A Light to the Darkness

A great American is dead. She wasn’t some heroic warrior, although her bravery rivaled that of our most seasoned war veterans. She wasn’t some famous politician, although her foreign policy trumped that of our most eloquent diplomats. She wasn’t some venerable religious leader, although her faith exceeded that of our most holy priests and ministers.

She was Kayla Mueller, a 26-year-old U.S. aid worker from Prescott, Ariz., who was providing relief to refugees along the Turkish-Syrian border who had been displaced by the ongoing civil war in Syria. Kayla was taken hostage by Islamic State militants in August of 2013 and was killed in February. Her death, while tragic, should not overshadow her life of service and her witness to the difference that one person can make. In her last letter from captivity to her family, Kayla wrote: “I have been shown in darkness light and have learned that even in prison one can be free. I am grateful. I have come to see that there is good in every situation; sometimes, we just have to look for it.”

Her words, her convictions and her deeds should remind us that America’s greatness is, and always has been, about our willingness to help others. A great American is dead. May her spirit inspire and encourage us to reach out a helping hand to our neighbors, at home and abroad, and to bring light to the darkness.

         Deacon Keith G. Kondrich

         Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 

Cinematic Turnoff

I was severely disappointed to see a “thumbs-up” from Steven D. Greydanus for the movie St. Vincent (March 8 issue). The movie literally begins with Bill Murray having sex with a pregnant stripper. Greydanus refers to this as “a brief, non-explicit bedroom scene.” Scenes can be explicit without nudity, and the implications of this opening scene turned our family off instantly. If this is what passes for a family-type movie today, then we are in far more trouble, as a culture, than we know.

         Mike Acheson

         Port Angeles, Washington

 

I have to take issue with Steven Greydanus’ review of the movie St. Vincent. Mr. Greydanus writes that the film “offers Hollywood’s most positive depiction of Catholicism in years.”

Did we watch the same movie? First of all, the priest as the teacher is, of course, Irish, with a heavy Irish accent (really?). He can’t seem to pass up his little potshots at the Church: “Everyone knows that the Catholic religion is the best because we have the most rules.” To say that this was a portrayal of a happy, caring priest would be a stretch, to say the least.

Secondly, the whole theme of the movie is “What is a saint?” That’s fine, but the constant explanation given to the kids is: “A saint is someone who cares about his neighbor, who thinks of others.” At no point in this movie is God mentioned. At no point is what a saint really is defined: heroic devotion to Jesus Christ and his Church (the people of God). Nowhere is there mentioned, or even inferred, that Vincent, or any other character, for that matter, is finding God or saving his or her soul. Even the young boy has to mention a couple of times — once even before the entire school for his presentation — that he “really doesn’t believe in saints but …”

As for the other aspects of the movie, this had the most embarrassingly foul language I have heard in a long while. I think only Scarface has it beat.

Mr. Greydanus also writes that there is “a brief, non-explicit bedroom scene.” Non-explicit? And it happens in the opening scene, of course. The sex and foul language is nothing new. I suppose that is to be expected. If you want to offer a positive review of a movie, that’s fine. It is a free country, and everyone sees something different. However, to print in a Catholic newspaper that this movie is a positive portrayal of the Catholic Church is misleading, and even irresponsible. I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone. Please do not let children near this movie. Finally, if you bring your spouse with you, be prepared to blush through the entire movie.

         Michael Barocco

         Madisonville, Louisiana

 

Steven D. Greydanus responds: Regarding St. Vincent’s portrayal of Catholicism, I stand by what I wrote: With its “positive portrayal of a Catholic school staffed by caring, humorous priests,” this film “offers Hollywood’s most positive depiction of Catholicism (outside of a horror film) in years.” If you can think of more positive recent depictions, feel free to nominate them. 

The priest who teaches Oliver’s class is warm, likable and clearly a positive character. If you didn’t think he was caring, you must have missed the scene where he (and the principal-priest) meet with Melissa McCarthy’s character about Oliver’s well-being. Yes, he has an Irish accent; I don’t see how that’s a slur on the Church.

It’s true that he has facetious asides, such as the one about Catholicism being “the best religion because … we have the most rules.” You can see it as a potshot; I took it as the sort of jocular, self-deprecating quip people sometimes make in mixed religious circles (Oliver has just awkwardly confessed, “I think I’m Jewish”) to defuse tension. One can question the propriety of a joke like this in a Catholic classroom; I never said the priest’s behavior was beyond question, only that he was a positive figure, and meant as such.

It’s also true that the film’s definition of a saint is entirely secular. There is no actual religious dimension to the film; for that, you have to go back to older films like Return to Me. I went into this in my full review at DecentFilms.com; there are limits to what I can say in a capsule review. 

Regarding the film’s crude content, here is the “content advisory” I wrote: 

“A brief, non-explicit bedroom scene (no nudity); some sexually explicit dialogue, much crass language and some profanity; brief schoolyard violence; heavy drinking; irresponsible gambling.” The capsule review also mentions that the film is about “an angry, foul-mouthed, feckless, hard-drinking slob,” etc.

I didn’t specifically mention either that the bedroom scene involves a prostitute or the strip-club scene. I agree that I could have done a better job there, although I do think there’s enough information there to make it clear that the film includes some rather crass content and is intended solely for mature viewers.

St. Vincent is rated PG-13, not R. In general, this means no more than one f-bomb, among other limits on explicit language. I’m not saying it’s not a coarse film, but even mentioning it in the same sentence with Scarface — which throws the f-bomb around literally hundreds of times, along with all kinds of other obscene language and explicit content that St. Vincent doesn’t remotely approach — is hyperbole.

While there is a prostitute, St. Vincent doesn’t glamorize or wink at prostitution. The bedroom scene is uncomfortable, not titillating; the mature viewer is not tempted to sin, but repelled. It establishes Vincent as a person who is pathetic, not fulfilled. The film sees the prostitute as I think Jesus would: not as someone who is defined by her sin, but as a human being who has done wrong and who has been wronged and who, at a certain point, breaks with the sin of her past. Her arc is a redemptive one: She finds fulfillment not in prostitution, but in giving birth, bringing new life into the world. There’s an implicit but definite pro-life vibe worth noting.

 

Bishop’s Destructive Reply

Regarding “The Florida Divisions: A Tale of Two Sees” (Feb. 8 issue):

I was very, very saddened to read that our Bishop Robert Lynch (Diocese of St. Petersburg, Fla.), is empathizing with same-sex “marriage” couples. He is quoted as saying: “I do not wish to lend our voice to notions which might suggest that same-sex couples are a threat, incapable of sharing relationships marked by love and holiness and, thus, incapable of contributing to the edification of both the Church and the wider society.”

I can hardly believe that a bishop of the Catholic Church would be saying this! We are to be “edified” by homosexual relationships? I wonder what part of St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians is not clear to some members of the Church’s hierarchy these days: “Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals … will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).

No doubt about it, the “smoke of Satan” that Blessed Paul VI spoke of has entered the Church. But, indeed, Jesus himself did say: “When the Son of Man comes, do you think he will find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Yet who would have ever thought that successors of the apostles in the Catholic Church would be advocating for destructive behaviors.

          Theresa H.

 St. Petersburg, Florida