I have been "invited" to protest some shabby movie.

So on the Facebook social networking site, there are groups that you can join, and much like on MySpace or LiveJournal or any other such site, just about anyone can get bored and decide to make a group. The difficulty is that then, you can get invited to join groups.

First of all, with very rare exception, I'm already a part of any group or social club that I have any interest in joining. So for all of you who are my "friends" on social networking sites, I'd like you to consider this quite carefully before asking me to join you on some quest or another.

Today, one of my very well-intentioned friends from the Ohio Valley College chapter of my life, invited me to "join a group" which was all about boycotting this upcoming family film, "The Golden Compass." Apparently it's based on a book by an avowed atheist and one of its sequels involves kids killing God so that they can, in the words of the petitioner, "do as they please." I don't know whether to trust these petitioners' interpretation of a film that they haven't and won't watch, based on a book that they haven't and won't read, but I'll take their word for it, just for the sake of argument.

I won't watch this film, by the way--but because it looks poorly done and dull, and becuase I dislike Nicole Kidman. This "protest" tempted me to buy a ticket to it, though, and sneak into something more appealing, just to increase the flick's box-office take.

Anyhow, here's my position on this: if you don't like a movie, then ignore it. It's a movie. Except for in very, very exceptional circumstances (read: Star Wars, or a mainstream Disney animated flick), it's not like the movie's hype machine will reach out and take over the entire world. People who want to make a big stink about these things not only do harm to their own "cause" by calling much, much more attention to the object of their attack than would naturally come by the studio's ad budget. Beyond that, killing God is not exactly unique to this work. God's death is referenced or seen, directly or indirectly, in works as disparate as Garth Ennis's classic graphic novel series "Preacher" and Douglas Adams' science-fiction-comedy classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You can't keep an idea out of circulation; it's like herding cats. The best you can do is face the idea head on and attempt to debate it. If your idea is better, more compelling and more powerful than those you oppose, you'll be fine.

Last, but not even remotely close to least, is the fact that you cannot claim you're being discriminated against when you in fact have been controlling the message for ages. Hollywood is gunshy and terrified of anything that might offend church groups, and positively wets themselves over the opportunity to cater to them. To bitch about "The Golden Compass" while trying to spread the good word about "The Chronicles of Narnia," is hypocritical, just like it's ridiculous to claim that the political affiliations of reporters (generally liberal) somehow biases the news that's vetted by their editors (largely conservative), publishers (almost exclusively conservative) and corporate parents (inherently conservative). Not that it's ever stopped the religious right from making the claim.

Go now, all of you, in peace.