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Xenothere — Versus
Published: 2007-11-25 05:45:14 +0000 UTC; Views: 18259; Favourites: 51; Downloads: 59
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When I first saw the previews for The Golden Compass, it looked to be a very cool movie.I also heard about the controversy: Phill Pullman, the author of His Dark Materials (TGC is the 1st book in the trilogy) created this series, partly, as a spoof against Chronicles of Narnia, where the hero's "kill God" in the end. Being a Christian, this obviously struck nerve with me (to be honest though, I haven't read either book).
That's nothing new though. Personally, I don't view the book/movie any more threatening than things like The Time Machine or Paradise Lost.
Apparently, the movie adaptation will downplay the religious satyr in place of anti-totalitarianism; b/c its an unforgivable sin in Hollywood to alienate part of your target demographic (i.e. though Narnia is a primarily Christian movie, they did manage to throw in pagan elements in there).
Either way, I want to see it.
----
I based my design of Aslan off of a Barbary Lion.
It looks" like Aslan the lion and Iorek the polar bear are headed for a showdown ...or are they...?
Please comment. I'd like to know what ya'll think.
Aslan (c) C.S. Lewis
Iorek Byrnison (c) Phill Pullman
Artwork (c) me
*Edit*
If you are going to leave a comment, please be respectful. DO NOT resort to insults, name calling , etc. Such comments will be removed.
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Comments: 76
I'm sorry.. my religion teacher told me all these haunting (and maybe untrue) things about the author. I make rants like that when I'm afraid of something. I'm very sorry. Please forgive me.
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Hold your tongue pokeniki95. Those who have read the books may say what they will. You, I wager, have read not a single page and instead gone straight to the religious claptrap. Read past the words, forget propaganda and examine the deeper philosophy of the series. I won't tell you what to believe but accusations of possession are blatantly fundamentalist. Did you ever consider the layers of meaning in "god"? Your rant is baseless religious stupidity and I will continue to lecture you there.
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Hold on a minute H4M15H. If your going to comment, please be civil & considerate about it (see MaddRaven's comment above). Its one thing to SUGGEST that she read the book to have a better perspective, and another to go say that her 'rant is baseless religious stupidity'. Do you think she'll listen to you after saying something like that? That's insulting someone else's opinion (which is all I asked for), and I won't have any personal attacks here.
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I'm sorry, I was a little angry at the time.
No excuse I know but i hope you accept the apology
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This just goes to show what happens when you let religion mingle with art. Let this be a lesson to all. But then again, I'm an agnostic so what would I know.
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I'm Roman Catholic. That's a horrible book series!! God is killed!! If you want to know more, check out my mega rant journal entry against it. Philip Pullman is possessed by the devil!! I just know it!!
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I just think . . . it would be better to avoid this movie/book/whatever >< . . . I guess I'm still not sure.
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To restrain myself from joining up in the debate...
Iorek would kill Aslan.
WOO.
XD
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I'm a Christan too and I've been heckled by friends for wanting to see this 'Anti-Narnia'. I'm with you, I'm looking at it as a story to be told and to be enjoyed. Not something to totally pour every single ounce of my being into. Talking polar bears for the win! I don't see it as any more harmful than the Wizard of Oz, Harry Potter, or the Time Machine as was mentioned before. And heck, I was FORCED to read Time Machine in school.
It reminds me of the whole 'Harry Potter encourages witch-craft' thing by some people who hadn't even read the books.
ONTO THE IMAGE:
I like the way it's stylized! And I think the two-tone mane on Aslan is very pretty! The colors are bold but they're still easy on the eye :3
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I don't understand those people who claim it is encouraging witch-craft! Even Rowling has said that she's NEVER been told by kids that they want to be witches or the like.. Some people..
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It's really nice to hear that you have an open mind about it. So many people are opposing it without any background on it.
Please don't believe the negative comments about the film being 'anti-religious'. They are out of context, and the story is actually only against authoritarian oppressive religion. There are really strong messages about faith and true religion. I was actually inspired in faith by them!
They are about our souls, growing up, and learning to gain knowledge and wisdom through experience.
I would definately recommend these books (His Dark Materials) to you, because they are the most beautiful and inspiring works of fiction that I have ever read.
I love the picture by the way! You have a really unique style of drawing.. Really cool like work and colour. Iorek does look bad-ass, I have to say. A great depiction of the conflict of opinion for these books!
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well now this is a fabulous concept
awesome!
