I watched "The Golden Compass" last night. The catholic advertisment campaign worked on me.

[Smith_3]

Yup. I might not even had noticed this movie since it is a children's story, but since the vatican called for boykott I felt like a theatre visit would be a worthy investement.

I am wondering actually why they called for boycott. Catholic church is not mentioned in one sentence in the movie. On the other hand, if the catholic church feels like the "ministry" that is portraied in the film resembles them, then maybe some things in the film actually have alot of truth in them.

[Vanje]

1. Me too.

Never would have even heard of it, but I overheard some "Christians" at work, talking about it.
Apparently, according to the office talk, at the end of the series, children go out like hunters and trap God.
Whoa! I want to read about that!
Ended up buying the 3 part series of books for my nephew for Christmas. Maybe he'll share it.

[Matariki]

14. Hunt and trap God? Really?

That's freaking brilliant. Now I want to read those books.

I've heard mixed reviews about the movie, but the previews looked stunning. The biggest criticism I've heard is that they didn't pare down the book enough to make any in-depth character development. Anyone seen it and liked it?

[Clovis Sangrail]

2. never read the books

but my SO tells me that in them the catholic parents (authority figures ?) are made out to be the eeeeeVilll enemy.

I'll probably see it this weekend.

[zbird]

3. I got the boycott email from my 28%er sister.

There's a Snopes page about the reasons for the boycott. (Link: http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp )

I figured if she had her panties is such a wad over the movie and book (which she has never seen or read), it must be pretty interesting, so I bought the trilogy (it is now sold in one volume, $13 at Wally World). I'm just finishing up the first book, and it is actually pretty interesting.

[Lorien]

4. Costco (a blue company) has the single volume for cheap too

just a FYI for those who live near a Costco and want to avoid spending their $$ at Red Wally World.

[silverweb]

5. I just bought the books.

There I was in Costco, minding my own business, when my eyes landed on a boxed gift set of the trilogy, His Dark Materials -- the first volume of which is The Golden Compass -- at a very good price.

Of course, I simply had to buy the set. :D

Since I just finished the book I have been reading, this set will be opened tonight. I'm very much looking forward to seeing what all the brouhaha is about.

[TexasProgresive]

6. Bill Donohue is not the Vatican

and does not speak for the Catholic Church he is more like a Catholic Pat Robertson then anything else. Too bad he's not still selling pizza instead of ignorance. Better to kill us with trans fats then to destroy our minds with idiocy.

If there is a link to show that the Vatican called for a boycott of this film put up a link.

[Smith_3]

7. links to story

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ic8ad70a0f535a63c65ce5e6ed7751f35
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/wenn/20071220/ten-the-vatican-condemns-the-golden-comp-c60bd6d_1.html
http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2007-12-20/celeb/6
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/287020
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=4025508
http://www.actressarchives.com/news.php?id=8988
.
.
.

ok, I admit I was slightly off: the vatican didn't call for a boycott of the movie, it just condemned the movie as "godless" and "hopeless". catholic activist groups then called for a boycott.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. I saw Golden Compass last night, and I agree with your conclusion.

Does the Majesterium resemble the ultra-right? Absolutely.

God gave us free will, for better or worse. Taking it away from us is not an action in line with God's obvious wishes for us (having given us free will to begin with).

Just shows how going too far results in your becoming that which you seek to prevent.

[LWolf]

9. Did you like it?

I saw it a few nights ago, and I should tell you that it goes so quickly that I wondered if viewers would make the same connections that are made in the book. The "ministry" is obviously the church, except that it is the government as well. "Dust" is the church equivalent of "original sin."

The movie ends before book 1 does; it leaves out a key event that sets the reader up for the next book, and it seems a little misleading with it's relatively happy ending.

The end of the series does not, as the church has claimed, feature children setting out to "kill god." The heavenly being they grapple with is a corrupt angel.

Paradise Lost.

[Smith_3]

10. Actually I found it indeed a little confusing.

My girlfriend, who has read the books, actually said the same thing: That key elements were left out and that its kind of rushed through the plot. I might check out the books.

[LWolf]

13. The books are well worth it.

While they are purportedly written for children, they are complex enough, and the themes are large enough, to make them classic for all ages.

[RiverStone]

11. Religious wackos also dissed the movie Happy Feet and..

Teletubbies.

Geez, talk about lost priorities. Glad the idiots got your attention and you supported the movie. So, is the Church gonna ban priests because so many have a history of being pedophiles? Now those accusations are based on reality.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. it's an awful movie, regardless of the allegory or lack thereof