Well, the major movie filling the holiday fantasy slot this holiday season will be The Golden Compass, the first movie to be made from a trilogy of books by Philip Pullman, which he partially wrote to discredit his understanding of Christianity and its God as oppressive, worthy to be overthrown.
If you want to prepare yourself for the upcoming controversy concerning the movie or would just like a discerning guide to help navigate the trilogy, I can think of no one better to be that guide than Jeffrey Overstreet, flim critic and author. Here is a very thoughtful post as to how Christians might think about and respond sensitively to Philip Pullman’s books and the upcoming motion picture. Below is a short excerpt, but I highly recommend reading the entire post if you are at all interested in this matter. Oh, and Jeffrey has also recently written a fantasy novel himself, which I hope to be digging into over the holidays. And here is another of his books on the movies.
The best way to make Phillip Pullman’s stories look like gospel truth is to respond by acting like the villainous Christians in his stories.
The best way to expose Pullman’s lie is to respond like Christ himself: With grace and truth, not hysteria and condemnation.
If we respond with wrath, condemnation, and protest, we play right into Pullman’s naive caricature of Christianity. I’m not saying we shouldn’t point out where he is wrong. His story is deeply flawed, and his religious bigotry is shameful. We should not ignore that. But we also should not ignore the excellence of his artistry. And should speak the truth in love, as Christ commands us. We should respond with truth and grace.
Interesting how in the “Okay, so we shouldn’t start boycotts and complain. But what should Christians do?” section, there is no suggestion to do this:
Go and actually read the book and see for yourself what this brouhaha is all about (or whether it’s just manufactured controversy) and draw your own conclusions. Otherwise, judging a book/movie based on articles/reviews is taking the easy way out by putting one’s brain on autopilot while masquerading under a Fox News “Fair & Balanced” guise.
I find it a bit amusing that he mentions “boycotts and complain.” I guess that’s what a certain type of people are best at eh?
Peter, I think Jeffrey’s point is that we should not simply boycott and complain and I think that he does imply that people should read the book for themselves, though he adds some wise cautions for parents to consider when they let their children read this or any book. He even praises Pullman’s artistry and writing, so though you might have a legitimate gripe against other Christians, I do not think you do with Jeffrey.
I think that reviews have an important place in our collective life. We sometimes need guidance in some areas. All things are not for all people and we can help one another in this. Also, very practically we simply cannot make up our minds about every thing by experiencing it or reading it for ourselves. If we cannot, yes, we should be careful about our comments about a book or movie, but that does not simply mean that we cannot participate in the discussion at all.
Peter, I think Jeffrey’s point is that we should not simply boycott and complain and I think that he does imply that people should read the book for themselves, though he adds some wise cautions for parents to consider when they let their children read this or any book. He even praises Pullman’s artistry and writing, so though you might have a legitimate gripe against other Christians, I do not think you do with Jeffrey.
I think that reviews have an important place in our collective life. We sometimes need guidance in some areas. All things are not for all people and we can help one another in this. Also, very practically we simply cannot make up our minds about every thing by experiencing it or reading it for ourselves. If we cannot, yes, we should be careful about our comments about a book or movie, but that does not simply mean that we cannot participate in the discussion at all.