Archbishop Niederauer of San Francisco – in the LA Tidings

It’s an excellent piece – very direct and clear answers in a mostly Q & A format. It’s extremely gratifying that he cites both Carl Olsen and me in the piece – gratifying because it’s good to see Church working well here- parts of the Body doing their part.

He also pulls from an film review of another film, written by David Denby from the New Yorker:

Slightly over a year ago David Denby, a film critic for The New Yorker, wrote a review of a film titled, of all things, "Constantine." Denby described the movie as a "religio-satanic horror spectacle," starring Keanu Reeves. At the showing Denby attended, it was being watched "by rapt adults as well as teenagers."

After dealing with that particular film, the critic moved on to the difficult, more general topic of how Hollywood deals with matters Catholic. Denby wrote: "Which raises a touchy point. ‘Constantine’ turns Catholic doctrine, ritual and iconography into schlock. God’s warrior wins, but is that enough to justify the tawdry, promiscuous borrowing? Will the trashy exploitation of Catholicism in movies ever end?"

Could any Catholic have asked those questions better? Denby went on to conjure up Jewish and Hindu variations of the frequent Catholic exploitation films: "Imagine a Jewish version of the spectacle — ‘Angel,’ starring Vin Diesel, in which God’s messenger stays Abraham’s hand in mid-sacrifice and then earns His approval by lowering himself into cursed pharaonic tombs with tied together prayer shawls. In a Hindu version — ‘Vishnu," with Nicolas Cage — Shiva unleashes his snakes on the outskirts of Poughkeepsie and starts a war between truck drivers and apple pickers."

Denby knew that the strategy of satire is often to take things over the top to show how ridiculous the situation has become, and he did that very well. In conclusion, however, he made a thoughtful and provocative remark:

"Somehow I think these projects might be shelved. Yet terrible movies like …. ‘Constantine’ get made and become enormously popular. I will leave the issue of blasphemy to experts. But maybe some of the audience should wonder if they aren’t doing the Devil’s work by sitting so quietly through movies that turn wonders into garbage."