A mailing list that I’m on just yesterday began to discuss the forthcoming film adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy into a series of films by director Chris Weitz (director of About a Boy and American Pie) and New Line Cinema. I expressed some disappointment that Wietz had reportedly sacked screenwriter Tom Stoppard because he preferred to direct from his own script (this has been widely blogged about – apologies for lack of cross references), and was even more dismayed to read this article at the the Times, which discusses the need to remove God from the films of the series to appease Bush’s America. Apparently, according to Weitz, “those who will understand, will understand”. I do, but I don’t.