The Media and Catholicism
Kennedy’s Speech on Catholicism
They say that history has a way or repeating itself. Perhaps one of the most significant moments in recent political history came during the 1960 presidential campaign, when questions were raised about Sen. John Kennedy’s Catholicism and whether America would vote for a Catholic president.
Here's a link for some background on this:
https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/JFK-and-Religion.aspx
JFK, who is known for his great speeches, gave a classic response, defending and explaining his position.
Here's a link for some background on this:
https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/JFK-in-History/JFK-and-Religion.aspx
JFK, who is known for his great speeches, gave a classic response, defending and explaining his position.
Here’s a clip of that speech, which was given at a special meeting of the Greater Houston Ministerial Association at the Rice Hotel in Houston, Texas, during the 1960 campaign:
Forty-seven years later, it was a Mormon causing the same concern (consider the parallel's here). Mitt Romney was forced into a similar situation and responded with a speech. Here's Romney’s 2007 speech on Religious Liberty, given at the George H.W. Bush Library in Texas:
Here’s a short segment if you don’t want to listen to the long version:
How would you compare these two speeches? How were they similar? How were they different? Why do you think the JFK speech has been considered by many analysts to be the most effective of the two? What do these speeches, including the need for them, tell us about the role of religion (and how the media address this) in American political life? In American culture? How might these two speeches bind Catholics and Mormons together?
Thought and Reflection
Portrayals in Popular Media
As you work on this assignment, I want you to reflect on the stereotypes and themes that are used to present Catholics, clergy, nuns, and the faith itself. In an interesting article I once found, “Showing Faith: Catholicism in American TV Series (2010),” author J.A. Fuchs suggests that Catholicism is most typically (but with some exceptions) presented in one of three ways: 1) goofy and nerdy (e.g., comical singing nuns), 2) old world/traditional (e.g., “The Godfather”), or 3) cloaked in darkness, secrecy, institutional corruption, and spiritual cynicism (e.g., “The Da Vinci Code,” “Nothing Sacred”). I want you to think about this typology as you do the readings for today. Think about whether you agree or disagree and why? Should other categories be included? Also, think in terms of media effects (e.g., Social Learning Theory). Should this be of concern?
Goofy and Nerdy?
So let’s get started. In class, we have spent a great deal of time addressing the way in which various religions are portrayed in both news and entertainment media. I want to spend some time looking at how Catholicism has been treated by Hollywood. You will recall that early in the class we saw a clip from the old TV show, “Flying Nun.” We also talked about the amiable priest from the TV series “M*A*S*H.” Let’s talk a bit about the portrayal of nuns. This seems to fit into Fuch’s first category. We can start by looking at two classic treatments.
The first is from the film “Sister Act.” This 1992 film, stars Whoopie Goldberg as a Reno lounge singer who has been put under protective custody in a San Francisco convent and has to pretend to be a nun to avoid the mob boss is is trying to kill her. Here’s a clip:
The second example is the classic musical film the “Sound of Music.” I’m pretty sure everyone knows the story here: Maria is a young nun who doesn’t quite fit in at the abbey and is sent to be a nanny for the Von Trapp family. She teaches the children to sing and eventually falls in love with the widower Captain Von Trapp. They marry and escape the Nazis by fleeing across the mountains. Again, it could be argued that the characters from “Father Dowling,” “The Flying Nun,” and “M*A*S*H’s” Father Mulcahy fit into this category. What is your reaction?
Old World or Just Family?
Regarding the second category, Fuchs writes that “Catholicism becomes a symbol for old world immigrants living in their own ethnic neighborhoods.” For his supporting evidence, he uses at least two examples, the 1972 Film “The Godfather” and the more recent film “Rocky Balboa” (2006). Here’s the trailer from “The Godfather”:
“The Godfather” associates Catholicism with old Italian crime families and old world traditions. I agree with Fuchs’ assessment of this stereotyping to some degree, but I also question it. For example, the current television series “Blue Bloods” (which stars a great cast including Tom Selleck) follows the life of a multi-generational Irish-Catholic family of New York City police officers. Selleck plays the role of the police commissioner; his sons are officers and his father is a retired officer. A trademark of the show is the Sunday dinner scene, in which four generations gather to have meal together and to talk. I find this to be a great show that really presents this as a modern, strong, supportive, believing family (the family’s strong religious beliefs become their guiding principles). OK, the Irish tie-in might be consistent with the idea of old-world Irish immigrants coming to the US and the old stereotype of the Irish New York cop. But this is a very modern, likeable family.
