One reason why The Golden Compass tanked at the box office?

Interesting thoughts on The Golden Compass's author Philip Pullman's works from New Testament prof Leslie Baynes, in the Wall Street Journal:

The main problem with "His Dark Materials," however, is not the atheism per se but rather its mindless dogmatism. There is no such thing as an open-minded Christian in the series. Take this quote from "The Amber Spyglass": "I met an angel. . . . She said that all the history of human life has been a struggle between wisdom and stupidity. She and the rebel angels, the followers of wisdom, have always tried to open minds; the Authority and his churches have always tried to keep them closed." To be fair, Mr. Pullman himself noted in a 2000 interview that this one-sided portrayal is "an artistic flaw," but there it is nonetheless.

Given that the film tanked at the box office - contrary to expectations - one reason might be that people sense that the premise is simply false to their own experience.

Golden Compass off course?

Several Christian friends have expressed concern about the new film of Phillip Pullman's Golden Compass, because of his well-advertised anti-Christian views. However, various sources tell me that the film has been panned as boring.

I haven't seen it, so won't comment except to say this: In their effort to take out the anti-Christian content, the filmmakers may have set themselves up for the "boring" tag. If the essence of the story is anti-Christian, then taking that part out is like taking the the pirates out of Pirates of the Caribbean. If they couldn't live with what the film needed to be in order to represent the books in celluloid, they just shouldn't have made it.