There’s been a lot of talk and some fear in Christian circles about the new atheist fantasy for kids. As usual, the critics agree we’ve made much ado about nothing.
I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve read the first two books of the trilogy. To be honest, I got bored at the end of the second book. The armored bears are the best thing in the story, and they get too little time.
N. T. Wright had a few words to say about the series. I don’t have exact quotes, but here’s how I remember the conversation. The story is anti-Christian, sure. And wholly unconvincing. Like the DaVinci code. At a certain point these vast conspiracies seem as ridiculous as, well, vast conspiracy theories.
God isn’t sick and insane and sadistic. The human race is.
It seems the film can’t escape the book’s implausible world. I grabbed a handful of quotes from MetaCritic.com. (Great site if you’ve never used it.) When I read between the lines of these reviews, I hear critics who are hungry for truth and beauty. Beauty without truth is empty. Beauty without truth is like the cheap gold plated watch that rubs silver with just a few months of wear. Or the gold plated compass that can’t find true north.
The movie simply delivers too many colorfuls for its own good, none of whom establish a true emotional identity, and thus it isn’t moving, it’s busy. Busy, busy, busy.
Slate -
A tepid, jumbled Hollywood fable whose final message seems to amount to little more than “Follow your dreams,” or worse, “Stay tuned for the sequel.”
Looks magical, seethes with elusive profundities and makes remarkably little sense, though the murkiness makes perfect sense on a shallower level.
The Golden Compass is a snowbound mystical-whizbang kiddie ride that hovers somewhere between the loopy and the lugubrious.
One key missing element: the world in which this story takes place never feels unique.
Now I’m reminded of another movie that supposedly threatened all Christendom: The Da Vince Code. Poor Ron Howard sold himself for a cheap blockbuster built on similar nonsense. Dan Brown’s world couldn’t hold up on screen either, and critics like Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly were left puzzled, wondering things like, “The surprise, and disappointment, of The Da Vinci Code is how slipshod and hokey the religious detective story now seems.”
There’s an implied criticism of Christians there too. If we’re threatened by something so hokey, what does that say about the substance and strength of our story?
And this is why I don’t worry about these “threats” too much. Sure, I’m not going to take my daughter to see the film. But there are lots of other lame movies I don’t take her to see. God’s truth will always be more powerful than a lame movie. Which should be a word of caution to us, lest we expect miracles of the Holy Spirit to save our own lame movies. If Christians want to engage the culture, we need to do so with fear and trembling, with discipline and excellence, with devotion and passion and energy and skill. And we need to tell stories that reveal both God’s nature and human nature.
The more ways we can share these truths through beautiful words, stories, music, and images, the more powerful it will become.
{ 11 comments }
Marcus, how eloquently you speak on such a sticky issue!
Omygosh, you made me laugh with that link to Left Behind! So flaky!
My daughter is seeing the movie tonight with a group of savvy friends. Afterwards, they’re having a discussion about it. I think that’s the cool way to watch a movie, and I’m so proud she’s taking that tact.
How can you call Left Behind lame. It was one of the best comedies of our time. It was a comedy, right?
“If we’re threatened by something so hokey, what does that say about the substance and strength of our story?”
Thank you for those words. They’re a good reminder and perhaps rebuke.
L.L., you are sweet.
Mary, I’m glad I could make you laugh. Actually, I think Left Behind has the same problem as the Golden Compass. It just doesn’t have enough truth. It takes academic arguments and tries to express them with cardboard characters and dialog that no real person would use. I’d love to hear what your daughter thinks of it.
Michael, thanks for dropping by! Comedy is right. A dark comedy about how far the church has fallen in the realm of understanding what beauty is…
AMM, good to hear from you, too. I promise I was thinking of myself when I wrote that rebuke, not anyone in particular. Thank you for the encouragement.
Oh, Michael made me laugh.
One Christian reviewer gave one of my favorite movies the same rating as Left Behind.
Oy vey. Maybe that reviewer didn’t watch the same versions of the movie I did.
Great approach–exactly how I think we should act. Stop worrying, get in there, and create art.
Marcus: Great piece. I read the first book with my kids. Was more bothered by the unconvincing story, dialogue, etc., than the anti-God stuff. I haven’t seen the movie.
N.T. Wright also said that the problem with the Christian response to this film is that it fails to consider that most of the movies out there are just as bad from a faith point of view.
My friend Jim Ware has a book on this author. Jim is a very balanced and thoughtful Christian. I haven’t read his book yet, but I’m sure it will be excellent.
http://www.amazon.com/Shedding-Light-His-Dark-Materials/dp/1414315643/ref=pd_bbs_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197071549&sr=8-5
Thanks for shedding some light. I’ve been hearing some buzz and getting forwarded emails — usually signs of something being overblown. These things have a way of working themselves out, don’t they?
Mark, thanks for th elink to your friend’s book. I have his book on Tolkein and enjoyed it immensely. Also, that’s a good reminder about the morality of movies in general. The important thing, like Dick Staub says, is to be culturally savvy.
Charity, most of the email forwards I’ve seen are technically acurate, but the tone is alarmist and bizarre. So the books are supposed to debunk God and religion. Big deal. Grandiose claims like that often get put in their place. I’m sure God can defend himself.
I don’t have anything new to say, but I particularly liked the line that AMM liked, and I particularly laughed at Michael’s comment, just like Heather. And I thought I should say so.
Excellent post!! You’re quite eloquent — even quotable here. Of course, you’re always quotable …
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