The Golden Compass got mostly negative reviews. I haven’t seen it myself, but the consensus, even among freethinkers, is that the movie is at least somewhat disappointing. That’s too bad. The commercials looked good. I wanted to see that Coca-Cola polar bear kick some ass.

It’s hard to really know why a movie does or does not do well. There certainly have been some excellent movies that did poorly at the box office, only to be held in high regard later (Citizen Kane being only the most extreme example).

How much of an effect does a boycott have? The Life of Brian and The Last Temptation of Christ both did fairly well at the box office, but I don’t remember either doing outstanding business (the Internet Movie Database doesn’t seem to give out that information for free anymore). The question is how much business would those films have done without the controversy? I’ve heard numerous people say that they went to see Last Temptation because they wanted to see what the controversy was about.

In the case of The Golden Compass, I think the boycott cut both ways. Who had ever heard of the book? Obviously some people, but the public at large was not aware of it. The boycott raised the public’s awareness, so I’m sure some people saw it who would not have otherwise.

However, there has also been a lot of extremely negative things said about this movie by people who had neither seen it nor read the book. All they needed to know was that it was written by an atheist who wants to kill God. I’m sure all of those people stayed home. If they had remained ignorant of the book’s reputation, at least some of them would have gone to see it.

I’m guessing that the main reason the movie did poorly was all of the bad reviews. (The movie was #1 at the box office this weekend; it just brought in a lot less than anticipated.)

Someone who doesn’t need to guess why the movie tanked is Bill Donohue of the Catholic League. In a press release titled “Boycott Worked: Compass Flops”, Donohue credits himself. He also can’t resist comparing it to Narnia:

‘The Golden Compass’, the atheist-inspired film which sought to replicate Narnia’s success at the box office at Christmas two years ago has flopped by comparison.  Based on the anti-Christian novel by Philip Pullman, Compass took in $26.1 million in its first weekend, whereas ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ garnered $65.5 million on its weekend debut.
…
The Catholic League, which organized a boycott of the controversial film, as it would lead children to reading the anti-Christian books, saw the poor box office showing as evidence of a successful boycott.

Or more likely, it’s evidence of a bad movie. But then Donohue starts to get really cocky:

Donohue concluded: “Let this be a lesson to militant atheists like Pullman: keep your hollow beliefs to yourself.…

Donohue has warned you. Don’t mess with the Emperor Pope!

Finally, Donohue ends with this brilliant statement:

…And ease up on demonizing Catholicism—no other religion has done more to promote human rights, science and goodwill.”

I don’t even know where to begin to respond to that statement!

This is actually more of a chapter review than a book review. When I heard that the fundies were in a snit over the upcoming movie, I thought I would read the book first, especially since the movie has had a lot of the offensive content removed.

The books in this trilogy (His Dark Materials) have received mixed reviews, even from non-fundies. Some people are quite enamored of them; other people complain that the plots are muddled. I knew going in that it would be a crapshoot whether I enjoyed them.

Well, I guess I crapped out. I gave up about two pages into chapter 3. I know that’s not a fair trial. That’s just all I could stand.

Let me say up front that the problem is just as likely to be me as it is the book. I don’t normally read fantasy, so maybe the book just didn’t speak to me. I also have a mild reading disorder, which makes reading a bit of an effort. If a book is compelling, I can overcome the hindrance. But if a book doesn’t engage me, the effort of reading just doesn’t pay off.

So what did I think of what I read? Not much, I’m afraid. I found my mind wandering midway through chapter 2. I even gave up at that point, but I forced myself to pick up the book again and continue. Maybe it was just getting off to a slow start. I had to give it a fair chance. Then in chapter 3, it immediately wandered off into some sort of boring background material. Well, you can’t afford to go into a background side trip if you haven’t already hooked the reader with a compelling story. Giving up at this point wasn’t intentional. I just found my mind wandering and not caring one whit about what the author was telling me. I chucked the book across the room and went off to check my email. (Chucking bad books across the room is good therapy. You should try it.)

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for the decade of the 2010s to see if anything interesting was going to happen in the next decade. This got my attention:

In the year 2012, conventional CPUs are expected to reach their maximum computing potential, according to Moore’s Law.

I always knew there had to be a limit. I just didn’t know it was going to happen so soon. I don’t think I’m ready for that.

Then further down in the article, in the section labeled “Widely known fictional references”, is this tidbit:

Philip K. Dick mentions the death of God in passing in his 1970 novel Our Friends from Frolix 8 :

“God is dead,” Nick said. “They found his carcass in 2019. Floating out in space near Alpha.”

