Right on cue, Jesus freaks flipped the fuck out last Christmas. But not over their (supposed) Lord and Savior. The Golden Compass, a film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantastic His Dark Materials book trilogy, hit theaters amidst huge fervor. See, the story’s set in a parallel universe in which people’s souls exist outside their body as animals who talk, and children are covered in mysterious particles called dust that some believe hold the key to opening doors to other dimensions, and this orphan girl has a magical compass thingy called an alethiometer that tells the future through…wait, slow down.
Er, actually, turns out the controversy (thanks Fox News—the most hilarious source I could find) was more about the book’s anti-religious themes. A church-like group called the Magisterium controls Europe in this fictional world, and they’ll stop at nothing to maintain power, even at the expense of soul-lobotomizing a few kids. Lyra, the series’ central character, finds herself in the midst of somewhat of a holy war as concerned citizens attempt to take down the Magisterium and, inevitably, God. It was such a problem that New Line was anticipating the anger long before the film went into production. They even went through a few scripts—the first by Tom Stoppard, the second by Chris Weitz—trying to get it right so they wouldn’t offend the Right. Weitz, who signed on as a director as well, couldn’t handle the pressure and resigned, but later returned saying he’s done a lot of “growing in the interim.” (I’m guessing the only thing that grew was his salary offer.)
The Children of Marx and Coca-Cola 