Hollywood’s Year of Joseph

CNS photo/Roadside
CNS photo/Roadside )

The year in film began with one of Hollywood’s strongest portrayals of Joseph, the foster-father of Christ, in the The Nativity Story. And, in timing that only God could orchestrate, the year is ending with an artistic portrayal of a modern-day Joseph in Bella.

Some have questioned whether the pro-adoption film is authentically pro-life, with some critics describing it as ambiguously so. Others have gone so far as to call it “pro-choice.” From my vantage point, nothing could be farther from the truth.

In Bella, José — Spanish for Joseph — played by Eduardo Verastegui, finds new meaning in his tragedy-riddled life when he meets Nina — a recently out-of-work woman caught in a crisis pregnancy. José does the honorable thing, sacrificing his own needs and desires for those of a child who is not his own.

In an age in which fatherhood has come under tremendous attack — even to the point where fathers are told they aren’t necessary — any film that lifts up authentic fatherhood should be celebrated and supported, not denigrated.

José is there for Nina when she most needs support. Like St. Joseph, he agrees to raise a child who is not his own — in essence, laying down his life for another. A film can’t have a more Gospel-derived message than that.

As in The Nativity Story, the male lead serves not himself, but the female lead. He sets aside his own interests in the service of the good. Who can argue with that kind of heroism?

José exposes Nina to the life-giving love of his family. In one pivotal scene between José and his mother, the viewer is treated not only to a prominent statue of St. Joseph, but also an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the unborn. Before the family meal, José’s impetuous younger brother utters a prayer of thanksgiving to “the God of life.” And, in the second half of the film, José, like Joseph, is rather silent. He says little, but his strong, affirming presence says it all.

When Nina presents all of the arguments for an abortion, José res-ponds with challenging questions of his own. When Nina goes to the abortion business, José shows up. There he whispers into her ear his desire to adopt her child — an act he later repeats when he tells his adopted brother the same news. As Nina enters the medical examination room, José sits silently praying the Rosary in the waiting room. In the end, his prayer is answered. Nina chooses life.

That’s hardly “pro-choice.”

In one of the film’s happy God incidents, at the end of the movie we see José at the beach readying the now older Bella to meet her birth mother for the first time. Behind them a sign reads: “Lifeguard on Duty.” According to Sean Wolfington, one of the film’s co-producers, half of the symbols were planned.

“The others — such as the sign — were put there by God,” said Wolfington.

Do José’s actions make him any less of a father?

Only if we consider Joseph less of a father to Christ.

“The fact that St. Joseph did not beget Jesus by carnal relations with his wife implies no defect in his fatherhood, any more than Mary’s conception of Jesus without carnal relations implies a defect in her motherhood,” wrote Msgr. Joseph Cirrincione.

Filmmakers are constantly telling scriptwriters to avoid preaching and tell a story. Bella doesn’t preach. It tells a story, and in so doing, lifts up life. We can argue with how the story is told, but not its ultimate message.

If the film ends up helping encourage even one woman to choose adoption rather than abortion, then it’s a film that has not only entertained, but has done something in service of the Gospel of life.

I should know.

Faced with an unexpected pregnancy, my own mother was pressured by those around her to have an abortion. Thankfully, she refused, and my stepfather stepped in to raise me as his own. Without her decision — to give me life — and his decision — to support my mother, protect and raise me — I wouldn’t be here. My six children wouldn’t exist. And, you wouldn’t be reading this.

Too often, in the abortion debate, we lose sight of what a life is. A life is the relationships we make.

Bella beautifully shares these relationships with us — the relationship between José and Nina, between Nina and José’s family, between José and Bella — and it does so without ever once mentioning the word abortion.

So, if the film encourages adoption, it’s superseded its primary job of entertainment.

The filmmakers say that this very thing happened before the movie even opened in theaters. They were contacted by a woman who had seen the film at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. The woman had been pregnant and considering abortion. After seeing the film, she decided to give birth, ultimately naming her daughter Bella.

Hollywood’s not likely to produce an openly pro-life film. Bella isn’t pro-choice. A film that supports adoption can’t be anything but pro-life. As the title aptly suggests, that’s a “beautiful” thing.


Tim Drake is the Register’s senior writer.

He writes from St. Joseph, Minnesota.