An Immoral ‘Compass’?

Many Catholics are very angry with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. No, it has nothing to do with wanting their money back for “The Invasion.” Far more damning than that ill-conceived “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” remake is Kidman and Craig’s appearance in the film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s novel “The Golden Compass,” opening worldwide today—and all because Pullman is a no-God-fearing atheist.

“Compass” arrives in theaters today amidst a firestorm of publicity concerning The Catholic League’s calls for a national boycott. Widely considered to be the antithesis to the über-Christian C.S. Lewis’s tales of Narnia, Pullman’s “His Dark Materials” trilogy is filled with veiled denunciations of religion (and Catholicism in particular). In the books, the very epitome of evil is the Magisterium, an organization that mirrors the Catholic Church in its hierarchy and dogmatism.

But according to director and screenwriter Chris Weitz, all those anti-Church references never even made it into the movie. The U.S. Conference of Bishops actually views the movie positively, saying, “Most moviegoers with no foreknowledge of the books or Pullman’s personal belief system will scarcely be aware of religious connotations, and can approach the movie as a pure fantasy-adventure.”

So why is The Catholic League so peeved? According to its president, William Donohue, it’s because “unsuspecting parents who take their children to see the movie may be impelled to buy the three books as a Christmas present —and no parent who wants to bring their children up in the faith will want any part of these books.”

So although “Compass” is playing at theaters alongside “Hitman” (in which a super-violent video game gets its cinematic treatment) and “Juno” (see an unmarried teenager become pregnant!), Catholic parents’ greatest fear this holiday season should be that their kids want a book for Christmas.

Of course, this isn’t the first time the Catholic League has waged holy war against godless Hollywood. The group lambasted films like “The Dreamers” and “Brokeback Mountain” for glorifying sin on the silver screen, but this latest attack is more painfully pointless, and represents just how out of touch the League is with reality.

Though Mr. Donohue warns parents that Pullman is attempting to recruit children into the thralls of heretical atheism, I think he’s giving the author too much credit. Are children really so gullible that they’ll chuck their faith like last year’s bangles after reading a book?

Maybe my Catholic upbringing was inaccurate, but all those Sunday mornings spent in Catechism taught me that the very foundation of my religion was to hold onto faith, even when faced with the strongest cries of denouncement.

But my own belief in the Church and its doctrines is just as firm now as it was before I read “Materials” as a teenager. If anything, Pullman’s portrayal of the Magisterium forced me to consider what Catholicism should look like for me.

The purported defenders of the faith, Donohue and his cohorts at the Catholic League should realize it would take more than three fantasy novels to dissuade anyone, even children, from participation in the Church. Perhaps they should have a little more faith.



Jessica C. Coggins ’08, a Crimson arts editor, is an English and American literature and languages concentrator in Cabot House.