#4 - His Dark Materials

kumarhk Mon May 11, 2009 5:53 am

I'm re-listening to this episode, and wanted to add a couple of comments to my original ramble (from back when there were no forums). I suppose I should post what I wrote then here:

Before I say anything, I must mention this. Please skip if you don’t want to read profane all-caps rating.

IT’S NOT CALLED THE GOLDEN FUCKING COMPASS. THAT’S AN UNTTERLY CRAP TITLE THAT THE GODDAMN AMERICAN PUBLISHERS REFUSED TO DROP. IT’S ACTUAL PROPER FUCKING TITLE IS “NORTHERN LIGHTS”. Thank you. Rant over.

Anyway, the books. These books, along with Harry Potter, changed my life. I read them when I was around nine or ten years old, and I absolutely adored them. Pullman took me on a ride that I thought works of fiction could never achieve. Honestly, nothing has ever matched up to those two sets of books (HDM and Harry Potter) except maybe Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I cannot count how many times I’ve read HDM now, but it’s still not enough. I can read those books for the rest of my life and not get tired.

One thing that really got me was how dark the books were. I hate how many children’s authors patronise their readers, but Pullman didn’t (at the time, I considered it a “children’s book”. Hell, I considered Lord of the Rings a “children’s book”). This was before Rowling went dark in the last three Potter books, so I hadn’t been exposed too much to that.

I should also say that I so did not see Mrs Coulter being evil until Lyra found out. Rereading it, I realise how it was kinda obvious. Maybe it was my young age or maybe I missed a paragraph, but that one was a shocker for me.

Furthermore, Pullman taught me a life lesson which shaped me to be the person I am today. Rowling taught me tolerance, and Pullman taught me skepticism. It might not be prevalent in the book, but I think there’s a strong subtext along with the killing-god stuff that really encourages doubt and skepticism.

Anyway, to the movie: I thought it was alright, except for two major parts: the ending and the lack of Lord Asriel throughout. Lo and behold, Internet readings show that they in fact filmed a lot more of the Lord Asriel stuff, and did indeed film the proper ending. But the film went down really bad with test audiences, and the studio said it was because of the downer ending and the length of the film. So they cut it. Which sucks. You can even see some of the portal scenes in one of the trailers - and it looked damn good too. It’s a real pity, as I thought Dakota Blue Richards was the perfect Lyra.

Sorry for rambling on there, but when I start talking about His Dark Materials, it’s hard for me to stop.

What I wanted to add:
- Going into this series not knowing anything about it was somewhat of an advantage (for me at least), but I think if you're older than I was, you would probably be more likely to stay on after the admittedly dull first couple of chapters if you knew what the book was about.
- I wonder ... what would my daemon be? What would YOUR daemon be?

Mekka Mon May 11, 2009 7:13 am

Kumar, your daemon would have to be monkey!!!

Mine would be a ring-tailed lemur.

**Jakob** Mon May 11, 2009 9:15 am

A very sleepy and nervous cat.

ori-STUDFARM Mon May 11, 2009 3:25 pm

Mine would be like my pet Yorkshire Terrier, Tarka. An old, Deaf, Blind and Incontinent beastie that has to wear a nappy. She has also gotten very nasty in her old age and, if she had any teeth left, would hurt you lots when she bites.........or maybe a Chinchilla!

GAB Mon May 11, 2009 6:28 pm

River otter, female, friendly but quick-tempered, with a vaguely Spanish accent.

Ultact Tue May 12, 2009 9:17 am

Either a raccoon or a dragonfly.
Raccoon - cute but dirty, misunderstood, playful, "smash it", shy, and unpredictable.
Dragonfly - flighty, simple, elegant, easily crushed, colorful, and relatively harmless.

ori-STUDFARM Tue May 12, 2009 2:35 pm

Oooh! I didn't give mine a voice. It would have to sound like Father Jack from the "Father Ted" TV show. Lots of incoherent yells intermixed with the words "DRINK!" and "FEK OFF!"

**Jakob** Tue May 12, 2009 2:39 pm

Mine would sound like the Igors from Discworld audiobooks.

Mekka Tue May 12, 2009 7:03 pm

Mine would have a voice deepened by Port & Cigars.

cohnee Wed May 13, 2009 7:09 am

My Daemon would probably be a slightly shaggy, tired spaniel. She would sound permanently distracted.

Roundapanda Wed May 13, 2009 12:42 pm

I think mine would be a panda by default... I'm not particularly pandery, but there you go

**Jakob** Wed May 13, 2009 12:57 pm

I could never figure out if the daemons were supposed to have similar, complimentary or opposing traits to their human. There's a good chance mine might actually be a mole depending.

**Mandi** Wed May 13, 2009 1:00 pm

While I was reading the book, I pictured my cat, Beans, as my daemon. It's hard to get that out of my mind.

**Jakob** Wed May 13, 2009 2:38 pm

That actually makes a lot of sense.

**Mandi** Wed May 13, 2009 4:18 pm

It's partly because she curls up around my neck like Pan would do with Lyra. cat

**Jakob** Wed May 13, 2009 4:50 pm

Hmmm.... noooo. It's more like she outwardly exhibits the negative emotions you seldom do. Like Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey.

kumarhk Thu May 14, 2009 1:10 am

I sort of get the feeling that daemons are more like your patronuses (or is it patroni?) rather than the animal you turn into as an animagi.

Somehow I think mine would be a lynx.

Mekka Thu May 14, 2009 5:16 am

A patronus seems to be a more 'noble' and protective beast. A guardian angel. Whereas a Daemon is your constant companion and a reflection of you.

I'm sticking with a Ring-Tailed Lemur talking in a cigar and port deepened voice. I just can't think of a name...

GAB Thu May 14, 2009 7:35 am

I think the river otter who's visited Spain and has a friendly nature but a quick temper would be named Ava.
But that could just be a play on the word "avatar."

**Mandi** Thu May 14, 2009 12:37 pm

Jakob wrote:Hmmm.... noooo. It's more like she outwardly exhibits the negative emotions you seldom do. Like Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey.

Ah, yes, she shows all that clawey bitchiness that I store up inside. Mreh! (That's my written interpretation of Beans' cranky noise.)

**Jakob** Thu May 14, 2009 12:45 pm

That's a fairly scaled-back written interpretation of Beans' cranky noise. Too much like "meh." Beans doesn't feel "meh" about being cranky.

ori-STUDFARM Thu May 14, 2009 2:20 pm

Mekka wrote:A patronus seems to be a more 'noble' and protective beast. A guardian angel. Whereas a Daemon is your constant companion and a reflection of you.

I'm sticking with a Ring-Tailed Lemur talking in a cigar and port deepened voice. I just can't think of a name...

How about Binky?

Ultact Thu May 14, 2009 10:16 pm

OK, going with the dragonlfly, Curn. I think she'd sound kinda foreign with maybe an African lilt to reflect my longing to travel.

Mekka Fri May 15, 2009 4:41 am

ori-STUDFARM wrote:
Mekka wrote:A patronus seems to be a more 'noble' and protective beast. A guardian angel. Whereas a Daemon is your constant companion and a reflection of you.

I'm sticking with a Ring-Tailed Lemur talking in a cigar and port deepened voice. I just can't think of a name...

How about Binky?

Thanks Ori. Binky it is!

Do you get to show your Daemon? A la Crufts?

cohnee Fri May 15, 2009 8:37 am

Mekka wrote:Do you get to show your Daemon? A la Crufts?

Wouldn't that be like showing off your soul for judgement? I can't help but think that could be really crushing.

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