Back a Christmas or two ago, Disney released The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, a film version of the well loved C.S. Lewis tale, now on its second generation of readers. I read it as a child, and read it aloud to my children. Back at release time there were a few learned Grinches who complained about the Christian content of the story. According to some , it was an abhorrent violation of the establishment clause of the US constitution to have Aslan resurrected by the Deep Magic from before the dawn of time.
This Christmas, Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass is getting the same treatment from the Atlantic Monthly. Only from the other side. Pullman's tale is at best anti clerical, and treats God with little respect. The movie makers get dissed firstly for making a child's movie promoting atheism, and secondly for watering down some of Pullman's more pungent atheistic remarks.
Hollywood cannot win for losing here. Make a movie from a Christian allegorical tale and get dissed for promoting Christianity. Make a movie from a not-so-Christian tale and get dissed for promoting atheism.
As a reader of both books, the ideological/theological/allegorical elements never caught my attention. Both stories are adventure tales with likable and plausible protagonists, making for enjoyable light reads. I, and my children, enjoyed the adventures and the ideological freight sorta just passed everyone by.
For more intellectual angst I suppose we could proceed to diss Harry Potter.
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