I watched The Golden Compass yesterday. It was an entertaining movie, perhaps more entertaining the book itself. The Golden Compass movie is based on Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy, the first book of which is titled The Golden Compass.
There's lots to comment on in the movie and the book, but I want to focus on this idea of a daemon. In the movie, which stars British and Australian actors, they pronounce the term "demon." Perhaps this is the proper pronunciation, but the spelling is identical to the term Socrates uses when he speaks of his daemon which is always with him.
We Americans, at least, will think of one thing when we hear the word demon. But Socrates did not believe a demon followed him around. A demon would be something that leads one into trouble. In several instances in the book and film, Lyra's (the main character) daemon did lead her for trouble. But when Socrates speaks of daemon, he speaks of something that safeguards him. During his trial, he said that his daemon had remained quite while he spoke. Usually, his daemon spoke up if Socrates headed down the wrong path. So for Socrates, the notion of a daemon was something good -- a spirit that whispered in his ear to keep him from straying.
There is not such notion in Pullman's work. The daemon is a companion. It is compared to the soul. In Lyra's world, the soul takes the form of an animal outside of the person, whereas in our world, the soul is inside us. Lyra speaks to her daemon and it to her. We have no such luxury, or if we use such a luxury, we are generally locked away for our own good.
My point in raising this issue is, first, to point out that movie goers should not think of the "demon" in the book or movie as something evil. The second is to raise the question of the existence of the soul. And the third is to raise the question about whether we have guardian angels. The existence of soul would be important, and the existence of guardian angels takes us into the realm of theology. But they are important to understanding who we are.
While I don't endorse the overall doctrine of the movie or the books (which become anti-religion in their final form), I do think the movie raises some serious questions for people concerned about human nature to consider.
Friday, January 11, 2008
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3 comments:
Nice post. I understand Lyra's world's daemons as something like a soul and also something like the Indian notion of a soulmate animal. It definitely provides guidance and caring and companionship, alhough not at all in a sort of angelic way -- the daemon's intelligence is limited, and it is definitely mischievous at times. I intend to always pronounce it as DAY-mon... I heard Pullman said in the British version it was to be pronounced as DEE-mon, but then Pullman's judgment is to be questioned; viz all the bad decisions in the two later books. :-)
And what the heck is with American book producers renaming English books? And changing their language? Americans too stupid to read across the barrier? (roll eyes>
Vera
Vera,
thanks for the post. Yes, publishers believe Americans can't understand English titles. I guess Americans should show them differently.
I watched Golden Compass once and completely missed the religious allusions. I was just confused. Thanks for educating me.
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