Every Christmas season brings a renewed conflict over the celebration of Christ's birth and Christianity in general. Every year we hear intensified caterwauling by PC liberals, atheists, agnostics, pagans and satanists seeking to eliminate any mention or symbol of Christmas from public view. Over the past decade, there also appears to have been a concentrated effort by Hollywood to trash the holiday season by releasing films that make a mockery of Christmas and denigrate the Christian faith. With the weekend release of "The Golden Compass," this year is no exception and the marketing techniques are in fact more insidious than any previous year.
For months we knew it was coming. It was being heralded as an exciting new film made in the tradition of "Lord of the Rings" and "Narnia" when in fact it was produce as an antithesis to those Christian based fictional masterpieces. "The Golden Compass" is based on Philip Pullman's children's book series called "His Dark Materials." Pullman is a militant atheist seeking to indoctrinate the masses by sneaking this film in under the radar during the Christmas season. The Catholic League found out about the movie's production and immediately sounded the alarm. In an effort to warn the unsuspecting public about the motives behind the movie, they released a booklet exposing Pullman and his works. Go HERE to read it in PDF format.
When word got out about the truth behind the movie, the producers of the film fought back by hiring a team of highly trained spinsters to promote the film and the editors made an effort to "sanitize" the film's content prior to release so as not to overtly offend religious viewers. The MSM also offered their assistance in hyping the film's release. They even went so far as to lobby for and received an endorsement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). With the endorsement in hand, the spinsters then attempted to market the film with the USCCB seal of approval. Obviously, it wasn't enough. By the time the film opened last Friday, word reached enough people to ensure the film suffered a weak opening.
After the dust settled on Monday morning and the weekend totals came in, the MSM continued to push the hype, insisting that despite rumors to the contrary, the USCCB DID in fact endorse the film...
CORRECTION: "Golden Compass" disappoints at box office
Sun Dec 9, 2007 1:58pm EST
(Corrects paragraph 9 in Dec. 8 story to make clear that U.S. Conference of Bishops endorsed the movie, and did not oppose it)
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Golden Compass," a costly fantasy starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, got off to a slow start at the North American box office and will likely fall short of opening-weekend expectations.
New Line Cinema's $180 million film sold an estimated $8.8 million worth of tickets during its first day in theaters on Friday, according to data issued on Saturday by tracking firm Box Office Mojo (www.boxofficemojo.com).
After Saturday and Sunday sales are factored in, the film will come in at No. 1 with about $28 million when the studios issue their weekend estimates on Sunday, said Paul Dergarabedian at Media By Numbers, another tracking firm.
New Line, a struggling Time Warner Inc unit hoping to launch another franchise along the lines of its blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" series, said last week it was hoping the film would open to between $30 million and $40 million.
"It's below expectations, but it's not an out-and-out debacle," said Dergarabedian.
Conspiring against the movie, he said, were such factors as a soft marketplace and unrealistic expectations for an epic fantasy filling the holiday void left by the "Narnia" and "Lord of the Rings" smashes.
A New Line executive did not return a call seeking comment.
Based on the first book in British author Philip Pullman's acclaimed children's series "His Dark Materials," writer/director Chris Weitz's film is set in an alternate world ruled by an oppressive religious authority. It features talking animals and a heroine played by youngster Dakota Blue Richards.
Even though the film downplays the religious aspect, it has been savaged by the Catholic League, a New York group that promotes religious and civil rights. Opponents said the book on which the movie is based gave an unflattering portrayal of the church and specifically the Catholic faith.
But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops described the movie as "an exciting adventure story with a traditional struggle between good and evil."*snip*
For a while there even I was fooled into believing this half truth. When I dug a little deeper, I found out something very, very interesting...
US Bishops asked to Fire Chief Film Critic over Glowing Reviews for "Brokeback" and "Compass"
"Bishops horrified at what has been done in their name"
By John-Henry Westen
WASHINGTON, DC, December 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Bishops of the United States are being asked to fire the chief movie reviewer for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Harry Forbes, the Director of the USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting, has reignited scandal by praising the film "The Golden Compass" which is based on an anti-Catholic novel.
Forbes caused similar controversy two years ago when he issued a glowing review in the name of the USCCB for the homosexual propaganda film "Brokeback Mountain".
Pete Vere, who has a written book on the author of The Golden Compass, spoke with LifeSiteNews.com about the USCCB review. "Several bishops have spoken to me about this review and they are horrified at what has been done in their name," Vere told LifeSiteNews.com. "Certainly the USCCB has to revisit its rules for issuing movie reviews." Vere's book co-authored by Sandra Miesel, Pied Piper of Atheism: Philip Pullman and Children's Fantasy, is to be released by Ignatius Press before Christmas.
Fr. Tom Euteneuer, the President of Human Life International, has called on the US Bishops to fire Forbes and his subordinate John Mulderig who co-authored the review of The Golden Compass. The HLI leader was incredulous that the USCCB review could recommend the film for children despite the fact that it admits the film has "occult elements" and carries a "sprit of rebellion".
"The fact that these gentlemen could recommend this movie to children is just abhorrent to me. I really do believe these guys should be fired," Fr. Eueneuer told LifeSiteNews.com. "Whatever happened to rejecting Satan and all his empty work and empty promises."
The USCCB review notes the great artistry of the film, but such is no reason to approve of it warned Fr. Euteneuer who has taken part in exorcisms. "St. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11 that the devil comes dressed as an angel of light. And this is very clearly what is happening. They have taken an atheistic work and dressed it up as something good for kids."
Noting Forbes' former scandalous positive review of Brokeback Mountain, Fr. Euteneuer said, "The fact (the USCCB) didn't fire him at that time is what leads to this kind of thing. When you don't rebuke irresponsibility in using an office to spread errors then it leads to more irresponsibility."
In a rare move, the US Catholic League last week publicly slammed the USCCB Golden Compass review in exclusive comments to LifeSiteNews.com (see: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2007/nov/07113001.html)*snip*
Although I am thoroughly disgusted with the deceit of the MSM and those marketing this atheistic crap to our children, I am equally - if not more so - appalled by the lack of action from the USCCB in addressing this outrageous apostasy within its own folds. Not surprisingly, this is just another example of the ineptitude shown by these so-called leaders of the faith; the same group responsible for the shell game that shuffled homosexual and pedophile priests around the country in order to cover up the devil's infiltration of the Catholic Church. It just goes to show that when you navigate with a Brokeback Compass, you inevitably lead others down the prim-rose path to hell.
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