Special Interest Groups Pressuring Companies

One of my pet peeves is when some whiny special interest group decides that because something offends them (a movie, a TV show, a book, etc.), that nobody else should be allowed to see it. Guys, you don't like it, don't buy it.

Fortunately, we live in a part of the world with free enterprise and free speech. Unfortunately, when the groups are big enough, they can scare the companies in question into complying with their agendas. The Golden Compass Trilogy - or what was to be a trilogy anyway - is a perfect example. The first movie is a lot of fun, and even if fantasy kid-stuff isn't your thing, it's still worth pointing out that Nicole Kidman has never looked so good.

Now, according to classic Western-looking actor Sam Elliott,
the second and third films have been cancelled, not for money issues (the first made $380 million!) but for a stupid reason:

"Asked what had happened to the two remaining films, [Sam] Elliott, 65, who played a Texan aeronaut called Lee Scoresby in the film, said: 'The Catholic Church happened to The Golden Compass, as far as I'm concerned.'

It's up to each of us whether we buy a product, not a government or a special interest group. If it's free enterprise versus the organization that practically invented intrusive government, well, I think you know which one should, and will, win in the end.