I am a bit star struck. Well, more than a little bit.
Philip Pullman, author of "His Dark Materials", the subject of a growing controversy from the religious right, and a man who is about to see his extraordinary novel, "The Golden Compass," turned into a movie by New Line Cinema, is this week on a rare visit to the United States. For the last two days, I've had more than just a glimpse of my literary idol: I had the amazing opportunity to sit down and talk to Mr. Pullman at length about theology and Dust and the imagination, among other wonderful things.
When first I learned I'd be having this conversation with Pullman, my stomach tied up in knots. I felt flushed and nervous. You have to understand: I think Pullman is one of the greatest literary figures of our time, and his trilogy, "His Dark Materials," is one of the greatest literary achievements I've ever come across--the kind of story you come back to again and again at different ages, each time discovering something new, reading it in different ways, asking new questions, and realizing there is always more to find with each encounter, all marks of great literatue.
Meeting Philip Pullman was my equivalent of meeting Brad Pitt, one-on-one. And I told Mr. Pullman as much. He laughed very hard and then responded, "No one has ever likened meeting me to Brad Pitt in my entire life." His wife (who was at the table nearby) chuckled and concurred.
And, I am happy to report: he is wonderful! Gracious, funny, brilliant, open-minded, and perfectly willing to sit down with a Catholic scholar like myself and talk theology. Delighted to, I think.
I am even further convinced that if those Christians who are spreading anger and fear about this man and his work actually paid attention to Pullman--listened to him speak, heard him in conversation with an audience, with children (which I had the fortune of doing last night)--they'd realize that the controversy they have been puffing up has no substance. They'd realize that Pullman, in the most fundamental way, is simply an amazing storyteller, a brilliant man who hasn't ever lost the childlike wonder of youth and has a way of spinning this onto the page in the form of questing children and armored bears and aeronaut Texans, a person who delights in children's questions ("If you had a daemon Mr. Pulllman, what would it be?"), and someone who loves to sit down and talk about Big Questions, Big Ideas.
Why in the world are people villainizing a man who has graced (yes, that kind of grace) us with such a rare and wonderful epic adventure, who is a bit awed and delighted himself (if I may speculate after these last two days) that so many people in the world have taken up our alethiometers and subtle knives and entered into this adventure with him?
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Maury:
Ummm Tom Cruise, to my knowledge, hasnt admitted that his movies are "about killing God", not that I am defending Tom Crusie.
Further, what specifically did I write that was full of hatred and persecution? I am quoting the author, who Donna is trying to not only defend, but promote.
Pullman has every "right" to profess his beliefs, I have the same right to dismantle his relativsim and this writers promotion of his direct attack on Christ and God the Father.
What I've been able to gather from my reading this morning is that Pullman's attacking not TRUE CHRISTIANITY, but a false, untrue, sick and evil dominated version of it. K?
This Freitas writer has a conflict of interest. She is self-serving since she written a book herself about Pullman's book. She needs to read Pullman's own words, and stop being a Pullman apologist. She is in denial that he wrote the books purposely against the Catholic church.
Ms. Freitas adores Pullman. I enjoyed reading her article because it can be torn down so many times logically! Hehe. Anyway, as to people judging each other and not being Christian, my only response is: have you not heard of "upper level critical thinking skills"???? This is a forum to discuss varying opinions, complete extremes of the spectrum, really, and what a dreadful world we would be in if there were no critical thinkers. I, for one, won't be smoking the opiate of the masses. Use your brain, think for yourself, and examine the pros and cons to Pullman's controversies. Maybe you'll determine, as I have, that his works do much more harm than good, and on a global scale, than probably any other children's literature in history. If you disagree, so be it. But allow people with divergent points of view to voice them without being called "judgemental" and "closed-minded" PLEASE!
Yes, Ms. Freitas' article lacks on several points, the most blatant one being what was mentioned earlier, that he has been villianized for promoting controversial issues (when there has been no controversy from him)...of course the controversy came from extreme right-wingers, right Ms. Freitas??? Thanks to the poster who reminded the author that Pullman himself invited the controversy with 1/his works' content and 2/his repetitive comments in interviews throughout the world that his books were about killing God, that he wanted to save children from religion and their parents before they could be polluted by them, etc. etc.
Not the best pro-Pullman apologist article, but what can you expect from someone who is star struck?
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