Chattaway's Email Conversation with "Golden Compass" Author Philip Pullman
Peter T. Chattaway has a new article about The Golden Compass up at CanadianChristianity.com.
But even more interesting... here is the transcript of his email interview with author Philip Pullman.
If there is anybody out there agreeing with Donna Frietas... that The Golden Compass is a work of deep Christian theology... I recommend you consider the things Pullman says in this interview.
Plus, Pullman says a few things about his upcoming work, in which he says he'll be saying "a whole lot" about Jesus.
In case you missed my own perspective on the book, the movie, and the controversy, I posted it here last week.
I'm Off for Bellingham
If you have friends or family in the neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington, let them know that I'll be reading from Auralia's Colors tonight at 7 p.m. at Village Books. And I'll be signing copies which will might make good Christmas gifts.
"The Chronicles of Athiesm" — CT Readers Tell Philip Pullman "Leave our kids alone!"
Writer-director Chris Weitz, a self-described "lapsed-Catholic crypto-Buddhist," said in one interview that the film will not refer to "the church." But the movie's official website indicates that the cruel scientist Mrs. Coulter works for a villainous "dogma"-enforcing entity known as "the Magisterium," a Latin term that, in the real world, signifies the Catholic church's teaching authority.
Nicole Kidman, who plays Mrs. Coulter, told Entertainment Weekly the film "has been watered down a little," adding, "I was raised Catholic [and] I wouldn't be able to do this film if I thought it were at all anti-Catholic."
And then...
Pullman says he avoids words like spirit and spirituality—and even feels "a slight revulsion" when he hears them—because, at best, they don't seem to correspond to anything "real," and at worst, they signify people who are seeing visions or undergoing other experiences he regards as "delusional."
"So the word spiritual, for me, has overtones that are entirely negative," Pullman says. "And when I hear it, or see it in print, my reaction is one of immediate skepticism."
While Pullman acknowledges the influence of his Anglican upbringing—his grandfather was a parish priest—he also rejects the idea that the values communicated in his books, such as love and self-sacrifice, are particularly Christian or indicative of any latent Christianity on his part.
These excerpts are from The Chronicles of Atheism, published at Christianity Today.
Elsewhere, CT Movies editor Mark Moring raised questions in a recent edition of the CTMovies Newsletter. He asked why Christians are responding differently to The Golden Compass than they did to The Da Vinci Code. And he's been buried in email as a result. You can read a good sampling of it here.
"Auralia's Colors" at SciFi.com!
If you check fast, Auralia's Colors is a news item on the front page of SciFi.com!
Read more
The Boston Globe on The Golden Compass
I posted my thoughts about The Golden Compass, the trilogy to which it belongs -- His Dark Materials, and the controversies surrounding them, last week.
Now, more perpectives are emerging, some more interesting than others.
This one is very interesting, and sure to throw fuel on the fires of discussion. What do *you* think of Donna Freitas's interpretation?
More Movies About Jesus Based on Any Source Except the Best One
Hollywood is to fill in the Bible's "missing years" with a story about Jesus as a wandering mystic who travelled across India, living in Buddhist monasteries and speaking out against the iniquities of the country's caste system.
Film producers have delved deep into revisionist scholarship to piece together what they say was Jesus's life between the ages of 13 and 30, a period untouched by the recognised gospels.
The result is the Aquarian Gospel, a $20m movie, which portrays Jesus as a holy man and teacher inspired by a myriad of eastern religions in India. The Aquarian Gospel takes its name from a century-old book that examined Christianity's eastern roots and is in its 53rd reprint.
Of course, if Hollywood decided to make a $20m action film about "the lost years" of Mohammed, I suspect there would be bombings and slayings somewhere in the world as a result. At the same time, the American media would be noisy with declarations that such a project was a show of "intolerance" and disrespect to Muslims. But this is Christianity, so... hey, let's celebrate yet another fiction that's bound to offend the believers! And if Christians dare furrow their brows, they'll be described as enemies of freedom of speech.
If that isn't depressing enough:
The producers say they are hoping for commercial and spiritual gains. "We think that Indian religions and Buddhism, especially with the idea of meditation, played a big part in Christ's thinking. In the film we are looking beyond the canonised gospels to the 'lost' gospels," said William Sees Keenan, the producer, who is currently making Lindsay Lohan's Poor Things.
