Sunday
Oct042009
A couple of years too late, heh...
Nina Say
The book was published in 1995, in England, as Northern Lights. Of course, when the book came to North America, the title was changed. In 2007, it was adapted into a film that raked in quite a few dollars, I'm sure, but not without getting hit with boycotts.
The book I am talking about is (necessarily) The Golden Compass. Of course, all of the previous information may make this post seem a little outdated, but if you'll bear with me (and not in the xkcd sense) I think you'll see where I'm going with this.
If you have read the book, or (to a lesser extent) seen the movie, you'll know why it is considered controversial. It follows the story of a girl named Lyra Belacqua who lives in a steampunked version of our own universe as she gets caught up in the study of dark matter (called Dust where she lives) and it's potentially adverse affects on humans as the grow up. What you probably don't know if you only saw the movie (or have never even heard of this) is that this entire thing builds up and finally ends up in a big war against God in the third book, hence the controversy.
Before I continue, let me just say this: I am all for freedom of speech. I mean it. And with the Chronicles of Narnia and the like coming out, don't you think that it should be perfectly fine for Pullman's His Dark Materials to get a chance in the spotlight?
I won't say anything about religion. I really won't. It's not my place and it's a picky subject for lots of people, and lots of people get offended. I just think that a well-written book should have every right to be turned into a movie and not be boycotted for something it might allude to, especially one that is so thought-provoking as those in this trilogy are.
I value your opinion on these things, and I started a thread about this in the Entertainment section of the Fantastical Forums, where you guys can reply and discuss it amongst yourselves.
The book I am talking about is (necessarily) The Golden Compass. Of course, all of the previous information may make this post seem a little outdated, but if you'll bear with me (and not in the xkcd sense) I think you'll see where I'm going with this.
If you have read the book, or (to a lesser extent) seen the movie, you'll know why it is considered controversial. It follows the story of a girl named Lyra Belacqua who lives in a steampunked version of our own universe as she gets caught up in the study of dark matter (called Dust where she lives) and it's potentially adverse affects on humans as the grow up. What you probably don't know if you only saw the movie (or have never even heard of this) is that this entire thing builds up and finally ends up in a big war against God in the third book, hence the controversy.
Before I continue, let me just say this: I am all for freedom of speech. I mean it. And with the Chronicles of Narnia and the like coming out, don't you think that it should be perfectly fine for Pullman's His Dark Materials to get a chance in the spotlight?
I won't say anything about religion. I really won't. It's not my place and it's a picky subject for lots of people, and lots of people get offended. I just think that a well-written book should have every right to be turned into a movie and not be boycotted for something it might allude to, especially one that is so thought-provoking as those in this trilogy are.
I value your opinion on these things, and I started a thread about this in the Entertainment section of the Fantastical Forums, where you guys can reply and discuss it amongst yourselves.
Reader Comments (1)
Oh... I like!!!