So, there's a lot of hubbub going around in Christendom saying that I should actively boycott a movie I know very little about. In fact, the only reason I now know anything about The Golden Compass is because I receive emails saying I should boycott it...and there seem to be about 500 groups on Facebook dedicated to not supporting it.
I really hate jumping on an "anti-this or anti-that" bandwagon before I know anything other than something's "anti-God." It certainly is wise to check into things before tromping off with the whole family to see a film like Narnia only to discover you're closer to Dimension X. At the same time, it's also wise to know something about something before you start boycotting it.
I've never read the books...the trailer looks interesting enough...and I certainly am not worried I'll lose my Christianity by going to see it. I'm guessing I'll probably see it on DVD and I'll probably read the first books--if not the whole trilogy--at some point, because I like epic fantasy good vs. evil flicks...and it's a bit fascinating to think about watching a side of the story where good doesn't win...and think about what that would look like.
My question is why is it so many Christians' response to boycott something the minute they hear it may be anti-God? Is our God so small that He cannot overcome an anti-Him movie? And why is it okay to forward hate-mail about a movie you're never going to see based on a book you've never read? What's going on here?
Are you going to go see the movie? Why or why not.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Boycott the Golden Compass? Yes or No
Posted by hbu at 11:11 AM
Labels: being a Christian in 21st century America, if we love Christ then we love the church
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8 comments:
Random, somewhat connected thoughts: I may see it on DVD. A part of me wants to see it for the same reason now thousands will see it - what's all the hubbub about? I saw a few trailers now that you asked, and it looks great. The storyline obviously has a ton of symbolism in it, and it can be seen as good and bad. Unlike you, I'm not interested in seeing a movie, or book, where evil wins in the end. If I do or don't, it will be because of interest or a lack there of, not because I want to make a statement. In fact, it could be argued that Christians are acting just like the Magesterium. On the other hand, there are certainly movies that I don't think we as Christians should be allowing into our minds, so I'm hesitant to say that those calling for the boycott are out of line. I'm just not sure this is the movie to draw a line on.
I probably won't see it because, well, I just don't watch that many movies.
Your musings remind me of what Jay Kesler often said...if we really believe God is who he says he is, we needn't be afraid that when we turn over a rock we're going to release some monster that's going to jump out and swallow up God.
So this movie is anti-God. Really, a LOT of things in this world are anti-God. In our fallen nature, each of us is anti-God.
What if Christians were to funnel their religious furor toward the things in this world that are truly evil? I'd be willing to wager that more people will cite "the problem of evil" over against "a blasphemous kids' movie" as their reason for not trusting God in Christ. The Bible doesn't tell us to expend our energy to boycott movies that call for an end to Him. The Bible calls us to extend mercy to the fatherless and the widow that His light might shine through us. If God is not impotent in the face of the evil in this world, surely He is not powerless against a fantasy author with an atheist agenda.
Well-articulated Suz!
And in response to Paul's comment--based on some feedback I've gotten from a few close friends, they say that The Golden Compass is more worthy of debate than even Harry Potter. More particularly, Renee said, "I think that all the Christians who got in a hubbub about Harry Potter picked the wrong series."
But I'm not specifically trying to start a debate on that, considering that I haven't read it.
That said, I'm in the middle of rereading the third book. My first time through the books, I felt betrayed by Pullman at the end because he had a very anti-religious plot-line.
However, on my second time through, several years later, I'm intrigued by his "what-if" questions he's asking. In a fantasy trilogy, he's asking, "what if the creation story went like this?" and "what if what the church calls 'sin nature' was an actual, scientifically studied element?" His story gives me a glimpse into how he views the Church and its story and what, exactly, he's upset about. And understanding that, I think, is important.
Someday, maybe I'll write my own fantasy trilogy as a reaction of sorts. Or another "what if?"
I've also been thinking of my own blog response, to be written upon completion of the third book. I'll link to it when I do.
And my dad really really wants to see the movie. Iorek is going to be really cool. :)
Salt... light... in the world... eating with prostitutes and tax collectors... Christ and the Bible leaves little doubt about how Christians are called to engage with culture. Boycotting makes groups appear elitist, separatist, and superior. I watched the trailer as well and couldn't help but wonder, "Why couldn't 'we' make the Chronicles of Narnia look this well produced??"
I've read both the Golden Compass and the subtle knife.
I think some people may be misguided in their information as to why some Christians are uneasy with this literature and movie.
Here’s my 2 cents:
1. The Golden Compass is by no means appropriate for young children as there are some pretty graphic and scary descriptions. I know that they have been sold at elementary school book fairs and as a parent I would not want my young reader to read this book. However, I would allow an older child read it with my permission and with my involvement.
2. Pullman very purposefully crafted this novel in response to C.S. Lewis’s beloved “The Chronicles of Narnia” series. He self-admittedly wanted to propagate an anti-God message and purposefully aimed it toward young children. Pullman is boisterous in his loathing of Aslan (the allegory character that represents Christ in the Narnia series). Pullman even goes so far as to write his young character in the likeness of young Lucy who finds herself in the wardrobe when she mistakenly discovers Narnia in the beginning of “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”. His rewriting of scripture is brazen at best, if not blasphemy.
3. Though this book series is an attack on the Catholic church, C.S. Lewis was by no means a Catholic. Pullman lumps his distain for the Catholic church in with the evangelical message of Lewis’ writings. This too seems a common mistake for those that are most familiar with the Catholic church rather than other streams of Christianity such as the Evangelical.
4. I think many Christians actually do a disservice to their children by trying to shelter them from the secular world rather than guiding them while their children are in their homes. Sheltered children who never learn how to deal apologetically with those who disagree with them later have their world’s rocked and foundations shaken when they go off to college and have professors attack them as mine did to me. My parents helped me by informing me, nurturing me, but then allowing my faith to be my own. When my professors came at me I took all things into consideration but I was not shaken.
5. I do not feel threatened by this book and movie. I am not afraid of those who do not believe as I do, perhaps that’s a result of the tolerant generation I belong to. I have many friends who believe otherwise or simply have no faith at all and yet we are friends despite that.
6. Jeers to New Line cinema for the release during the holiday season and to Disney for the postponed release of Lewis’ “Prince Caspian” from December 12th until May of 2008.
As for the outcry over God being killed in the book; God, in the form of Jesus, was already killed 2000 years ago but he rose again triumphantly on the third day. That is the euaggelizō (good news).
*Pullman’s article on C.S. Lewis source: http://www.crlamppost.org/darkside.htm
I saw the movie after I received one of those emails.
I think it is a good movie, I haven't read the books, but even though it is labeled as "anti-God" it still has that good vs. evil feel. And I like the good side. :)
Whatever, I haven't really given it all that much thought but I liked the movie.
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