Group's efforts not so 'Golden'
Boycott will have opposite of wanted affect
Scott Hansen
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
The people with the League need to realize that their strategy should not be focused on parents. A good parent will know and understand what their children are reading, and they can ultimately make their decision based upon that. A good parent would let their children read the book and then talk about it with them afterward. It is great for kids to read and experience different sides of every story, and whether or not the League wants to admit it, atheism is another side to their beliefs.
What the League needs to be focused on, if they are truly afraid of the atheistic and agnostic elements of the film, is getting people who are on the fence to not go to the film - those who are old enough to truly question their faith, not those who are forced to go to Sunday school every week and essentially believes whatever their parents believe. They are the people that will be purchasing tickets to the movie and not having their parents buy tickets for them.
In order for the League to prevent older adults from questioning their faith from seeing the film and reading the books, which may or may not sway their faith, they need to let New Line promote the movie the way they are doing it.
Although Daniel Craig is amazingly appealing, he cannot convince a large enough portion of people who are on the fence regarding their religious beliefs to see or not to see a movie about fighting polar bears and flying witches. However, a hotly stirred debate can, and that is what the League needs to avoid. A price tag of $180 million is a lot for any movie to put into a production, and in order to get even a slight profit, New Line is going to need every slightest bit of help that it can get, which includes anyone seeing the film because of the controversy.
The success, or lack thereof, for "The Golden Compass" is out of the hands of the consumer, but up to the Catholic League. Unless they drop their boycott and avoid giving the film free publicity, the film will perform well at the box office, and will allow for further proliferation of more installments.
What the League needs to be focused on, if they are truly afraid of the atheistic and agnostic elements of the film, is getting people who are on the fence to not go to the film - those who are old enough to truly question their faith, not those who are forced to go to Sunday school every week and essentially believes whatever their parents believe. They are the people that will be purchasing tickets to the movie and not having their parents buy tickets for them.
In order for the League to prevent older adults from questioning their faith from seeing the film and reading the books, which may or may not sway their faith, they need to let New Line promote the movie the way they are doing it.
Although Daniel Craig is amazingly appealing, he cannot convince a large enough portion of people who are on the fence regarding their religious beliefs to see or not to see a movie about fighting polar bears and flying witches. However, a hotly stirred debate can, and that is what the League needs to avoid. A price tag of $180 million is a lot for any movie to put into a production, and in order to get even a slight profit, New Line is going to need every slightest bit of help that it can get, which includes anyone seeing the film because of the controversy.
The success, or lack thereof, for "The Golden Compass" is out of the hands of the consumer, but up to the Catholic League. Unless they drop their boycott and avoid giving the film free publicity, the film will perform well at the box office, and will allow for further proliferation of more installments.
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Brandy
posted 12/06/07 @ 9:02 AM CST
First of all, the author states that "the problem [causing the controversy] comes from the boycott the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights called for in October, according to the CNN. (Continued…)
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