The Golden Compass

A friend of mine noticed that I'm reading Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass and asked if I had an opinion about the call for a boycott of the upcoming movie. I don't yet, but I was motivated to finally read the book because:
a) it's a genre I usually enjoy
b) I know a lot of kids at my church are reading it
c) a lot of people will see the movie
d) New Line Cinema is promoting it by transfiguring the ring from LOTR to a compass in its previews
e) I heard years ago about Pullman's atheist agenda, and decided I'd better investigate for myself

I'm not done with the book, and suspect that the full agenda of Pullman's anti-Paradise Lost tale will become more evident only in books two and three. So I don't have much to say yet, except that Alan Jacobs, who I respect enormously for defending Harry Potter among the evangelical set years ago, has voiced serious concerns about Pullman. OK, Jacobs is a C.S. Lewis fan, and Pullman decidedly is not, so they are already in different camps. But Jacobs is not a knee-jerk "It's not explicitly Christian, therefore it's bad" kind of critic. You can hear his thought on Mars Hill Audio, here.

Mars Hill Audio, by the way, is sort of public radio (Ken Myers formerly worked for NPR) for conservative Christians. It's very intellectual and thoughtful, and I subscribed to it for a while back when it was in CD format, but stopped when they started doing apology for the war. They did some wonderful programs on Tolkien when LOTR was emerging in film.

Comments

[Chris]

Hi, Pam. I first ran across this series when writing my forthcoming book, Faith as a Way of Life, which has a chapter on faith and arts. I ran across a National Theater dialog between Rowan Williams and Philip Pullman that captivated me. Actually, what Rowan Williams had to say about faith and the arts, and about Flannery O'Connor. But it made me take note of the His Dark Materials phenomenon. Isaiah and I had read all the Narnia books and all the Harry Potter books together, and I was looking for something else, so I decided to read The Golden Compass to see if we should read it. I decided after reading some interviews and reading the first book that it was worth attending to closely, on C. S. Lewis' own principles. In An Experiment in Criticism, he argues against categorical dismissal of a work as 'bad' or 'good' and rather asks 'what sorts of people do we become through giving ourselves over to this or that product of art (song, novel, movie, &tc.). I actually find a couple facts really interesting about Pullman--that his beloved Grandfather was an Anglican parish pastor and that he taught young Philip to love stories, to love the truth that stories can convey. He doesn't like Narnia because he things they are not truthful stories, they mislead us, in fact, from the truth. Well, that's interesting. And so far, I'd venture his critique of religion (the Christian church included) is that it, too, misleads us from the truth. Alas! That is too often right! Rowan Williams had an interesting point--Pullman's version of religion in His Dark Materials has no Christ figure. So, to make this brief(er than it might if I went on), I'm reading and thinking too, and look forward to hearing more thoughts from you.
Advent peace to you and Will and the schmoofies (as we call them around our place).
Chris

[Chris]

Hi, Pam. Check out Laura Miller's thoughtful article about Pullman, "Far From Narnia," in the December 26 2005 issue of The New Yorker. She notes that he is drawn to reinterpret the 'fall' not as horror and sin, but as 'necessity' and that 'growing up' is a good thing. He critiques Christianity, C. S. Lewis, and even his beloved Milton for lamenting the loss of innocence. That reminds me of Paul Tillich's controversial understanding of the Fall in his Systematic Theology, which if I remember it rightly, sort of sees the fall as the transition into consciousness, knowledge of good and bad, and behind this for Tillich is, I suppose, a reading of Freud.
Anyway, you've got me thinking further on all this. Wish we could go out for coffee and talk.
CS