The current controversy over the USCCB Office for Film and Broadcasting’s positive review of The Golden Compass is related to a positive review two years ago by the same office. The director of that office, Harry Forbes, was the sole author of the glowing review for ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and is the primary author of the just-pulled positive review of ‘The Golden Compass’.
LifeSiteNews.com readers have inquired about the USCCB positive review for Brokeback Mountain since the current review posted on the USCCB website is rather critical, as one would expect from a Catholic movie review organization affiliated with the US bishops. See the current review here: https://www.usccb.org/movies/b/brokebackmountain.shtml
In December 2005, at the time of the furore over the homosexual propaganda film, Forbes’ praised the film’s sensitivity on the subject. Later, following a LifeSiteNews.com story on the USCCB review and numerous complaints, the USCCB film office substantially altered the original review.
The altered review clearly stated the Catholic teaching on homosexuality and also changed the rating to “O” for morally offensive. Forbes had granted the film an “L” denoting it was appropriate for a limited adult audience.
In the original piece, Forbes raved about the film. “Director Ang Lee tells the story with a sure sense of time and place, and presents the narrative in a way that is more palatable than would have been thought possible,” he wrote. “The performances are superb. Australian Ledger may be the one to beat at Oscar time, as his repressed manly stoicism masking great vulnerability is heartbreaking, and his Western accent sounds wonderfully authentic.”
Even those lines were altered.
For comparative purposes the above linked altered review may be compared to the original which is online here:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/071211a.html