![\"\"](\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_MwnH1kpbPRM\/RzaB867iIOI\/AAAAAAAAA0w\/DgTHHrZZSGw\/s1600-h\/goldencompass-danielcraig.jpg\")
<\/a>A complete version of that Atlantic Monthly<\/a><\/i> article on The Golden Compass<\/a><\/i> has been posted here<\/a>, and alas, no, it does not seem that either I or my colleague were quoted. But I am struck by the following paragraphs:<\/span><\/p>\n
The final, shooting script includes no mention of sin or the end of death. As [New Line Cinema\u2019s production president Toby] Emmerich told me, Dust is \u201cakin to the Force\u201d in Star Wars<\/a>. Coulter tells Lyra that Dust is \u201cevil and wicked\u201d and makes people \u201csick.\u201d Asriel sounds like Obi-Wan Kenobi: \u201cThey taught themselves to fear Dust, instead of master it,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve ignored a tremendous source of power \u2026 That is what it all comes down to, Lyra. That is what Dust is. Power. Without it, we are like children before the might of the Magisterium.\u201d<\/p>\n
It may make sense if you\u2019re in a dark room dazzled by special effects and not thinking too hard. Then again, maybe it won\u2019t. What\u2019s left of Pullman\u2019s story is a string of disconnected proclamations that obscure not just his original point, but any point at all: \u201cMaster Dust!\u201d \u201cFreedom is at stake!\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re not alone. We\u2019re never alone! We have each other.\u201d They satisfy, but they don\u2019t really explain. Or perhaps they offer explanations so familiar and straightforward that they don\u2019t invite questions. . . .<\/p>\n
Marketing plans aside, New Line executives likely believe they were doing Pullman no great disservice by stripping out his theology and replacing it with some vague derivative of the Force. Values such as obedience, religious devotion, and chastity are so rare in Hollywood\u2019s culture that they probably seem archaic and quaint\u2014courtly rules that no one lives by anyway. Certainly not something to get exercised over.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It occurs to me that, if Philip Pullman\u2019s fans are upset that his story has been dumbed down so that the anti-theistic elements are now indistinguishable from the Force, then it may be some small comfort to them that the pro-theistic elements in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe<\/a><\/i> (2005) got the same treatment. To quote the review<\/a> of that film written by my friend Jeffrey Overstreet:<\/p>\n
While other characters\u2019 roles have been expanded, the lion\u2019s appearances are painfully brief. He doesn\u2019t have the time onscreen to earn our affection and awe the way we might have hoped. And scene by scene, the writers consistently skirt the issue of Aslan\u2019s authority, eliminating most references to his history, power, and influence. Aslan\u2019s father, the Emperor-beyond-the-sea, is never mentioned. Instead, the lion waxes philosophical like Obi-Wan Kenobi, mentioning the Deep Magic that \u201cgoverns\u201d his \u201cdestiny.\u201d Huh?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So it\u2019s not like Hollywood has any particular agenda here. Hollywood just has a habit of turning distinctive stories into pale replicas of proven hits. Especially when the proven hit was a mushy universalist pastiche of existing beliefs to begin with.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A complete version of that Atlantic Monthly article on The Golden Compass has been posted here, and alas, no, it does not seem that either I or my colleague were quoted. But I am struck by the following paragraphs: The final, shooting script includes no mention of sin or the end of death. As [New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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