Sweet Life

I would put it differently. All religions, including earth-based, or any person involved in a spiritual quest of any kind, are vulnerable to self-delusion, just because it makes one more open to certain things.

	Beliefnet at the Oscars The Rev. Jerry Falwell on 'Gladiator' Rabbi Lawrence Kushner on 'Crouching Tiger' The Very Rev. Alan Jones on 'Erin Brockovich' Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman on 'Traffic' The 73rd Academy Award nominees Discuss: Which movie has deepened your spirituality? Also: 'Chocolat' Leaves a Bitter Aftertaste Oscar's Unspiritual Year

I think the movie attempted to show, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing, the sacredness of life in this world, the notion that you don't have to die to get the good stuff. It shows that the body, the earth, sexuality, food, are all part of the joy of life.

What I thought odd was that there wasn't a moment where the protagonists suddenly understood their connection to ultimate reality. I liked that it showed that something as simple as opening a chocolate shop can have huge consequences in the lives of people. Vianne was, in her own way, a minister. She listened, much more than the priest listened, and intuited everyone's problems. She knew how to make people feel good about themselves. The priest and the mayor are the forces in the town, yet they aren't listening to anybody.

As I understand it, you're supposed to give up something that's a little more important than chocolate. I don't think making the analogy to Hindus and cattle and pork and Jews works. My question is, how prevalent today is the Catholicism that's being criticized? It was pre-'60s, pre-Vatican II; that kind of Catholicism did exist then. But I don't think it's so much a critique of Catholicism as it is a critique of an old-time, rigid Catholicism. It wouldn't have resonance for someone growing up Catholic in America today, I wouldn't guess.

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