The Golden Compass a.k.a. Northern Lights (2007)

Received from my email: "Please don't let your children watch THE GOLDEN COMPASS. It will make them think like atheists."

From another sender: "THE GOLDEN COMPASS, an atheistic book, is now a movie. Please Boycott it!"

Those above are the milder ones.  When I asked them if they have read the books before, they said they wouldn't dare. 

One thing's for sure, this is not a children's movie, but as I've mentioned to one of the people who reviewed it recently, the commotion is just much ado about nothing...well, maybe not nothing, but...

Looking beyond that, I must say that it is a very enjoyable film. I think I like Dakota Blue Richards...she's going to be a big star one day. I also like the computer animation and stuff...the content is another story. 

This movie is the 1st of the series of Pullman's His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.  I wouldn't recommend it to children, but I must say, the movie doesn't teach about atheism at all, even if the author is an atheist.  There are spirits (daemons) and other paranormal things that...oh, never mind.

What it teaches though is the disturbing "fact" (according to the movie and the book) that the Magisterium (or the Church) is a brain washer pretending to teach people about free will, but actually removing free will from one's system.  Whatever the Magisterium teaches...yada, yada, yada..is bad.

The movie teaches children to "think"...to decide on their own without the proper guidance...freedom without responsibility is very, very dangerous.

I think what the church should do, is to present it in schools and make a study out of it...a review...discuss it...instead of picketing and saying, "Don't Watch it!"

When will we ever learn that the more we say don't, the more the people become curious and watch it?

I love the Lord and as much as possible I want the children's innocence to be protected...I want the children to have proper guidance...so I still think that it's something the parents should watch first then decide (like what my relatives said) if it is a good thing to watch. Never let your kids watch it alone, though...because, it could be the brain washer and not the Magisterium.

I also don't recommend the books to kids...the movie is subtler, but the books are a bit more obvious to church defiance.  Even so, if they beg you to let them read the series, then read it with them.  Answer their questions and those you could not answer, ask someone in authority, then later on share what you learned with your children. 

LINKS:

Wikipedia

imdb

Rotten Tomatoes

The Trailer