The whole book trilogy is against organised religion
No wonder it failed in Christian-centric Hollywood as a movie.
Christian-centric Hollywood...? Where is that?
shareAll I know is that they heavily toned down the anti-religious aspects of the books to appease potential American audiences who might be offended otherwise, that's what I'm trying to say. As a result, that first movie was robbed of its main message and, personally to me, felt "neutered".
I haven't read the books, but when I saw the film I though the anti-religious (particularly Christianity, particularly Catholic) message was loud-and-clear. It was about as subtle as a hammer being wielded by Michael Moore. So, I'm not sure how really, really anti-religious the book is, but watered down or not, it got the message over to somebody like me who hadn't read the book.
It's also been my observation that Hollywood is more money-centric than anything else, but they definitely aren't pro-Christian, and I think there are far more films and television programs with anti-religious messages than pro (the numbers of corrupt clergy alone would convince me of this).
Good points.
shareRemember Stargate SG-1? The anti-religion theme was front and center on that show, but because it involved ancient gods like Ra and Apophis adherents of modern faiths weren't offended. Religion was consistently depicted as a malign influence throughout the entire series. A means to control and enslave others. So folks like televangelists who exploit the gullible masses for their own gain ... this is aimed squarely at you! It's hard to picture the show's producers as fans of organized religion in general, though they were artful in avoiding any direct portrayal of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic God.
The only reason there's been controversy surrounding His Dark Materials, beginning when the books were first published, is that they contain a parallel Earth version of the Catholic Church. They could therefore be considered as critical of the whole of Christianity. If Pullman had the people in that world worship the ancient Greek or Norse gods instead no one would've had any problems with an otherwise identical storyline. True believers never take kindly to the implication that their invisible beings in the sky are nothing but fabrication and myth - turning them into con men, superhuman con men but con men nonetheless, now THAT is offensive!!! Rewriting the scriptures of living (rather than dead) belief systems is guaranteed to piss people off.
The anti-relilgious in the books was heavy-handed enough to annoy me, and I'm against organized religion! Proseletyzing is always annoying, even to those who agree with the message.
shareIt'd have to be pretty intense to outdo the film. I remember it coming out, going to see it, and thinking, "Wow, that was really on the nose." It didn't pull punches. Then I logged on to the IMDb message boards (may they rest in peace, curse those who were their undoing) and people were saying how it watered it down.
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