by Alicia M Prater PhD

Created on: December 22, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2010

The Golden Compass movie was based on a book of the same name, the first in a trilogy of fantasy novels called His Dark Materials, written by Philip Pullman. Pullman's trilogy offers an alternative, and interesting, view of the spiritual world and, consequently, the destruction organized religion, or any institution with heavy handed power, can cause. The story takes place in an alternative reality, meeting up eventually with our own. Some see a parallel in the books to what the Vatican and Catholic Church represent to some in our current world - domination, money, hierarchy and control. The books, including The Golden Compass, attack the ideas held beyond reason and the hierarchical structure that forces itself ahead while leaving rationale and facts behind. They do not attack the Christian belief system or the people who worship under that name. The people are actually the heroes of the story, particularly a little girl who is capable of seeing the world in a larger context than the hierarchy and one who acts based on loyalty, compassion, friendship, and love rather than being motivated by power and greed.

The controversy stems from the feeling by the Catholic Church that the movie, because of the nature of the books, attacks their beliefs and their way of life via the children. It was reported that Catholic diocese were advising parents to boycott the movie as it may influence children against religion, particularly Catholicism. The fear was that the atheist creator of the series was trying to recruit children into his beliefs, something that atheists do not actively do since one of their few commonly held beliefs is that people make up their own minds. However, the movie removed most references to the quest against religion and made it a political thriller of sorts. Anything that the movie may influence children to do is to treasure their friendships and to act in loyalty and love, that is if they are even capable of seeing beyond the action-adventure plot and special effects.

No group wants to be the focus of negative sentiments. However, the church has many more important matters tarnishing their image than a fictional movie. The controversy is such - a perceived attack on an institution that has held immense sway in the political world for centuries. Any institution in such a position would vehemently defend itself on the off-chance the threat were real, thus eliminating the potential for losing its standing. This institution happens to be an organized religion that spans the globe. In this instance, what is viewed as an attack is a view of spirituality that differs from its own. The church made up the controversy in order to offensively defend itself. If this were in fact an attack upon them, then so would any other movie, book, pamphlet, website, or speech that addressed a religion or belief other than their own.

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