The Golden Compass -- Not a Movie for the Kids

I wish I had more time to sit and write thought-provoking insights about so many things... one example would be this new movie coming out, The Golden Compass. But since others have written about it, I'll let the reader's mind engage the issues while reading the following articles:

• Start with MTV's: http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1573211/20071031/story.jhtml
• Here's a very telling interview with the author, Pullman, from 2003: http://www.smh.com.au/cgi-bin/common/popupPrintArticle.pl?path=/articles/2003/12/12/1071125644900.html
• LA Times Review: http://www.calendarlive.com/tv/radio/cl-ca-golden28oct28,0,5769364.story

Putting aside the strong desire to comment on several things I read in these, I will simply give you two good questions to ask yourself when attempting to distinguish "safe" fantasy from "dangerous" fantasy:

1. Does the fiction cause the me to root for the good guys or the bad guys? If you find yourself cheering on the villains, you know that the plot itself is subversive.
2. Similar question, but phrased slightly different: Can you actually distinguish who are the good guys and the bad guys? Satan does a masterful job in the Garden of Eden attempting to make God look like the bad guy and he still goes about today blurring the lines.

For a well articulated exploration of fantasy from a Christian worldview, read Dr. Kevin Bauder's 7-part series:

• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part One: Definitions and Questions
• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part Two: Evaluating Fantastic Writing
• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part Three: Magic in Fantasy
• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part Four: Pilgrim's Progress
• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part Five: The Lord of the Rings
• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part Six: The Chronicles of Narnia
• The Christian and Fantastic Literature, Part Seven: The Harry Potter Books

Okay, so I can't get by without asking one more question: If the author says his books are about killing God, is it logical at all to say that his books are not overtly anti-Christian? Ummm... maybe this question should go under the category of "What year was the Battle of 1812?"-questions!