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Why there should be a controversy at all over "The Golden Compass" is bewildering. The book is a work of fiction and it should be read as such. Granted, the author may have particular beliefs, but don't we all? Readers must remember that works of fiction are not true-they have been made up from an author's imagination. Some parts of the work may resemble reality, just as some characters may resemble people we might know, but it doesn't make the work gospel truth.

What makes this controversy worse it that so many people have hopped on and taken sides without even having read the book at all. They have decided to condemn the work without giving it a fair trial. How fair is that? Before they go about joining a protest or a boycott, they should find out what it is they are protesting against or boycotting. It has become a case of hearsay, which really isn't a very intelligent or fair approach to judging anything, if there must be judgment at all.

I have always believed that any literary work is subject to as many interpretations as there are readers. Hence, any reader may assign meanings to just about everything in a literary work to suit his or her level of understanding or interpretation. Sometimes, we just need to relish a literary work for the immediate pleasure it brings us. Other times, we want to relate certain aspects of a literary work with our lives, which is what makes that work more significant to us. When several people worldwide over several generations can find something to relate to in a literary work, that work gains magnitude and might be called timeless.

Philip Pullman's "The Golden Compass" was published in 1996. Why was there no controversy then? Why was the book not banned and why did the current detractors not take action or make any noise against the book then? Why didn't they protest the award it received in 2005? It has lasted 10 years in publication and quite possibly, because of the lasting interest and quality of the book, film producers decided to create the movie version.

I recently read all three books in the series, thanks to a friend who shared them with me, and found myself completely drawn into the world of brave little Lyra. I never thought there was anything that should have started a controversy when I read the books. I did think that they had such an imaginative a new way of looking at existence and reality-something that could just as well be true but that we can't or haven't proven yet. I prefer like to look at the Gobblers as any established institution that attempts to rob us of our individuality and free will. It provokes the reader to examine established structures and perhaps see them from a different point of view. Where's the offense in that?

On the other hand, I rather take offense in the demand by any one group that the film be boycotted because of what they claim. Isn't that restricting the individuality of potential viewers and taking away their free will? Why not let them see the film then decide for themselves how to interpret it. It's almost as if they have no faith in their followers that their followers need to be told what to think and how to act.

The irony in the whole situation is that the protest against the film has probably contributed more publicity to it than the producers ever planned. The great hullabaloo must have driven more people to the movie theaters out of curiosity. After all, controversy is probably one of the most effective advertising and marketing tools there is. The box office returns attest to that.

Learn more about this author, Cynthia Lapena.
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