Also, I think Fuchs overlooks the fact that many recent treatments include “new world” Catholicism (e.g., Latino populations). The first example that comes to mind is the 1997 film, “Fools Rush In.” In the film, the Catholic references are subtle, but they are there. Check out the trailer:
Another similar example would be the 1995 movie, “My Family” which starred Edward James Olmos and Jimmy Smits.
Maybe the focus of this second category should be on “family” or “traditional family” rather than just “old world.” What do you think?
Focusing on the Dark Side?
Fuchs’ third category focuses on the dark side of religion in general. It seems to include a number of subcategories. For example, use notes the short-lived TV series “Nothing Sacred” (which was actually created by a Jesuit priest), which followed the life of a liberal priest who constantly confronts his doubts. The show debuted on ABC during the 1997 TV season, but was canceled the following March. Despite winning awards for its “honest portrayal of the complexity of faith in the modern era,” it was highly criticized for glorifying irreverence and was target for boycotts by the Catholic League. Honestly, when I watched this and did a bit of reading (on this particular show) while preparing this assignment, I kept thinking of Richard Dutcher and the “God’s Army” films. I don’t think the issue that is raised here by Fuchs is necessarily an uniquely Catholic issue and shouldn’t be pinned on a specific faith.
Here’s a clip from “Nothing Sacred.” In this clip, Father Ray, who is having a crisis of faith, recites the St. Patrick’s Breastplate prayer at a Halloween bonfire:
To make his argument, Fuchs’ uses the Clint Eastwood character, Walt Kowalski, from the movie “Gran Torino (2008).” In this case, it is Kowalski, a Catholic, who is having a crisis of faith. Kowalski is a retired, narrow-minded Korean War hero who is dealing with a number of personal issues as his neighborhood changes around him. His parish priest tries to reach out to him. This is a classic scene from the film:
The young priest never gives up, however, and keeps reaching out to Walt, who rejects his spiritual guidance until cancer and certain death push him into the confessional. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tKxPSddoJ8). Eastwood must like playing this type of character. In the movie “Million Dollar Baby” (2004) he plays Frankie Dunn, a Catholic struggling with his faith.
Two additional films (among several) used by Fuchs to make his argument for this category are the “Da Vinci Code” and “Stigmata.” The “Da Vinci Code” (book and movie) allege that the Catholic Church is behind a centuries-long conspiracy to hide the truth about Jesus Christ and that the Church and its agents will stop at nothing, including murder, to hide this truth (e.g., that Christ was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had a child, etc). Regarding the book, the website Catholic Answers wrote, “Catholics should be concerned about the book because it not only misrepresents their Church as a murderous institution but also implies that the Christian faith itself is utterly false.” (link: http://www.catholic.com/documents/ cracking-the-da-vinci-code).
The movie “Stigmata” (1999) presents an even darker image of the Catholic Church. Described as a supernatural horror film, the story is about a Pittsburgh hairdresser who is afflicted with the stigmata (bodily wounds corresponding the crucifixion wounds of Christ) after acquiring a rosary that had been stolen from a deceased Italian priest who suffered from the same phenomenon. In the movie, corrupt Vatican officials investigate the phenomenon. Here’s the trailer (but some of you may not want to watch this; just a strong warning):
We should probably mention the film "Spotlight," which chronicles how the Boston Globe broke the story about the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests.
More thoughts and reflection
So, I guess at this point, a good question to ask would be your perceptions of how the Catholic Church has been treated, portrayed, or represented in popular media culture. What do you think? Has Fuchs’ made an accurate assessment? Do you agree or disagree with his three categories? Would you change any of them? Would you add any categories? Based on what you’ve learned today, and based on past class discussions, has the Catholic Church been portrayed more or less favorably than other major religions? Why or why not? More importantly, why should we be concerned, or not concerned, about these portrayals? Do they have any crossover effect on other religions?
