The Golden Compass

[rebelgtp]

I seriously doubt that anyone will walk into the theater a Christian and walk out an atheist. Sure, when I saw Harry Potter I took up the black arts and started living under my staircase, oh wait...no I didn't.

wait hey i did start living under the stair case....but then again that is because i moved and its a funky little old house that has had lots of additions, so the one bedroom literally has the cut out for beneath the stairs...only problem is if you sit up on the wrong side of bed you smack your head lol .

 

[cowboy76]

There are -plenty- of old movies that have agendas...filmmaking has always had that element to it.

Best Years of Our Lives had an agenda. Scarface (the original) had an agenda.As early as 1937 Warner Brothers cartoons began poking fun at Hitler with goose-stepping characters

Just because you -approve- of those agendas and not of this one...does not make old films -agenda free-

Please read what I wrote and not take it out of context,...I did not say "agenda" I said "HIDDEN Agenda" Dont take what I said out of context just so you can have something to write back to me in disagreement.

As in the writer's personal agenda he puts into a movie that would otherwise be toted as just a nice fantasy movie....

 

[cowboy76]

oh yeah i forgot about the armor wearing polar bears! in one of the trailiers it shows the bear charging head on with some other armor plated critter. oh and perfect description of kidman lol ....however it did work in stepford wives when she was supposed to be brainwashed.

oh and it looks like the golden compass will be playing at the theater closest to me! sweet only an hours drive to go see a movie! its the eltrym in baker city, a 1940's theater in the historic district of town. http://www.eltrym.com/

Hey, that theater looks great! Wonderful to see another theater kept open!!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

If its all over the internet....its surely not all that hidden of an agenda.

If he states in interviews that was his reason for writing the books...its not all that hidden of an agenda.

 

[cowboy76]

If its all over the internet....its surely not all that hidden of an agenda.

If he states in interviews that was his reason for writing the books...its not all that hidden of an agenda.

My mistake then,...but from what I've read about the author, depending on the interview he likes to sidestep certain questions pertaining to the books and the movie. I guess what I've read were lies then,.....who knew?[huh]

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Maybe he just doesn't like confrontation, or maybe he's not a good debater.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Maybe he just doesn't like confrontation, or maybe he's not a good debater.

Or he thinks his works should stand on their own for each reader and its other folks making it 'his secret agenda'


How many of you have actually -read- the books?

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Or he thinks his works should stand on their own for each reader and its other folks making it 'his secret agenda'


How many of you have actually -read- the books?

Wait a second...I knew it! You had a secret agenda to get us to read this whole time! And to think I almost fell for it!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Wait a second...I knew it! You had a secret agenda to get us to read this whole time! And to think I almost fell for it!

Darn......foiled again!

 

[J. M. Stovall]

Do they make secret agenda decoder rings? I think I need one.

 

[Haversack]

I’ve not read the books but after looking around today at what has been said about them, the author appears to be pretty outspoken about his beliefs and purposes. Doesn’t really matter. I can enjoy a piece of proselytizing propaganda if it is well done and has an entertaining premise. Sounds sort of like what John Milton did with _Paradise Lost_ , (if in a different direction. Hmm, I wonder how that book would go over in today’s media world. ‘Satan as the rebellious anti-hero’).
Sometimes propaganda is most effective when it is seen solely as an entertainment. Sometimes the entertainment value so overshadows the propaganda that the message is forgotten. Take for example L. Frank Baum’s _The Wonderful Wizard of Oz_ . (The book, not the movie.) Since the early 1960s, there has been a pretty serious school of thought among U.S. historians that Baum’s book is an allegory or parable of monetary populism. Rather like _A Pilgrim’s Progress_ only with the names less obvious and aimed at children. For example: the Scarecrow is western farmers, the Tin Woodsman is industrial workers, the Cowardly Lion is William Jennings Bryan, Dorothy’s Silver Slippers represent bimetallism, etc. There are a lot more comparisons as well. Here are a couple of places that list them and examine this thesis:
http://paws.wcu.edu/mulligan/www/oz.html
http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/Populism.htm
Then again, as Doctor Freud was once heard to remark, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
Haversack.

 

[rebelgtp]

Do they make secret agenda decoder rings? I think I need one.

don't forget to drink your ovaltine!

 

[ShortClara]

I like this half of the discussion better! Decoder rings and Harry Potter

 

[rebelgtp]

I like this half of the discussion better! Decoder rings and Harry Potter

yep me as well. funny thing is i never figured i would read the harry potter books and didn't read any of them until around when the 6th book was coming out. several of my friends tried to convince me for years to read them. finally one day i was sitting bored with nothing to read and one of my friends forced the first book into my hands. after that i got hooked and read all of them up to the 6th within 2 weeks, borrowing them from her and reading them at work between calls and on breaks.

 

[carter]

Maybe it's just a MOVIE!

fftopic: 4 posts in and an atheist was trying to kill God?
Atheists don't believe that God exists.
For a while there I thought this had morphed into the "What Religion" thread!
fftopic:
______________________________________________

I like this half of the discussion better! Decoder rings and Harry Potter

I agree!

Let's get our decoder rings, popcorn and sodas and watch the movie.

 

[Mr. Turner]

Just because something has its basis on an idea doesn't mean you have to advocate that idea.

