this movie but whether it is suitable for a PG audience is another concern. Aside from the underlying message and regardless of the gold dust that is shed in battle instead of blood, there is too much fighting for a pre-teen audience.

With special effects costing over 180 million dollars and a combination of good acting it will ensure you won’t walk out. Daniel Craig plays the Uncle of the young heroine Lyra, and Nicole Kidman as Marisa Coulter who manages to light up the screen despite her sinister character. You’ll have to wait to see more of Craig in the sequel since he is only in a handful of the many scenes that don’t thread together well.

Other Hollywood fantasy movies have proven hits at the box office but ‘The Golden Compass’ is not one for them. ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ have passed the test where audiences have loved the movies despite not having read the books. The same cannot be said of Chris Weitz’s adaptation.

Further, the young heroine Lyra is singled out, much like a Harry Potter, but there is no depth to her character and you are not on ‘her side’ as you are with the likes of otherworldly ‘Frodo’ type heroes. Still, Pullman’s imagination translates on screen with ideas such as the soul belonging to humans, scampering at the side of individuals in the form of animals (monkeys, rodents and cats).

With a handful of U.S imperialism for the holidays (the American cowboy seems to save the day in every sticky situation) the movie still has the ability to make those with testing nerves jump out of their seats. Competition is on its way this season with contributions from Will Smith’s thriller “I am Legend” and Nicolas Cage’s “National Treasure” sequel. “The Golden Compass” may not have blown audiences away, but it has managed to direct (pardon the pun) inquisitive beings toward Pullman’s dark matter.