News Coverage of the Catholic Church
Our focus so far has been primarily on representations in popular media culture. But I would like us to make a few observations about news media coverage. Please read the article “Catholic Media Needed Now More than Ever.” This article is available through the Electronic Course Reserve link on the syllabus (and on the blogspot site).
I did a quick online search for “Catholic Church in the News.” Here is a quick summary of the recent headlines from the “Topics” search results from the New York Times:
“Paul Ryan, Catholic Dissident”
“Deciding When to End Life Support”
“An Abortion Question Shows Divide Among Catholics”
“Chile: Bishop Accused of Sexually Abusing a Minor Quits”
“Women as Priests?”
“Pope’s Butler Sentenced to 18 Months in Theft Case”
Using Framing Theory to inform your interpretation of these headlines and related stories, how is the story of the Catholic Church being framed? What are the themes and sub-themes suggested by these headlines?
I would have to honestly say that I've never given much thought to the Catholic portrayal in the news and media. To me the view is more focused on Islam and other more foreign religions. If I'm ever worried about a Christian religion it's my own. So I've never really taken into account what the Catholics see and feel. But with that now in mind I can see how they are treated differently.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, in the media and films. I have to agree that the majority of Catholics are not shown in a correct light. Nacho Libre comes to mind. It doesn't say the church is Catholic exactly but we can assume it is. That whole movie degrades their beliefs and makes them look like they live a very boring, lonely lifestyle. Most films about Catholics are focused on the leaders of their faith I think, which isn't a true portrayal of the population as a whole.
I also think the News doesn't do a very good job of reporting on this religion as well. All they focus on is the weaknesses and wrong doings of leaders in the Church. They don't talk about the good that they do (unless it's someone like Mother Teresa). For every Priest that abuses his power there are hundreds of good people that do what they believe is right. There is millions of dollars going to charity and good will. But all we see is the corruption.
This class has made me really look outside of my own faith, look towards other faiths and truly see how they are treated in the public light. As LDS I feel we like to point out all the persecution and pain we've had to suffer, but quite often we forget that others have had to feel just as much as we have.
If I think back to my perceptions of the Catholic Church previous to reading this blog post I think I have a clear idea of the stigma's I was believing. In my experience, the Catholic Church has mostly been represented as very secretive, corrupt, and full of scandals. For example, one of my favorite TV shows is Law and Order: SVU and there have been multiple episodes that involve Catholic priests molesting children but being protected by the Church. I also love the show Blacklist which featured a Catholic priest that was using an extreme congregation to carry out murders that he was planning. I saw Spotlight (which I loved) that talks all about that huge journalism scandal and portrays the Catholic Church as more concerned with good PR than the protection of the children. Now, I am not sure if this portrayal is accurate, but it's supposed to be based on historical events. So, most of my experience with the Catholic Church in entertainment has been mainly negative.
ReplyDeleteAs for the actual News, I feel like the only time you see Catholicism in the news is if their is some scandal that is sex related, unfortunately. The Pope will get a few good articles, but not much. I feel this is really sad, because I know many Catholics who are really good, law-abiding people. Once again I feel this damages the religion as a whole.
Even as Mormons we stereotype Catholics by making jokes that refer to them as the "Great and Abominable Church" mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
This class has really helped me to become much more empathetic with other religions. As a Mormon, I feel like we are really picked on in the media, but I never spent enough time looking into how other religions are portrayed and how that affects my view of them. Movies like "Stigmata" are probably very hard for a devoted Catholic to watch because it plays into and heightens existing stereotypes about their faith when in reality, most of them are good Christian people. I think much more empathy is needed when discussing media and religion. I think this would help when coming up with solutions to modern social problems as well. If we can try to find common ground where we stand, we can work together to fix the issues at hand. Neither JFK nor Romney should have had to stand up and say why they would make a good President despite their religion, but due to stereotypes in our media people have a reason to be concerned. I am not sure what the solution is, but I am hoping their is one. I am not sure how religious portrayals could get any worse, but I am sure it can somehow. Again, empathy is needed in order to help distinguish between truth and sensationalized media truth.
