‘The Golden Compass’ points straight to the bank

A recent letter to the editor about “The Golden Compass,” a forthcoming children’s movie, has sparked some lively debate on the Leader Web site.Nicole Kidman
in 'The Golden Compass'

I must admit, until the controversy flared here, I didn’t pay much attention to this film. I saw the trailer for it awhile back and mentally filed it away along with the pile of recent fantasy adventure films: “Lord of the Rings,” “Harry Potter,” “Chronicles of Narnia,” “Eragon” and the rest.

I just figured “The Golden Compass” was an attempt to jump on that bandwagon. But, the Catholic League and numerous other Christian groups are urging a boycott of the film. Catholic League president Bill Donohue believes “The Golden Compass,” and the other books in the trilogy on which the film is based, are “written to promote atheism and denigrate Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism.”

“The target audience is children and adolescents,” Donohue adds.