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Printheads: [Sink] an amusing example of the 'outcry' against HDM
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Almost a month ago a friend forwarded me the following email. It was from one american housewife to several others. I laughed out loud and then responded to the original author with a one sentence message, as follows: 'I would like You to know I work for a major retailer and I put these books in every little hand I can.'
Since reading HDM several years ago (and seeing half the stage production at London's National Theatre) I have been in love with the books. I have also been waiting for 'outrage' at the content, especially here in the states, where people wind there little arseholes so tight over things like this you could not fit a crucifiction nail in em'.
Here's that email, sorry about not adjusting the layout.
The Golden Compass
There will be a new children's movie out in
December called "The Golden
Compass," starring Nicole Kidman. While it
will be a watered down
version, it is based on a series of children's
books about killing God.
(It is the anti-Narnia.) The hope is to get a
lot of kids to see the
movie - which won't seem too bad - and then
get the parents to buy the
books for their kids for Christmas. The movie
has been described as
"atheism for kids" and is based on the first
book of a trilogy entitled
"His Dark Materials" that was written by
Phillip Pullman. Pullman is a
militant atheist and secular humanist who
despises C. S. Lewis and the
"Chronicles of Narnia." His motivation for
writing this trilogy was
specifically to counteract Lewis' symbolisms
of Christ that are
portrayed in the Narnia series.
Clearly, Pullman's main objective is to bash
Christianity and promote
atheism. Pullman left little doubt about his
intentions when he said in
a 2003 interview that "my books are about
killing God." He has even
stated that he wants to "kill God in the minds
of children". It has
been said of Pullman that he is "the writer
the atheists would be
praying for, if atheists prayed."
While "The Golden Compass" movie itself may
seem mild and innocent, the
books are a much different story. In the
trilogy, a young streetwise
girl becomes enmeshed in an epic struggle to
ultimately defeat the
oppressive forces of a senile God.
Another character, an ex-nun, describes
Christianity as "a very powerful
and convincing mistake." In the final book,
characters representing
Adam and Eve eventually kill God, who at times
is called YAHWEH. Each
book in the trilogy gets progressively worse
regarding Pullman's hatred
of Jesus Christ.
"The Golden Compass" is set to premier on
December 7, during
theChristmas season, and will probably be
heavily advertised. Promoters
hope that unsuspecting parents will take their
children to see the
movie, that they will enjoy the movie, and
that the children will want
the books for Christmas.
Please consider a boycott of the movie and the
books. Also, pass this
information along to everyone you know. This
will help to educate parents, so that they will know the agenda
behind the movie. -
Philip Pullman = This Man?
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CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007
HDM...? -
-
"HDM...?"
His Dark Materials, the first book in the series. -
Actually, His Dark Materials is the overall series. Golden Compass is the first book, The Subtle Knife the second and The Amber Spyglass the third.
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I never actually read any of them, I've only hard opinions about them. It's funny that even those that hold a disdain of the nature of the book all agree that they are very well written. One day, when my reading pile dwindles down, I may just read them.
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CommentAuthorwarrenellis
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007
I'll never know why grown adults read children's books. -
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Because sometimes you want a gourmet meal and sometimes you just fancy a cheeseburger or sweeties?
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- CommentAuthorKosmopolit
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007 edited
There are other Christ-nuts who say CS Lewis was actually a closet Satanist out to poison children's minds.
So if Nutman's the anti-Lewis, they should be supporting him. -
I had the same reaction as You, Warren until I read them. I think I asked my wife repeatedly, '...and why would I want to read a young adult novel?' Then, when I begrudgingly began, the first thing that struck me about them was how much more mature they were, in technique, vocabulary and themes than a lot of the 'grown up' science fiction novels out there that people I know swore by. Each their own I guess, and working in a bookstore I understand the prejudice. SInce the advent of a certain mega-franchise of Scotish export it seems like anybody and everybody writes 'young adult' now. Lot's of shit. However the genre-title is really a disappointing facet of the business. I'll never understand why someone like Robert Anton Wilson gets pigeon-holed as Sci-Fi while certain works by authors such as William Burroughs, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley are capable of transcending such a limiting and exhausted classification to be considered 'literature' (and there's no bias there, I love everyting I'm talking about, I'm just saying its not a level playing field). It's the way we have agreed to consume these things as a society I guess. I hate saying what I write is science fiction, but when I'm sending out queries or giving a pitch that's what its going to boil down to with many, because there are certain elements at work. Crooked Little Vein sits right next to Janey Evanovich in the 'mystery/thriller' section at many a store. I wish I could change that, but I can't (that's why I bought mine from my local comic book shop).
But HDM really is quite good. -
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CommentAuthorWilliamDanger
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007
I read them when I was a child and now I'm an Atheist.
Oh shit. Maybe the Christians are right?! o_0!
I don't its possible to 'convert' someone to Atheism per se, anyway. All you can do is present logical questions. Either they'll bounce off of a well maintained wall of conviction or there will soon be one more inquisitive follower.
