Why is it that only Catholics are complaining about this movie? Or, really, any movie? Where are the other Christian denominations? The evangelicals (oh, that’s right — electing politicians), the Protestants (oops — splitting from the church over gay tolerance), Baptists, Unitarians, Methodists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons? I guess they have better things to do than stand outside of movie theaters stamping their feet and whining about a box office bomb.

Yes, The Golden Compass is a sinking stone, but I highly doubt it’s because of Catholic protestors (all nine of them outside one Florida cinema — and Phil Donohue, the lone gunman). As some learned with The Da Vinci Code movie (another dud), protesting does not work (students of the 60s should’ve also figured that out after a while). It makes a lot of noise and ultimately draws more attention to the boycottee.

I’ve heard the little tummy rumblings about the controversy on the Web all week, but what spurred me to write this was a small editorial in The Providence Journal. I’ll post most of it:

Anti-Catholic Bigotry as Art
Surprise, surprise! Hollywood has done it again. An anti-God, anti-Catholic film is about to hit the big screen just in time for one of the most sacred holy days for Christians, the celebration of the birth of Christ.

The movie, The Golden Compass, directed by Chris Weitz and released by New Line Cinema, has hit theaters. The film is based on Philip Pullman’s trilogy, His Dark Materials. In this film the good guys are witches and the bad guys are an evil group of people in power, called The Magisterium. There is no other definition for the word Magisterium than the teaching authority and hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church.

I would argue that if a script for a movie were presented to Hollywood that had as its villains an evil ruling class called The Homosexuals or The Feminists it would be branded homophobic, a hate crime or sexist, and never see the light of day. Yet, when Catholics are targeted and maliciously portrayed, Hollywood applauds and calls it artistic, enlightening and inspiring. What’s wrong with this picture?
—The Rev. Giacomo Capoverdi 

I love how the italicized hatred just drips from his words. A man of God indeed. Too bad The Golden Compass does not target Catholicism but God (author Phillip Pullman is an atheist) and all religion. Too bad the U.S. Conference of Bishops gives the film two opposable thumbs up. And movie critics for the Catholic News Service have judged the film to be "lavish, well-acted and fast-paced." Aside from that, every other critic has dismissed the film completely, as well as moviegoers (it cost $180 million to make, and earned a paltry $28 million this weekend). The only applause seems to be coming from some of the Catholic community. That is, those have seen it anyway. And really, shouldn’t viewers be the only ones to label it good or bad?

There’s more. There’s always more. From Family Life Center (via Salon): 

"An Urgent Warning for Parents" cautioning that, after seeing the film, children "will rush out to buy and digest Pullman‘s God-hating and Catholic-bashing books. Philip Pullman’s work is about to bring millions of children into contact with the demonic."

After Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code, the Dark Materials, books and now the movie, you’d think that by now kids would be walking around foaming at the mouth, growling, fornicating in day care and hexing us all. But in the real world, children are simply innocent and beautiful and capable of all that is good. If parents of any religion or denomination could believe in honest education and faith in their own children and parenting skills, maybe they’d stay that way, too.

Some Catholics apparently do exactly that. Much like the many clergy who came to promote Harry Potter, Catholic Digest, the nation’s largest magazine for Catholics, suggests parents use the film as a springboard to “encourage your children to reflect about the issues the book raises in a thoughtful and intelligent manner." But sadly, most are incapable of this. As Stephanie Zacharek writes, "The idea that children might actually think for themselves is still too hot to handle. These Christian groups fear that, if children see the movie, they may want to read the books. And we can’t have children reading now, can we?"

I haven’t seen the movie. Not for any particular reason other than it just doesn’t interest me. I’ll get around to reading the books one day. In the meantime, despite being raised Catholic, I can think for myself and I do have better things to do with my time.

The Catholic protestors, however, obviously do not. Take the nine cinema protestors, including a mother and son. She thinks God will look kindly on her for holding up a sign and yelling, "Do you love God? No Golden Compass!" Her son went there straight from school because "I love God, I think it’s the right thing to do." Meanwhile, my atheist uncle accompanied me to the local food bank the other night to volunteer. Just sayin’.

My favorite piece in all of this was written by Mary Elizabeth Williams, a Catholic mother of two writing about allowing her daughter to see the film. Sanely, she does filter things she thinks will be inappropriate: "My only objection to the film isn’t philosophical, it’s practical: The movie is pretty damn intense." Williams knows she is the parent — she has the power to say, "No you can’t, you’re too young," rather than a hysterical, "NO, you’ll end up worshipping Satan!"

I love a writer who can be both cheeky and dry at the same time: “As far as I know, Bill Donohue has not yet seen The Golden Compass. I have. I suspect it would piss him off.” Someday, I hope to follow her parenting philosophy: I want my children to understand that human beings and institutions are fallible. That sometimes those who claim moral authority can traffic in corruption and abuse. I want them to be angry at every wrong perpetuated in the name of God. To question authority. To be feisty troublemakers for positive change. I’ve told my daughters that no one knows for certain that there’s a God or a heaven. I always thought that was the beauty of faith — that it rests on our willingness to believe in the things we can’t prove…But I would rather they grow up to be kind, generous unbelievers than sanctimonious, blindly dogmatic Christians.

Now, to my fellow human beings: quit whining and go make the world better!

Jennifer Leblanc