This holiday season, adventure flick The Golden Compass, which hits theaters Dec. 7, is cookin' up a big ol' pot of controversy stew. The film, a big-screen adaptation of Northern Lights, the first bookis being blasted by several religious groups as selling atheism to kids. The Catholic League has called for a boycottof the the, uh, fictional fantasy (keyword alert!) film.
As Pullman's work is widely known for its harsh religious critique (Pullman once even openly stated, "My books are about killing God."), New Line Cinema, anticipating this backlash, toned down the film's direct references to religion -- enough so that Pullman purists voiced concerns regarding the dilution of the book's central themes.
So what's the final verdict? Will susceptible kid-viewers be taken in by the pro-atheist stealth campaign? Our guess: They'll be too distracted by the Coca-Cola bears to notice whatever the commotion is about. Can't wait till Friday to get to the bottom of the pseudomystery? Yahoo Movies recently posted the first five (!) minutes of the film online; take a sneak peek and see what the hubbub is about for yourself.
In response to the widely publicized criticism, in a recent Times U.K. article, Pullman urged that moviegoers be allowed to make up their own minds, saying:
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