Waiting for Lyra: Stoking Up Controversies

Sadly, two separate controversies have erupted this week about the forthcoming The Golden Compass movie.

First and less worrisome was the news that the movie ending will not be the same as the book’s. Fans seem to be in high dudgeon or maybe it is just those commenting here that are so bent out of shape. I mean, what is the big deal? If Pullman is agreeable and the final chapters become part of the next movie, so what? If it makes for a better movie, all power to them, I say.

Of much greater concern is the seemingly never-ending religion issue. Evidently no one at either end of the spectrum is going to be satisfied by the movie. There are those dismayed that it is being minimized in the movie. (See Religion row hits Pullman epic in today’s Guardian.) Then there is the Catholic League in the US, certain that the movie will (horrors!) encourage parents to buy the books for their children. At first I scoffed when I heard about this, but then I remembered the absolutely out-of-control media frenzy about a dog’s scrotum. Now I’m holding my breath.