The HDM controversy.
Nov. 30th, 2007 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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elorie:
God in the dust: What Catholics attacking 'The Golden Compass' are really afraid of
This view of Dust echoes many of the theological ideas that the Catholic Church finds threatening today. The most obvious thread is liberation theology, the Marxist and socially progressive rereading of the Gospels born among Catholic theologians in Latin America in the 1960s. Liberation theology teaches that Jesus is a political revolutionary who loves all that God has created and wants all creation to flourish on this earth, not just in heaven. Liberation theology also holds that believers should disregard doctrine that leads to oppression.
I'd never interpreted His Dark Materials as theistic, but it's certainly food for thought, and I love that the books can be interpreted in so many different ways. I think that Philip Pullman and authors like him* are the only people who actually respect children- they write complex, dark, multi-faceted works and assume that children are not only capable of enjoying them, but understanding them.
I mean, I'm sure the people protesting HDM would prefer their children to read Curious George Uses The Potty, or something like it. But they're going to watch them grow up and wonder why they don't want to read, and I will point and laugh. And then buy good books for my nieces and nephews.
(I'm still not going to see the movie, though. The book's built up so much in my head I'd only be disappointed, and anyway, I can't do Nicole Kidman post-The Hours.)
* Madeleine L'Engle, Lemony Snicket, Michael Ende, Terry Pratchett when he writes kids' books, Neil Gaiman with Coraline... I definitely need to read more good, thoughtful kid books.
elorie:God in the dust: What Catholics attacking 'The Golden Compass' are really afraid of
This view of Dust echoes many of the theological ideas that the Catholic Church finds threatening today. The most obvious thread is liberation theology, the Marxist and socially progressive rereading of the Gospels born among Catholic theologians in Latin America in the 1960s. Liberation theology teaches that Jesus is a political revolutionary who loves all that God has created and wants all creation to flourish on this earth, not just in heaven. Liberation theology also holds that believers should disregard doctrine that leads to oppression.
I'd never interpreted His Dark Materials as theistic, but it's certainly food for thought, and I love that the books can be interpreted in so many different ways. I think that Philip Pullman and authors like him* are the only people who actually respect children- they write complex, dark, multi-faceted works and assume that children are not only capable of enjoying them, but understanding them.
I mean, I'm sure the people protesting HDM would prefer their children to read Curious George Uses The Potty, or something like it. But they're going to watch them grow up and wonder why they don't want to read, and I will point and laugh. And then buy good books for my nieces and nephews.
(I'm still not going to see the movie, though. The book's built up so much in my head I'd only be disappointed, and anyway, I can't do Nicole Kidman post-The Hours.)
* Madeleine L'Engle, Lemony Snicket, Michael Ende, Terry Pratchett when he writes kids' books, Neil Gaiman with Coraline... I definitely need to read more good, thoughtful kid books.