Some examples, the U.S. Constitution, Harry Potter, Narnia, religious books (Bible, Qur'an, Torah, etc...), Dan Brown books, even the presidency of Andrew Jackson!

Take the Constitution, yes, it can be argued that it was written by a bunch of rich white guys looking to make this country for rich white guys, and to give themselves superior power, a mainly economic document. If you want to look at it that way, go right ahead. If not, look at it from a different perspective, such as, the 'Founding Fathers' were the most knowing and powerful men in our country at the time, not many others would have the level-headed-ness as to create a document that attempted, at least, to keep everyone in line. After all, you can't address politics without addressing economics in some form. You pick what side you want to support.

Harry Potter, personally, I enjoyed the books, but feel that J.K. Rawling, one, doesn't read her own books/understand her own lore and two, GREATLY under-develops her characters. (I feel sorry for her characters, many could be so great, and just weren't established nearly enough, or in a way that made me hate them.) Now, sure, it has witchcraft and wizardy in it, but doesn't Narnia? Although, the Harry Potter movies, there is just NO excuse for those.

Narnia, I sort of lightly touched on this in the paragraph prior to this one, but if people who aren't 'Christian' can enjoy these books and films, why can't those of us who are enjoy books and films that aren't 'Christian'?

Now on the the religious books, being an Evangelical Christian, I've read the Bible front to back, but, I've also read the Qur'an and the Torah (Yes, it's basically the Old Testament, but there are a few different books in it). I'm also currently working on the Book of Mormon. Being one of us who lives in the United States, I got some weird looks when I was walking around school with a Qur'an (Might not have been the best place to read it, I understand, but I wanted to finish it in a timely manner, and reading a religious book is not dealt with in the 'separation of church and state'), but I loved the poetry in the book, not always the ideals behind it, but hey, Faust dealt with some pretty outrageous topics too.

Dan Brown books. I understand why people got so excited about these, as they were thrilling, not very well written (from a development stand-view, but well from a narrative stand-view), but thrilling none-the-less. Still, they were fiction books, you read them to enjoy a narrative, not to instill yourself with views on important topics. Same with any other fiction book. Now, if you want, you can bring up that it blatantly changed 'history' in the books(And some of the 'facts' were wrong, but that's a different subject), but changing 'fact' in fiction isn't uncommon. Even on just the topic of the 'Hollow Earth theory' there are plenty of books bringing it into play with history. Foucault's Pendulum, Circumpolar!, and even The Silver Chair(part of the Narnia series) are just a few!

Well, this post is getting a tad bit long, so I'm going to cut it off here, (if people want to hear about the Andrew Jackson debate, just PM me and I'll bring it up someone, a new thread or something) I hope this post didn't go against any rules we have here at the Fedora Lounge (I didn't see any infringements, but I might be reading some wrong.)

For those who didn't understand the points I was trying to make in my rambling, I'm advocating the idea that you don't have to advocate an idea just by enjoying a form of media.

Oh, and I loved the Golden Compass books(the "His Dark Materials" trilogy), and am planning on seeing the film.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Just because something has its basis on an idea doesn't mean you have to advocate that idea.


Dan Brown books. I understand why people got so excited about these, as they were thrilling, not very well written (from a development stand-view, but well from a narrative stand-view), but thrilling none-the-less. Still, they were fiction books, you read them to enjoy a narrative, not to instill yourself with views on important topics.

For those who didn't understand the points I was trying to make in my rambling, I'm advocating the idea that you don't have to advocate an idea just by enjoying a form of media.

Oh, and I loved the Golden Compass books(the "His Dark Materials" trilogy), and am planning on seeing the film.

You sir...are wise beyond your years. :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[BeBopBaby]

Narnia, I sort of lightly touched on this in the paragraph prior to this one, but if people who aren't 'Christian' can enjoy these books and films, why can't those of us who are enjoy books and films that aren't 'Christian'?

For those who didn't understand the points I was trying to make in my rambling, I'm advocating the idea that you don't have to advocate an idea just by enjoying a form of media.

Thank you Mr. Turner for a well written and thought out post, I especially agree with your points above.

The thoughts that pass through my mind are how is this any different than the Narnia books that were written to teach children about christianity? Is the Golden Compass' agenda thought of as sinister and hidden because the author is an atheist? Are the Narnia books okay because they aren't? Don't most work of arts have some sort of agenda/inspiration to them?

 

[cowboy76]

Do they make secret agenda decoder rings? I think I need one.

LOL
Yes, they will be handed out with every ticket!

 

[jazzzbaby]

I seriously doubt that anyone will walk into the theater a Christian and walk out an atheist. Sure, when I saw Harry Potter I took up the black arts and started living under my staircase, oh wait...no I didn't.

I agree totally ~ however, for me personally - I choose not to give this man my money for him to move forward with his personal agenda's which clash with my own personal views.

I am a Christian...it's just my choice, as it is his to write his books and make attempts to squash God & belief in anything of a spiritual nature. I do say I question a man who is unable to feel spirituality in ANYTHING...not that he has to believe in "God", but not to understand spirituality at all?? These were his words quoted on the snopes page. How can someone take a walk in the forest...or listening to birds sing during the day on a nice sunny day and not feel something just a tiny bit spiritual. That blows my mind.

Interesting....

HOWEVER, I am sure the movie will be a fabulous movie because it looks like it would be.
I look forward to hearing what everyone thought of it once it is released!! xo