For the Love of God, DON'T LET YOUR KIDS READ!!!

[markbhall]

Well, I predicted this would happen...

I was having a conversation recently about Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and the upcoming movie The Golden Compass based on the first book. The person I was talking to noted that the books hadn't generated much controversy. My reply was that the protests would start in earnest when the movie

Comments

[elizilla]

Heh. Five or six years ago I remember posting a review of these books to the Stilyagi list. I praised them highly but said that some parents probably wouldn't like their kids to read them, since the moral was "think for yourself", and special attention was paid to thinking critically about organized religion and parental instructions.

This is why it kind of surprised me, when I heard there was going to be a movie. "Think for yourself" is way too complex a platitude for the big screen, and really not what Hollywood likes to push. I haven't seen the movie yet but I'm guessing that they'll take that part out.

[markbhall]

Yep. There's nothing more threatening to centralized authority than having people gather their own information and decide for themselves what to believe.

God forbid we raise a generation of kids who are well-informed, free thinkers.

And yeah, I've heard they've toned it down. But even without the religious overtones, it's still a great fantasy story with lots of cool concepts. I hope they've done a good job with the rest of it.

[celticmom1967]

Good seeing you at ConFusion this year! Loved my Arrgh and Grrr ribbons