Well, it’s no secret that I was not a big fan of the movie “The Golden Compass” even before it came out.   I knew that it was derived from a book of the same name, which was part of a trilogy written by Philip Pullman, a self-described atheist.   There was also the fact that the series is known as His Dark Materials trilogy, and that there was a running thread in the books that was anti-religious.   I don’t have a problem with that, but I did have a problem with God being terminated by the series’ young protagonists in book 3.  Pretty intense stuff for a children’s series.

But there’s a couple of things that merit a revisit to this movie.  One is the fact that I was a big fan of “The Chronicles of Narnia”  which is a series that is an unabashedly pro-Christian allegory¹.  I did not want to favor one point of view without giving a chance to its opposite.  There was the fact that I don’t want to dismiss an entire series based on hearsay.  Finally, there’s the fact that Roger Ebert had given the movie 4 stars.   I had to check this movie out.

I recently had the opportunity to view the DVD of the movie recently, and I can see why Mr. Ebert admired its production values; they are exquisite.

The concepts were brilliantly illustrated on the screen, and as Roger writes “As a visual experience, it is superb.”

But I cannot recommend the movie.  As beautiful as it is to behold, it failed its first test when one of my kids asked me when the movie was going to be over.  This is the equivalent of the dreaded looking-at-your-watch syndrome while watching a movie at the theatre.  Now, I’ve been in movies that are slow moving and require extreme patience, so a measured pace has never bothered me.  My issues with the movie lie elsewhere.

Spoilers follow:

Continue reading Musings on The Golden Compass →

1. see my previous article http://www.crackteam.org/2006/04/23/its-obvious-episode-1-narnia-for-dummies/ [↩]

Boy do I hate Diablo Cody, the screenwriter.  But this is going to be a long-term project, for she does seem to have some talent.  It’s a backhanded compliment; just take it, as it is the best I can do.  And please notice that I recognize her as a screenwriter.

She had a great debut with the screenplay for the movie “Juno”  –a movie that I fully intended to dislike–  and the Hollywood community agreed by giving her the Oscar this year.  The movie was not too bad, a lot better than I expected, and I went in with totally negative expectations.  Her future output should be rather good and if the quality stays constant she’ll do great.

But I hate her new name, Diablo Cody.  It smacks of pretention; you could have done better, Diablo Cody. If you wanted to make a statement and have your work speak for you, I would have chosen a name like Jane Smith or better yet, Jane Doe Smith.  It would have been a hoot to see a Jane Smith walk up to the podium to accept the Oscar, dressed in the nouveau-goth attire and sporting that annoying, gigantic tattoo that screams “Notice Me !!”  That would have been ballsy.

But you took the easy way out and stayed in your post-stripper mentality, choosing a moniker that screams “Attitude entering the room”  I really resent your presenting the stripper world as the ninth level of Hell On Earth; if you’d come up through the world of coal-mining in Virginia I would have a little more sympathy.  As it is, you made your living through the habits of needy, creepy men (present company excepted)  that frequent strip bars.  Not really the noblest profession on earth.  So saying that you’ve paid your dues sounds rather hollow.

But I’m only one person and this is just my opinion.  After you produce a few more outstanding screenplays,  I will probably forgive you and forget this piece.  But you’ll always be Jane Smith in my heart.