It is questions that kill gods, not books. -
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Warren said:
I'll never know why grown adults read children's books.
Maybe a lot of today's YA authors would rather be writing ricockulous adventure pulps. People keep saying YA these days is surprisingly mature and well-written... so either standards have gone way down (possible), or the authors are just sticking kids in adult plots and calling it a sale (also possible. And kinda worse, actually).
'Course, anyone who loved Harry Potter loses ability to recommend me anything, ever, instantly.
(To be fair, there are some YA books I enjoyed as a child that I've revisited as an adult -- some mixture of sentiment and curiosity -- but I don't think I'd have picked them up if I didn't already remember them...) -
- CommentAuthorimmaterial
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007 edited
An adult would read children's literature because, just as with comics, sometimes someone does it better. I haven't read Pullman, and I don't read Rowling, but I'll take all the Lewis Carroll I can get. -
- CommentAuthorF. David Swallow II
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007
I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.Well, i never knew any kids who read 900 pages books....
Anyways, I've never read ANYTHING in from jesus saying that fiction is bad, and I'm not sure why christians dont think its there responsibility to teach their kids the difference between real and make believe. I hope this move does really well. -
I'll just say this and be done, because I started this thread and so I deserve whatever lambastation (not a word, I know) it garners, but I feel like its gotten away from the point, which was of course was how these books have ideas and themes in them that, yes, are being marketed by the publisher toward children, but no, are not what you would expect to find in a children's book. I am glad that its become a big deal with their stupid all-star cast, cgi blowjob movie because, just as the author of the email I quoted fears, I can only hope for a large amount of children (read: young, growing humans) might follow it with the books and be exposed to something that A) might stretch the learning curve and B) might lead us in the direction of finally finishing the agonizingly slow death kicks of Christianity and all the backwards, controlling and downright hateful things many branches of it breed. Ariana, I know what You mean about revisiting (and let me set the record straight in case you misread, I am not a Harry Potter fan). But going back and looking at A Stitch in Time or similar books that tickled my brain when I was knee high to herve villachez, I never feel they hold up. HDM does. I argue on this only because I've had such similar conversations with people about comics.
Me: 'I think You'd really like Watchmen, or Sandman, or the Invisibles. They're not what you think.'
Other: 'No thanks, those are comic books. Why do grown adults read comic books?' -
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CommentAuthorgraphicartistx
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007
We Christians believe that Jesus died and rose from the grave, yet any book with magic or ghosts or wizardry we find offensive??? I don't get it either, people. To believe in the ressurection is to believe in the supernatural, in my mind. I don't know if ghosts are real things, I don't know if "magic" really exsists. Nor do I know Jesus truly rose from the dead. I'd like to believe in ghosts, since their exsistence means some form of an afterlife, I'd like to believe in "magic" actually happening since it would show that material is not all there is. I do believe Jesus ressurected, but maybe that's just my hope for something beyond the ether. But when it comes to outcries over a book, the Christians are exhibiting more FEAR than hope. Makes no sense to me. -
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Shawn nails in 278.10.
You know, as clueless as that email is, these books are pretty damn blasphemous. But they're entertaining, thought-provoking, really well thought out blasphemy.
It's the kind of blasphemy we need right now. -
and let me set the record straight in case you misread, I am not a Harry Potter fan
Hahaha! No points deducted on that, then. ;)
And certainly no need to argue. I'm sure some YA books really are all that mature. I just wonder, then, why they're in the YA section. Broken system, or devious author/pub? (Edited to add: Probably a little of both. I was pretty confused when I saw "Enders Game" had been moved to YA a few years back.)
(Good comics, for the record, aren't the greatest argument for why adults should read YA. Comics are a medium -- not a genre, nor an age-based classification system. Yes, some people think comics are just for kids, but that's not because they're called "FUNNY PICTURE BOOKS FOR KIDDIES". Although some probably should be.)
At any rate, yes it's terribly amusing some folks -- many that think their faith system should start in on the very young with the specific purpose of bonsai'ing the little brains into cross shapes before they know any better -- are pissed off when a fantasy author does same. -
- CommentAuthorsacredchao
- CommentTimeDec 12th 2007
I think, Warren, that you would like them. There's a little bit of steampunk, and a lot of dark fantasy. I honestly don't know why they are considered "kids books," though I do think kids should read them, just to be poisoned against the evil that is Christianity. -
'll never know why grown adults read children's books.
'Course, anyone who loved Harry Potter loses ability to recommend me anything, ever, instantly.
Normally I read Kerouac, Vonnegut, Hesse, Nabokov, Rushdie, and Eco, but man oh man, I adored the Harry Potter series. I had planned on ignoring them until pushed by my mother to read them (herself being the literature snob I learned from), and I'm glad I did. I later convinced my sole lit. snob friend to read them, and he was quite hesitant, but he ended up loving them as much as the two of us did. I don't like children's literature, I like good writing.
Off topic a bit I suppose, but I'm hoping that His Dark Materials gives me the same feeling as HP did. If not, I have plenty more Rushdie, Kerouac, et. al. to entertain me. :)