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I like this picture. I heard about the Golden Compass movie too. It looked kind of cool before I heard about the whole anti-religious thing. I don't know, I've seen what the author has said about the books in interviews, talking about "hating Narnia books" and blatantly stating the theme of his books are "killing God". I know that in the movie they have toned down the themes so that people won't be as offended. Personally, I don't care what the movie is, I don't care to support something like this or waste my money on it. Then again, lots of movies are pretty bad...but then I don't watch lots of movies anymore... 
Anyways, spifftastic picture. I love the details and the designs!!
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Good for you! The trilogy is great and there's nothing in the Bible about not allowing your faith to be questioned or challenged.
All the critisism by christians has been from people who haven't read the books - how can their opinion on the story be of any value? I know an awful lot of Christians who love the books.
Good picture, btw, xenothere!
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Hmm....reading the article, it seems like there are still good qualities to the book, but it doesn't quite seem to match up with the things I believe in. 
I know that the kids don't "kill God" in then end - but I won't spoil it...anyways, I'm sure the book encourages good behavior and may even be a literary classic....but I'm still kind of wary of it. I don't want to spend money on entertainment that's intent (at least according to an interview with Pullman) is to downcast my God. But hey, who knows, maybe I can find the book, and learn more about it. Or something.
Anyways, thanks again for sharing the article, and again, good job on the pic Xenothere.
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If you don't believe in using organized religion to gain control of people, or using underhanded tactics to convert people and maintain that control, then there shouldn't be anything to be offended by in the books.
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Your welcome!
(Thanks for reading the article, and for the message, too!)
The best way to get informed on the book without supporting the author is to get it from a library!
There are a lot of things I read that I don't believe in ( I read Narnia, and enjoyed them thoroughly), I don't agree with all of Kissinger about politics or Kipling about race, but I don't think you should cut yourself off from being exposed to another view point. It is really cool that you are taking an interest in it. I believe that it is really important to have an open mind, and to challenge yourself by facing your mental adversary to get a full grasp of your own opinion.
I think the most important thing these books say is not that believing in god is wrong, but believing in something that hurts others is wrong.
Also, these books never attack Christianity. The Magisterium more related to the fundamentalist Iranian regime than Christian America.
It is sad to say, but probably the main reason I do not follow a religious grouping is because I do not believe in the form of indocrinization that hurts people. I love the values of Christianity- I believe that Jesus was a real person who did wonderful things for others. I think doing good things for others is the most beautiful thing you can do, but I don't like when religion us used as a tool against other people. That is why I love these books, because they are about bring religion back to its elements, free of corruption, and one based on faith and love. This something that many could agree is better for everyone.
It is really nice to talk to someone who isn't outright avoiding the topic and refusing to look into it based on their principles, without educating themselves on the topic first.
Thanks for the insight!
~Lauren~
(ps-xenothere-- your pic still rocks, sorry for taking up so much comment space!)
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No problem. Thanks for commenting so respectfully
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I really hope that you should read the books, because they you will see that they are nothing what the boycott propaganda has been saying.
Ironically, these may actually inspire more faith in you. They are about freedom from an oppressive force, and are against people stealing god's true power and claiming it as their own.
This is a really interesting article by a Christian who really says exactly what I am trying to say about how these books are actually PRO-religion:
[link]
I hope you read them, because they are such beautiful works that it would be a shame for anyone to miss out on. ^_^
Afterwards, it would be nice to hear your opinion on it!
(Also, I agree that Xenothere's design is really cool!)
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I agree with the commenter at the end of the article. Trying to say that the books are pro-religion is, at best, a gross misinterpretation, at worse, deliberate shoehorning.
Which isn't to say he's anti-theistic in general, but defiantly against organized 'churches'.
The artist is also correct that this was a spoof against Narnia, which is chock full of Christian allegory (including calling everyone who isn't on Aslan/Jesus' side BAD and aught to be destroyed. Which is a very shallow way of thinking in my opinion.)
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I think people read into things too much. Even if there is a strong anti-Christian (more anti-organized religion) view in HDM, it's not really atheist. I've read all three books, and while 'God' is killed, it's not in the way you'd think. I don't want to spoil it because it is a beautiful story, but I think it's more hopeful and believing in a type of rebirth that people give it credit for.
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It's not really anti-Christian, to be fair, if martan luther hadn't gone and came up with the 99 thesis, the church could have became just as the book portay's, its less anti-Religion, more alternate fantasy history, or at least thats how I saw it.
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That's how I liked to see it too, just anti-catholic, but Pullman has been quite overt about it, and admitted he's purposely trying to turn kids off of religion entirely.
Then again I thought Dogma was just kind of a jab at what it'd be like if catholicism was the right church, and it turns out kevin smith is catholic so.. maybe we're all bad at interpreting messages XD
this sure is a great picture
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