Ever since The Golden Compass has come out, certain irritating critics have been bad mouthing the literary works of Philip Pullman. His Dark Materials has become the center of controversy because of how the series distorts religion from what is socially acceptable. Now that the second film of The Chronicles of Narnia series is about to be released (Prince Caspian), those same critics are worshipping the creativity of C.S. Lewis. However, it stricks me that many of the critics may not have actually read the books.
vs. 
***SPOILER WARNING***
His Dark Materials is believed to be an anti-thesis to The Chronicles of Narnia. In Pullman’s series, the main characters indeed kill an angel that acts as God, release human (along with other human like beings) ghosts into the air the same way angels die, and builds a church based on democracy rather then authoritarian rule.
Meanwhile, the Chronicles of Narnia go in a different direction. The books are considered by some to be mytho-poetic and by others christian propoganda. The main characters (children) are the source for original sin (curiosity) in the first book The Magician’s Nephew. Then in the second book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, a lion goes through shockingly similar sacrafices as Jesus Christ. And in the last book, The Last Battle, all the main characters that believe in Aslan (the lion) end up in heaven.
Yet, both collections are great sources of literary and big-screen entertainment. Why?
Pullman may have clear hatred for organized religion, but he also shows his audience to think for themselves.
Lewis may be trying to show his audience that belief in christianity leads to happiness, but it also delivers originality that allows viewers to connect with the series.
Basically, what I am trying to portray with this blog is that critics along with average viewers need to understand the importance of all literature. It is not logical for a person to talk about any form of literature or movie unless they have read or viewed them. How can a person make a reasonable response about them if they don’t experience them.
Look what happened with the debut of the Golden Compass movie. So much criticism was put on the movies prior to opening day, and when that day came, the critics had a big suprise. The most controversial scene of the book, when a man kills a boy to open up a pathway to a different world with the intent to kill God, was not in the movie. Supposedly the scene was shot but not included in the final cut because they did not want to end the movie on a downer.
Children did not walk out of the theatre thinking God was a myth. Perhaps they entered the theatre thinking that because of all the hype that told them that was what the movie was about.
The same can be said for Narnia, until The Last Battle is made into a big-screen movie, people will not be held witness to questionable Christian beliefs. And even if they were, it is important that people know that we have a choice in how we think. We can be entertained by watching a movie and read a book and still not believe in them.
Not that it matters or that anyone cares, but I was raised a Roman Catholic and I do believe in God; however, I also believe in the importance of every type of literature. I enjoy His Dark Materials because it shows a different way that a person can think. Understanding other people helps to understand oneself. This allows me to see that Narnia may contain Christian propoganda; however it does not stop me from enjoying the movie.
Movies based on Pullman’s books and the books themselves will not teach people to believe in the devil; and the movie’s based on Lewis’s series and the books themsleves will not teach people Christian propoganda. Instead they books and movies will act as a form of entertainment with the potential to help us develop as individuals. People, for the most part, are more intelligent than to let fictional movies and books manipulate their entire mind set. So to all critics who like to talk negatively about works without actually being responsible enough to sit through and experience it, “STOP.”
Wow…you are so right! I mean, I just saw The Golden Compass last month and when I got home, I did some research on the series to see if any of the main characters dies (mainly Iorek), and I was shocked to find out that the author of the series intended to tell readers to turn away from the Church. O.O So I told my mom about it and she said not to worry and that you yourself can interpret the movie and the series any way you like. Like, how the author of the Harry Potter books says that Dumbledore’s gay, I believe that I can interpret that any way I like as well. So, yeah. I get what you’re saying. I did like The Golden Compass, but I myself like both the movie and the books much less than The Chronicles of Narnia not because of what each author was expressing, but only because of my own personal taste and, I don’t know, I just got a better message from the Narnia heptalogy than the His Dark Materials trilogy.
Good point, Sir.