Thank you for your comments. I'm not sure what happens to this group now that Nablopomo is officially over. I thought I'd sign off with a bang!
This December, cinemas all over the country will be releasing the highly controversial "The Golden Compass". This film is based on a trilogy by Phillip Pullman. "The Golden Compass", "The Subtle Knife" and "The Amber Spyglass".
I must say, that I've read all three books and they are wonderful. I find it fascinating when people or religious groups condemn books. There is a great article that explains some of the controversy here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20071130/golden-compass-re...
I find it funny that people are bothered by a "fictional" fantasy's portrial of what happens to you when you die. I didn't hear any controversy for "The Time Traveler's Wife". In this book, you just go to different realms neither heaven or hell. Why didn't anyone make a big deal about this?
Books like Bram Stoker's "Dracula" or Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" don't cause this kind of controversy. There are fiction.
Catholic author Sandra Miesel complains that "every clergy person is portrayed as evil and their daemons take the form of snakes and frogs."
Well, with the sexual abuse scandal the Catholic Church has been facing (or trying not to face) I would say that is the most accurate representation of the clergy in a work of fiction. As far as snakes and frogs...didn't God create those? Why would she view them as "evil"? She sounds very fragile in her faith.
You may want to argue that these books are directed toward children and this is inappropriate. Well, as a parent that is your choice. My daugther and son starting read these books when they were about eleven years old. When they got to the Amber Spyglass, which is where the controversy takes place, they were about thirteen years old. We talked plenty about what was going in the book. It was a wonderful experience.
We treated this book, the same way we treated "Huckelberry Finn" or "Farenheit 451" with a lot of discussion. That's the beauty of what a good story does, it brings people together, even when they don't agree.
Go read the books. You decide if you like them or not. As far as the movie, I think it's going to suck. The books are too good to make a movie out of. That's strictly my opinion.
