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Pop-Intellectualism
August 23, 2008 in Uncategorized
“The bold assertion is a classic move of the pop-intellectual, who I think of as one who puts forth an idea as a new idea while lacking expertise in the field in which that idea would carry weight.”
From The Millions
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His Dark Materials, Revisited
November 30, 2007 in Uncategorized
Today, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing a post of mine hosted on one of my favorite lit blogs, Conversational Reading. The post was this week’s Friday Column. I wrote about the revival in popularity of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, especially in light of New Line’s film adaptation of The Golden Compass (the first book in the series), to be released on December 7th.
Since I wrote my post, Newsweek published a profile of director Chris Weitz that adds to the debate over New Line’s supposed secularization of the movie. But first, Newsweek makes you feel really bad for Weitz:
Weitz, who won the chance to write and direct The Golden Compass by sending New Line an unsolicited 40-page plea outlining his vision for the movie, was heartbroken. An opportunity of a lifetime had curdled into something else. He began to glimpse a future in which he would be attacked on all sides—by the book’s loyalists and its enemies, by a cautious Hollywood studio, by an audience expecting nothing less than another Lord of the Rings. He saw an outcome in which he’d be the guy who messed up His Dark Materials.
Aww! I’m sorry, Weitz! Maybe this is why Otto Preminger used to say that good books only make bad movies (and, conversely, bad books make for excellent movies—an intriguing point that seems to indicate that the criteria for good movies and good books are irreconcilable. But that’s another post entirely!).
What makes this article noteworthy is Pullman’s comment on all the uproar regarding the movie. He says:
“To regard it as this Donohue [president of the Catholic League] man has said—that I’m a militant atheist, and my intention is to convert people—how the hell does he know that? Why don’t we trust readers? Why don’t we trust filmgoers?” Pullman sighed. “Oh, it causes me to shake my head with sorrow that such nitwits could be loose in the world.”
I love that Pullman actually speaks like that. And he’s right: Why don’t we trust readers? Or, for that matter, viewers? Unfortunately, the blame lies with us. The only way we can expect intelligent and faithful portrayals of volatile, divisive subjects is by addressing the message rather than the vessel. I hope that whatever controversy The Golden Compass stirs up leads to a debate about Pullman’s ideas rather than a flat-out condemnation (or censoring) of his stories.
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