“Growing pains”
Posted on by Kinders

“Philip Pullman is a bit like a bear with a sore paw, as a friend has described him. But beneath a gruff exterior he is by turns charming and patronising – although in the nicest possible way,” writes The Oxford Student in a short interview with the author. Pullman talks about his college education, controversiality in His Dark Materials and his reasons for writing. He also says of the film adaptation, “I’m worried, but I’m not going to do anything about it, partly because I have no power. They bought the rights, they can do what they like with it,” and that, if Hollywood does try to “Disneyfy” his works, “there are ten million readers or something all over the world who will say this is a load of bloody rubbish.” Read more.

About Kinders

Amateur comic strip artist, photographer and musician; wannabe author and film director; actual web 2.0 nerd and social butterfly. I've been visiting Bridge to the Stars and its forum, the Republic of Heaven, on and off since 2003, when I began making a short documentary about the His Dark Materials trilogy.
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11 Responses to “Growing pains”

  1. MrAnderson says:

    Wise words, from the man himself.

  2. Alewyn says:

    I thought it was a very cute interview, pretty nice.

  3. The Bard says:

    I don't know what to make of that…seems Pullman doesn't show the real him to the outside world…also…he's worried aboot the movie…an omen?

  4. Alewyn says:

    Well…I'm worried about the movie. Is that an omen?

  5. Lucy K says:

    This is bad. Without any control over it (PP, the film could be pure crap

  6. The Bard says:

    Lol, Alewyn…no, mainly because you're not Philip Pullman…

  7. Kinders says:

    *With* any control over it, the film could be pure shit. He's just a writer.

  8. fairygirl says:

    Movies are written too. And he's the creator of the original, so he understands the importance of the story. I do believe that the movie could be good with or without him, depending on…well, a lot of things, I guess. I don't know overly much about movies and stuff, but I think it's deeper and more complex than just "The movie will suck if Pullman isn't involved" or "The movie will suck if Pullman is involved." Yanno?

  9. Kinders says:

    He's a writer of [i]books[/i]. I wasn't making either of those statements, I was just pointing out that "Without any control over it (PP, the film could be pure ****" is a fallacy.

  10. Grumman says:

    I've witnessed over and over how books are destroyed by movie makers, which is sad. However, movies tend to give books a higher profile, and attract new readers. In the particular case of HDM I just think the screen writers will not be able to translate to the main idea with its full implications. I got some qualms when Tom Stoppard's screen play was shelved. Maybe the commercial movie industry is just not prepared for HDM. I'd only expect an extremely down washed version of it.

  11. Nalanna says:

    Whats up with Disney?
    I think he is doing the right hing by not taking part in the movie making process because he will always have his own version of events in his own mind which he can keep safe, but other people have different ideas. It's called artistic lisecence… a little plastc thing in a wallet that gives myou permission to what the **** you want… I'm confused now… :wassat: