Pullman Ruffles Religious Feathers

By Shannon Maughan, Children's Bookshelf -- Publishers Weekly, 10/18/2007

With the December feature film release of The Golden Compass adapted from Philip Pullman’s popular fantasy title just around the corner, controversy is brewing over the content of both book and film.

In the book, first in the His Dark Materials trilogy, which Pullman has noted was partly inspired by Paradise Lost, an authoritative, evil council called the Magisterium rejects the basic tenets of Judeo-Christian theology and offers harsh criticism of the power structure within organized religion, particularly (though not explicitly named) the Catholic Church.

Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards,
in the forthcoming film The Golden Compass.

But moviegoers will not find this thought-provoking storyline when they head to the cineplex. As the pre-release buzz gets louder, much is being made of the fact that Golden Compass director Chris Weitz has played down Pullman’s religious themes in his interpretation, to avoid controversy.

In an October 14 article in the Telegraph, Weitz admitted that his film does not closely mirror the theology of the print version. “In the books the Magisterium is a version of the Catholic Church gone wildly astray from its roots.” Weitz said. “If that’s what you want in the film, you’ll be disappointed.”

This flap is not a new one, however. Weitz, who had initially been hired to write the screenplay and direct the film, actually withdrew from the project in late 2004, citing the “technical challenges of making such an epic,” according to Variety. At the time, the Times of London speculated that Compass’s film studio New Line intended “to remove anti-religious overtones” from Pullman’s story “because of fears of a backlash from the Christian Right in the United States.” Weitz eventually returned to the helm and filmed the current incarnation of the movie.

Richards as Lyra Belacqua,
and Sam Elliott as Lee Scoresby.

Perhaps a case of damned if you do, damned if you don’t, The Golden Compass is still drawing passionate comment from both sides of the debate as its December 7 release date approaches. Anti-censorship groups and the National Secular Society, a British organization that defends the rights of “atheists, agnostics and other non-believers” (Pullman is an honorary associate), among others, have expressed disappointment because they feel the film has been “whitewashed.”

Raising another angle of opposition, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a lay advocacy organization that is unaffiliated with the Church, has announced a protest campaign against the film. In a video on the group’s Web site, and in various media appearances, Donohue calls Pullman a “militant atheist,” and characterizes his books as “provocative, aggressive, anti-Christian/anti-Roman Catholic.” Donohue asserts that the film, which carries a “watered down” interpretation of Pullman’s religious themes, is being using to lure families into buying Pullman’s books, which Donohue considers “selling atheism to kids in a backdoor fashion.”

G.P. Taylor, a former Anglican priest and British author of the children's fantasy novel Shadowmancer, has joined the ranks of protesters as well. The online newsletter Christian Etailing reports that Taylor has issued an open e-mail letter warning that "The Golden Compass is yet another salvo against (Christians)." Taylor goes on to stress that his own book is the perfect antidote and that it "answers everything Pullman tries to destroy."

Pullman is largely staying out of the fray, trusting that his materials are in good hands. “When it comes to performance and film and so on, what you should do, it seems to me, is make sure the people you sell it to know what they’re doing, and then leave them alone,” he wrote on his Web site, about selling the film and dramatic rights to his works. “You are better employed writing new books than arguing with people about how to interpret your existing ones.”

New Line Cinema's movie poster.

And it appears Weitz isn’t quite finished putting the final stamp on his interpretation. He released a statement last week explaining that The Golden Compass’s ending has been reworked. “I have decided, along with Scholastic and New Line and, most importantly, Philip Pullman, to shift the concluding three chapters of Book I of His Dark Materials to the beginning of the second film of our trilogy, The Subtle Knife,” Weitz wrote, as reported on fan site HisDarkMaterials, October 9. “To me, this provides the most promising conclusion to the first film and the best possible beginning to the second.”

The author gave Weitz an additional vote of confidence and offered reassurances to fans about the most recent alteration in a post on the HisDarkMaterials site. “Every film has to make changes to the story that the original book tells—not to change the outcome, but to make it fit the dimensions and the medium of film,” he acknowledged. “I’m very happy with the work the filmmakers have done, and no one wants this film to succeed more, or believes in it more firmly, than I do."

A handful of religious publishers are also capitalizing on the film’s release and reinvigorated interest in Pullman, releasing titles such as Shedding Light on His Dark Materials: Exploring Hidden Spiritual Themes in Philip Pullman's Popular Series by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware (Tyndale/Salt River, Sept.).

Despite the brouhaha, many Pullman fans are simply pleased that his book continues to move full steam ahead to the big screen. The expanded trailer for The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig, Sam Elliott and newcomer Dakota Blue Richards as young heroine Lyra, made its debut October 9 at the Rockefeller Center Ice Rink in New York City. Now it’s up to moviegoers to set the film’s course.

« Back | Print