One perception that I have seen the Catholic religion associated with in television and movies is one of scandal. A few weeks ago, I watched the movie Spotlight. I was intrigued with the movie, mostly because the investigative journalism was so interesting and well done—I would say that it is arguably one of the best journalism movies. The movie tells the story about the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. When the movie was released, there was a lot of controversy and negative publicity for the Catholic Church. Why did they cover it up? Is abuse still occurring? I have some Catholic friends, and I know that this movie really made their church look bad. Another instance of scandal that I have seen among Catholicism is in the TV show Gossip Girl. In the show, one of the main characters Blair vows to never date Chuck again and tells a Catholic priest of her decision. This Catholic priest is actually having an affair with her fiancés sister and it turns out to be very dramatic. Similarly, in other movies, I feel like I often see a character who has committed a sin, and walks into a Catholic chapel and tells the priest behind close curtains. All of these examples fit within Fuch’s 3rd category of Catholicism being cloaked in darkness, secrecy, institutional corruption, and spiritual cynicism.
ReplyDeleteThe only example I can think of Fuch’s first category “goofy and nerdy” is Nacho Libre. Anyone who has seen the movie knows that that it is silly and in a way makes fun of the Catholic religion. I feel like this is the least common category that I see portrayed in television and I would have to disagree with it being a big category in the media. Behind, the “darkness and secrecy” category, I would say that the next category that is most portrayed in the media is “old world/traditional.” When I think of Catholicism, I think of Old World history. Last year I visited Vatican City and was amazed by all of the beauty and tradition within the faith. There is so much history and Catholics really make an effort to preserve it, which shows in the media. I have never seen the movie Godfather but in the reading it says that the movie represents this category and I would have to agree.
Thinking about my perceptions of Catholics in the media I think of a few things: nuns as being very sheltered women who live in their own bubble, Catholic Priests performing exorcisms, people confessing to the Catholic priest of their sins, and the Pope being their worldwide leader. There are also quite a few rituals and prayers that I know of that I have mostly learned from the media about Catholics such as people praying to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; the praising of Mother Mary; and going to the church to pray during the week and lighting the candle.
ReplyDeleteAs I have just written down my initial thoughts of the portrayal of Catholics I don't think I know these things from personal experiences where I have communicated with an actual Catholic. I realize that most of my understanding of Catholics has been from the way that they are portrayed on TV and movies. That is very interesting to me and it makes me question whether my view of Catholics is correct. I am sure like most stereotypes, there is some truth to what I have come to believe but there must be some stereotypes that I have been blindly believing.
In the article that you posted above, “Showing Faith: Catholicism in American TV Series (2010),” Fuchs lists three ways that Catholics are presented: 1) goofy and nerdy, 2) old world/traditional, or 3) cloaked in darkness, secrecy, institutional corruption, and spiritual cynicism. I definitely agree with this because these are the roots of my beliefs of Catholics. I cannot really think of very many goofy and nerdy portrayals, however, "Nacho Libre" is one that pokes fun of Catholics. This is the one I least have had experience with and this is the category that makes me realize that the portrayal is probably not accurate. However, I definitely view Catholics as being old world and traditional. Some movies and shows that have influenced this view for me has been movies like "Home Alone" where the main character finds safety in going to the church on Christmas Eve; "The Sound of Music" where the main character leaves her home with nuns and tries to balance what is expected of her as a nun with falling in love. Furthermore, I think a common theme in the media is portraying the leaders of the Catholic church as corrupt and secretive like in the movie "The Da Vinci Code."
Now that I realize that I have been learning about Catholics more through the media than anything else I want to assess my beliefs in contrast to what Catholics are really like.
