The Golden Compass

On the way out the door to go to the grocery store tonight, I was handed this DVD by my husband and asked to return it to the rental site.

I looked at the case. Saw what you see and just looked at my husband.

Before I even formed what I wanted to say, he hurriedly said, "I knew you wouldn't want to watch it," in explanation as to why he wanted it returned without asking me if I wanted to see it.

It was at that point that St. Paul walked in the door, looked at the case and pointedly asked his father, "The Golden Compass - why would you ever rent that?"

Bill defensively answered, "I wanted to watch it."

Even more vehemently, and with greater disdain, Scott asked, "Why? Why would you rent that? Why?!"

I don't know how many times, "Why" and "Because I wanted to," were said before Scott heard me tell him to stop it, but it was quite a few - my ears nearly rung with the words.

I'm not writing of this in order to show animosity between parent and child; rather, it is because, like my husband you might not understand what problem - if any - I might (and did) have with that DVD being in my house.

It comes down to what Scott said in the grocery store afterward. He questioned me as to why his father had rented the movie, then said, "He knows it is against our religion."

Had I known the movie was already in the house, I might have actually watched it to see the propaganda. That doesn't mean I would have ever considered renting it. In fact, had I been with Bill when he got it, I would have tried to dissuade him from getting it - ever.

I didn't like that it was in the house because that meant that my household not only supported the movie financially, but also, since it is still a recent enough release that rental figures are probably still tracked, the rental can be seen as an approval for the movie. Rental statistics might influence not only whether the next book in the trilogy is made into a movie, but also if scripts similar to The Golden Compass reach the screen.

I don't like being even remotely connected to such productions.

Okay, that's my two cents on the matter. Thanks for letting me share.

Oh, one other thing I'd like to mention...

Since the DVD was released, if Scott sees it for sale on a rack in a store he will move it to the furthest back position to lessen the chance it will be purchased. I almost laughed aloud the first time I noticed this subtle bit of subterfuge.