The Golden Compass

I haven't seen this yet, but will probably go within the next week.

I'm sorry to see it isn't doing well. (Oh, people are going to see it...but it cost sooooooooo much to make that if it isn't a smash hit, it will lose tons of money)

Whether people are staying away because the heroine is a young girl (and guys of any age don't go to see adventure stories starring young girls), or because the Catholic Church has condemned it as being anti-religious, we'll probably never know. Perhaps a bit of both?

If it's the case that the young male demographic isn't going because they're not interested in female heroines, I'm sorry to hear that. (Equally, that apparently the young female demographic isn't interested either!) It's just like that old truism... girls will read books intended for boys (adventure books, naturally), but boys will not read books intended for girls (even adventure books, presumably.) And I must say that a lot of books for girls are, in my opinion, crap - romance and how to get a boyfriend and what to do if your boyfriend dumps you ya da ya da ya da!!!

But when an adventure film with a strong female lead comes along...it should show young girls that there's so much more in the world, and in themselves...than wondering whether or not some cute boy will ever call them for a date...

On a side note, Benazir Bhutto has been murdered in Pakistan. I was shocked to read that this morning. Of course, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle blew himself, and 25 other people, up, nearby, but apparently Bhutto was shot by an assassin from a nearby building. This is just madness. No one is safe. As the old saying goes: Anybody's safety is dependent uppon the fact that no one wants to kill them.

But when these loons get their people into power, the other side will just start killing them off....

Frightening world. No solution in sight.