His Silly Material

[jeff_duntemann]

The film version of The Golden Compass opens tomorrow, and people have been asking me what I think of all the frothing over Phillip Pullman's anti-religion polemic. I read the books a couple of years ago; I also know a little bit about the history of Christianity. So let me respond here:

Comments

[jeff_duntemann]

I hate to second-guess an author's inner intentions, especially since synthesis is something he does well, and something that I appreciate. The Magisterium is a synthesis of most of the worst elements of Gnostic Dualism, with a vague Catholic flavor and a thin Calvinist frosting. Pullman's a smart guy and I'm pretty sure he's read history. I think he knows that the Reformers had no equal in authoritarianism and bloodthirstiness. He may have wanted to make sure that the rabid anti-Catholic lunatic fringes in the present-day Protestant camp didn't embrace him as one of their own.

I think he knows in fair detail how Christianity works. Still, calling the Magisterium a straw man isn't really fair. He created a fantasy religion to be the bad guys in a story, just as I created a fantasy world government as the heavy in my own current future history. My leanings are gently libertarian, and those leanings are reflected in my fiction. His leanings are aggressively atheistic, and I think those leanings are reflected in his fiction. His mistake lies in not letting his fiction do the work it was intended to do. If he'd just be quiet, he'd come off better (his real-world rants make him sound as dumb as his writing makes him sound brilliant) and his subversive fictional themes would draw in a lot more people.

And airships, yeah--driven by an American cowboy. I did like that odd touch.

Thanks for the link to the Catich Collection; I had heard the name but had not seen any of his work. I like that style of font; the one I bought for use in my books (DTL Albertina) is a Roman "old style" font that suggests history and longevity.