The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Office for Film and Broadcasting has given the movie The Golden Compass a generally positive review, much to the concern and consternation of the Catholic League, Lifesite News, Fr. Tom Euteneuer of HLI, and Pete Vere, among others. Fr. Euteneuer has called for the firing of the USCCB film office's directors.
The USCCB review of the film examines the movie on its own terms, choosing not to incriminate it based on its association with its source material, the novels by Philip Pullman. To me this is a fair approach, as the movie, while a film rendering of the books, is nevertheless a separate work of art, and as such, could potentially have an entirely different moral vision and thematic framework from the books in which it is based. I haven't seen the movie nor read the books to know if this is the case with The Golden Compass. It may not be, but there is no infallible magisterial authority within the Church over matters of literary interpretation, and I don't see that the directors of the USCCB film office should be fired for positively reviewing the film in and of itself. They could be wrong about The Golden Compass. I've disagreed with many of their reviews in the past (mostly where I like a movie they didn't). Film reviewing is not a matter of dogmatic theology or official catechises. It's a fallible guide, at best.
It could very well be that The Golden Compass movie and the books are morally dangerous and ought not be read by children, and it is certainly likely that viewers enchanted by the movie will pick up the allegedly anti-religious novels. Sharing one's concerns is perfectly appropriate; treating one's interpretation of fiction as a non-negotiable issue is not.
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