the right direction

personally i think we should all get together on 12/7 and go see the golden compass. not because its based on a newberry award winning novel that had a higher literacy value than most listed on oprah's brainwashed book club. not because it is a wonderful allegory for modern society along the lines of vonnegut and gaiman. not even because its pretty. no, let's go see it because the catholic extremists told us not to.

the catholic league, i'm sure spearheaded by the masked pope man and his sidekick nambla boy, has joined forces with focus on the family, a group that is so near and dear to my... city, and they have been circulating materials damning the book as a disguised atheist treatise meant to undermine the religious convictions of our oh so indoctrinated youth. regardless of the fact that the underlying theme of the the novel, and the novels which complete the trilogy, is one of compassion, tolerance, and the need to do good for your fellow man at any given opportunity. so what if the antagonising presence in the story is an antiquated religious hierarchy intent on controlling the known universe? what does that have to do with the catholic church? oh.... yeah.

what i find funny is that they would rather your 'impressionable' children go see movies like shrek, filled with thinly veiled sexual innuendo and fart jokes disguised as an all too transparent fable, than go see a film that actually might teach them something of value.

so therein lies the stupidity of these so called 'watchdog' groups. by protecting our children they are leaving them even more open to the cruelties of the real world and leaving them less prepared to face an increasingly dismal looking future.

so go see the golden compass. take your kids, your sister's kids, the formaldehyde fetuses from the mantle. if anything, just to piss off the pope.