"We are looking at new themes. In our story Jesus was loyal to the untouchables [in India] and he defended them with his life by saying that everyone could read the Vedas [Hindu holy books]," said Mr Keenan, a "lapsed Catholic".
Um, actually, the four gospels that the church does embrace make it pretty clear that Jesus knew the value of meditation. You don't have to dig into sources of dubious integrity to find that. 
And the producer's words fail to show me how this film will "look at new themes." It sounds like the story affirms what we already know about Christ's compassion, and that it also brings back tired speculation and previously debunked theories.
But apparently it's more exciting if we get our information about Jesus from sources other than those books canonized in the tradition of Christian faith by those who were most concerned with preserving the truth about Christ and debunking untrustworthy sources.
"Thanks," of a sort, to Peter Chattaway this head-shaker.
And thanks to Michael Leary for pointing out this equally exciting development:
A German filmmaker is planning a fictional film on twin brother of Jesus Christ which will take shape once he gets a Indian co-producer for the film that would be shot in Indian background.
Germany production company fieber.film is working on a decade old project which was abandoned after death of a producer in an accident.
Robert Sigl's "The 13th disciple", a fiction based on a story about Jesus's twin evil brother and their re-incarnation in the current age, is participating in the international film festival of India (IFFI) scouting for Indian co-producers.
"Film is about two archeologists touring India to research about Jesus lifespan in India. The story reveals about Jesus's evil twin brother who used to practice some different sect,'' fieber.film's producer Mario Stefan stated narrating the story at film bazaar of International film festival of India organized by national films division corporation (NFDC).
A Fascinating Interview With Philip Pullman From 2000
I linked to this interview when Philip Pullman's book The Amber Spyglass, the concluding chapter in His Dark Materials,was published.Read more
Luci Shaw in The Washington Post
Luci Shaw's friendship, generosity, and writing has been an inspiration to Anne and me. Luci was the one who persuaded Madeleine L'Engle to write Walking on Water: Reflections on Art and Faith, a book that transformed my understanding of creativity and Christianity. And Luci herself has written several volumes of poetry, as well as The Crime of Living Cautiously, an inspiring book about living courageously, and a new memoir called Breath for the Bones.
I did a lot of work on both Through a Screen Darkly and Auralia's Colors at Luci's home beside Lake Whatcom. What an inspiring, spirit-filled place.
It's good to see that The Washington Times (in the other Washington) saw fit to interview her about her new book.
"... like tears in rain ..."
In today's mail, I received a note from a reader named Trace:
Hello Mr. Overstreet.
... I am reading Through a Screen Darkly and thought I'd share a short story with you.
When I was about 20 years old I was watching the movie Blade Runner. Near the end of the movie Harrison Ford is trapped with Rutger Hauer on the roof. Hauer's character explains to Ford some of the incredible things he has seen in his short life and it becomes very clear why he has struggled so hard for more time to live.
This scene, Mr. Overstreet, forced me to think about God and Christianity. I don't know why it had this affect on me but it did. It's known as "Tears in the rain" if you ever look it up. Thank you for your time and very good book. I've always allowed myself to become completely absorbed in movies, without losing touch with reality I might add, and relate well with your book.
Wow. Fantastic. I love that scene. (And I've read that Rutger Hauer claims to have ad-libbed that speech. If that's true... that's quick thinking, and profound!)
I never cease to be amazed by the wide variety of ways in which art speaks to people, opens "the eyes of their eyes" and "the ears of their ears." I've received testimonies from folks who came to Christ because they caught glimpses of the truth in films as diverse as The Exorcist and... yes... I am not making this up... The Love Bug.
So who are we to tell the Holy Spirit where he can and cannot be working?
There are moments of profound truth in movies as varied as Chariots of Fire, Pan's Labyrinth, Amazing Grace, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Lord of the Rings, and, yes... The Golden Compass. Discernment is important, because any of these films can be deceiving too, if viewers aren't careful to sift truth from lies, excellence from mediocrity. But far be it from me to condemn somebody for thinking deeply about any work of art.
I too have been challenged, inspired, and moved by Blade Runner. And I'm looking forward to seeing director Ridley Scott's "final cut."
Hot Topic!
I suppose this is worth noting.
I've been rather astonished as my post about The Golden Compass, which I wrote just a few days ago, has already become the most frequently opened and linked-to post in the eleven-year history of Looking Closer! More than posts about Star Wars, Spider-man, Harry Potter, or The Lord of the Rings!