Golden Compass Stirring up a controversy. Major Spoilers!!!!!

[Geekyfanboy]

Is Compass Anti-Religion?

Deborah Forte, producer of the upcoming fantasy film The Golden Compass, danced around questions about whether the movie—like the Philip Pullman book on which it is based—takes a stand against organized religion or the Catholic Church.

Forte added that neither she nor New Line Cinema intended for the film, based on Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, to be considered anti-Catholic, as some have accused the book of being. The Golden Compass is based on the first Dark Materials novel, Northern Lights.

"What I thought about and I think what the studio thought about as welll—although I don't want to speak for them—is that this is a great story," Forte said in a group interview in London on Nov. 25. "And when you ask a lot of the fans what they love about the story, 99 percent of them say they love the originality of the world that Philip created. They love the characters: 'Oh, I love Lyra.' 'I love Iorek.' 'I love Lee,' ... whatever. Serafina."

Forte added: "They don't ever say to me, 'I love it because it deals with this theme and this point of view.' It's rare that I hear that. So there was a very good reason to make this as a movie, because it's great entertainment."

The Golden Compass has already stirred controversy: A U.S. Catholic group has called for a boycott of what it sees as an attack on religion, while Pullman purists are worried that the movie has watered down the book's strong religious themes.

For her part, Forte smiled slightly when asked if she and the studio contemplated retaining the book's more controversial elements, given that protests were likely no matter how the film turned out.

"I think it wasn't a conscious decision of having it or not having it," Forte said. "Philip, when I started this process, ... I said, 'Do you have any words of wisdom for us, in terms of developing this as a script?' He said, 'Yes. Stick with Lyra.'"

Lyra is the protagonist, a 12-year-old heroine played by Dakota Blue Richards. The character's journey brings her into conflict with the Magisterium, an oppressive, Catholic Church-like entity, which controls the lives of the people in Lyra's world, an alternate universe that resembles our own.

"[Pullman] said, 'Don't get sidetracked with a lot of other things you could do or say in this movie. Stick with Lyra,'" Forte recalled. "He said, 'It's her story. If you stick with her, if you fully tell her story, if the audience understands her and appreciates her and her story, you'll do OK.'" The Golden Compass opens on Dec. 7.

[Duffster]

Here is the Snopes page on this controversy.  http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

I have avoided this subject since I heard about it, religion is always a touchy subject. I have decided I probably won't be seeing this movie, but I will be looking into the books more so I can form my own opinion.

I don't think it should be banned by any means, but I do think this information should be readily available so that parents can make a decision dependent on their own beliefs.

I knew that Narnia had christian parallels before I saw the movie, it should be known that these stories have anti-religious slants.

Just my opinion.


Duffster