The Golden Compass

I have been asked a question about an upcoming movie called "The Golden Compass". The person has heard that the movie was a terrible anti-Catholic movie wanted to know if it was a movie that a Catholic should avoid. Here is what I found out:

Whenever I have questions about movies I go to the website of Steven D. Greydanus. Steven is a film critic for the National Catholic Reporter. He rates films on both a normal scale and one that takes into account the ideals of the Christian Faith. He is very good at warning people about questionable content. His site is http://www.decentfilms.com

I was not able to find a review of the Golden Compass, however, the movie is not scheduled to be released until December 7, 2007. I would keep an eye on his site.

Here is a plot summary from the Internet movie Database:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385752/plotsummary


According to Wikipedia the movie is based on the book "Northern Lights" by Phillip Pullman. It is book one of a trilogy that contains strong anti-Catholic and anti-religious content. The director of the movie has said that those things will be diluted for the movie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials:_The_Golden_Compass


The Catholic League has indeed put out a warning about the questionable content of this story and have planned a 2 month protest. It should be pointed out, however, that it is not the Catholic League's position that the movie itself will possess troubling content (the movie makers plan to water down the author's anti-religious stance), they are concerned that the movie might draw kids to the books, which do contain much troubling content.

http://www.catholicleague.org/release.php?id=1342

I guess my suggestion would be to find a different movie to go see. It's coming out around Christmas time...there have to be better movies to spend money on than this one.