Don’t you love good science fiction? (Alas, why does it have to be fiction?)

Anyway, I haven’t read this particular book, but it got me thinking. Do you guys know of any similar references in science fiction? Tell us in the comments section!

Update: I just remembered that in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, God disappears in a puff of logic (just as he did in real life for about 9% of Americans).

That makes two references from science fiction. Any others?

Fundie propaganda site One News Now reports that the Catholic League is in a snit about the forthcoming movie The Golden Compass, which will be released on December 7. It’s based on the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy by evil atheist Philip Pullman. I haven’t read these books, but I just ordered them. They look like interesting reads.

The One News Now article tells us:

The Catholic League has kicked off a two-month campaign against a children’s fantasy film that features a young girl on a mission to kill God.

And this is a problem how?

Actually, I’m being flippant here. I don’t know how accurately that characterizes the film. Summarizing a movie like this in one sentence is probably oversimplifying it, which does not benefit the reader in trying to determine whether the film is worth seeing or avoiding.

New Line Cinema officials said they did not include many Godless themes, found in the books, in an effort to not offend Christians.

So the movie isn’t anti-Christian, but we’re supposed to ban it anyway?

Bill Donahue of the Catholic League is concerned that the movie could cause unsuspecting parents to get the books for their children.

Well that part of his concern is legitimate. I hate it when the movie is completely different from the book.

Parents shouldn’t buy books for their children that run in opposition to their beliefs. However, they shouldn’t freak out when Johnny and Jane check the books out of the library. If the parents’ faith is so fragile that it can’t withstand a couple of questions raised in a children’s book, then just what sort of feeble, anemic beliefs do they have?

“This is pernicious,” he continues. “This is selling atheism to kids, and it’s doing it in a backdoor fashion.”

But it’s perfectly OK to sell theism to kids. To brainwash them from an early age with all of the nasty content of the Bible.

In interviews, Pullman has stated that he wrote the series in response to C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. He said he hates the Narnia books and wants to undermine Christianity.

I tried to find proof that Pullman made these statements. I can’t find any. Of course it’s asking too much for One News Now to cite their sources.

The article finishes with:

Read the OneNewsNow review of the movie, “Does The Golden Compass point to a new atheism?”

Sure! We haven’t read enough fear yet today. Let’s check out the review, written by Rebecca Grace:

It all started with a phone call I received several months ago. … Several more phone calls followed the first one as did a plethora of emails expressing disgust over this movie — and rightly so.

OOO! It’s so disgusting!

I plan to review the movie, but I haven’t had the opportunity to see it yet.

Wait a minute! This was billed as a review! You haven’t even seen it? Typical fundie. She forms her opinion on something she hasn’t even seen. She just knows it’s disgusting!

According to CNSNews.com, leading atheist writers and intellectuals are engaged in a “scientific” quest to ultimately destroy organized religion, particularly Christianity.

Really? Where’s your proof? Oh, that’s right! You don’t need proof! You’re quoting a fundie propaganda site! There is no scientific quest to destroy religion. Many of us would like to see its influence diminish, but there is no agenda to wipe it out.

CNSNews.com defines the Out Campaign as “a movement started by Dawkins to encourage Americans to proudly display their atheism.”

So how is that trying to destroy religion? We’re just trying to let you fundies know that there are a lot more of us than you think. Oh, that’s right. You religious nuts don’t want to know that. You’re afraid of knowledge. That’s why you burn books and ban movies. In fact, the very (apple) core of your religion is based on the premise that some knowledge is too much for your puny brains, so you should not partake of it.

The Blasphemy Challenge targets teens while an upcoming movie that may have a similar agenda is likely to appeal to families, especially children.

Oh no! Now they’re targeting the chillun!

From watching the trailer, it’s easy to see that the film has a C.S. Lewis/Narnia feel to it, but don’t be deceived.

Deception. The tactic of Satan!

“I don’t know whether there’s a God or not. Nobody does, no matter what they say,” Pullman said in an interview posted on his website.

Therefore, without yet seeing the film, at least one pro-family group — the American Family Association — is alerting Christians to the potential dangers of The Golden Compass.

There’s another fundie group condemning something they haven’t seen. And where do they get off calling themselves “pro-family”? People who hold views contrary to theirs are not anti-family!

Because of Pullman’s clearly articulated anti-Christian motives,…

How is saying that nobody can know whether God exists “anti-Christian”?

…AFA is warning all viewers to run from the film.

Wow. They’re not merely telling them to not see the film, they’re telling them to “Run! Run for you lives! If it touches you, you’ll have atheist cooties!”

This is the fifth and last image from the Pop-Up Bible Heroes book.