His Dark Materials
December 7, 2007
The books
His Dark Materials has been described as a fantasy trilogy by both fans and critics alike. On the contrary, Philip Pullman states: “His Dark Materials is not a fantasy, but stark realism.”
He also says: “Readers have told me that the daemons, which at first seem so utterly fantastic, soon become so familiar and essential a part of each character that they, the readers, feel as if they’ve got a daemon themselves. And my point is that they have, that we all have. It’s an aspect of our personality that we often overlook, but it’s there. That’s what I mean by realism: I was using the fantastical elements to say something that I thought was true about us and about our lives.”
Focus on the Family and James Dobson say: “The 1995 book, The Golden Compass is the entry point to Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy - a series of fantasy novels aimed at children that loosely draws inspiration from John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost. This time around, however, “God” gets overthrown and the “Fall” becomes a source of humankind’s redemption not failure.”
The fantasy element
The books highlight “alternative” reality - a universe where everyone has a spirit attached to them, one called a daemon (pronounced demon) that the “church” is trying to cut off. These daemons take on animal form and they physically embody each person’s soul. Pullman has said, “the daemon is the part of you that helps you grow towards wisdom.” The “evil church” in the series, is stealing children with the intent of separating them from their daemon, killing them in the process. The forces of “good witches” want to see the tyranny of the church and God come to an end so they set out to kill God with the help of a little girl and her golden compass.
Now in theatres
The Golden Compass opens today - December 7, 2007. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been put into its production. New Line Cinema promises that it is an ‘epic cinematic journey’. However, the studio has also said that it will not make the other movies from the trilogy without The Golden Compass being a bankable success.
It is hard to draw a conclusion about a movie that has not yet been seen, but very simple to take a look at the work that the movie is based upon and decide that people of faith - raising children of faith, should not support this film.
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