I do not know very much about Catholics and most of the exposure I have had to that religion is through the media. Since media has been the source of most of my information, I have just accepted those portrayals as fact and moved on with life not really questioning its validity. Now reflecting on that, I find it very interesting that I would just accept that as fact. Whenever I viewed movies or TV shows that portrayed Mormons I would know that the portrayals would be incorrect or grossly exaggerated and therefore wouldn't accept them as truth. But when I see movies or TV shows with other religions I wouldn't ever question whether the portrayals were wrong or exaggerated and I would just accept it. I guess it could be because I am ignorant to some of the religions and have no truth to rebut the false stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteCatholics get stereotyped just as much as any other culture or religion and just like all stereotypes, strange perceptions and actions are wrongly generalized across the entire religion. The most common stereotypes that I have noticed in Fuchs classifications is the "goofy and nerdy" and "old/traditional". Most of the movies I have seen show nuns as strange introverts who usually are at the butt of a joke because of their peculiar life style. Other Catholics seem to be old fashioned and traditional in their beliefs walking around in robes and praying all the time which seems they are not accepting the new cultures of the world.
Every religion gets stereotyped and made fun of to a certain extent. It's just a fact of life and it happens to everyone. Everyone just has to be careful to learn the truth about people before they force on false stereotypes as fact then generalize it across the religion.
Fuchs’ examples and argument are pretty accurate. I would agree with the three types of Catholics we see portrayed in the television and film. I would say they fit with my personal observations of Catholics in the media.
ReplyDeleteThe most religious people I know are Catholics. Some are even more devoted to their religion than most Mormons I know. Their religion is the most important thing in their life and everything they do revolves around the church. The only example in the media I can think of where a Catholic is actually portrayed this way is in A Walk to Remember. Jamie, the main female character is extremely religious. She quotes scripture, only listens to Christian music, sings in the church choir and her father leads the church they go to every Sunday. She often gets made fun of for letting religion drive her life, but because she has faith and believes, she isn’t really fazed by classmates.
I went to the Catholics Come Home website to get a basic idea of what they believe. Everything I read was pretty basic and fit in with what I’ve seen on TV (against abortion, confession after sin, Jesus Christ is central). A lot of their beliefs can be compared to Mormon beliefs. However, nothing showed up when I tried to see what they believe about salvation. After researching on some other sites, I found their way to salvation is similar to ours in which they are baptized and strive to live a righteous life as Christ did. I found their approach to “bring Catholics home” through the Internet interesting. They seem very welcoming and maybe a bit desperate for those who left to return-almost apologetic and that it was the church’s fault that they left in the first place. I think they are trying to take a more interactive approach on the web to attract more people to the religion. National Geographic reported their continuous decline in membership so it would make sense that they are going to these efforts to convince people to Catholicism.
When comparing and contracting Catholic and Mormon portrayals in the media there are both similarities and differences. Taking Fuchs three ways Catholicism is portrayed, I would say that Mormons compare in two of the three. First of all, I would agree that a lot of the time Mormons come across as goofy or nerdy just like Catholics. In a world that is moving further and further from community worship, anyone who devoutly participates in church activates or services can be portrayed as goofy. From the outside eye of course they see certain practices as odd because they don’t understand the why behind the actions. Both Mormons and Catholics have rituals and ancient traditions that aren’t common today, yet are vital to their faith.
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to Fuchs second point I agree with, that both parties can be seen as old world/traditional. In a society that revolves around practices that were put in place anciently, it is inevitable to come across old worldly. I cannot speak with complete authority, however from what I have read Catholics seem to be making a lot of innovations which resemble the Mormon church in many respects. While ancient traditions still hold their value in both church’s, they also realize that the doctrine must be applied in todays world and are figuring out how to apply them the best possible. Their website had a lot of similarities to the ways that LDS.org presents themselves. They even had a video that showed what a mass was. I related that to when we post pictures of inside temples to familiarize others with our worship and make it seem like we have less secrets.
The third area, however, I do disagree with. I don’t believe the Mormon church comes across as cloaked in darkness, secrecy, institutional corruption, and spiritual cynicism. I mean I do acknowledge that there are some who truly do believe this, and try to portray us as such, however most depictions of Mormons in the media aren’t like that. They are the overly happy neighbor next door, ready to deliver cookies at the drop of a hat. Where as, the clips we watched for this along with others I have seen were definitely the depiction Fuchs talked about. I mean and it makes sense that American media would come across like that... I mean the pilgrims weren’t running from nothing I guess?
ReplyDeleteI love that JFK talks about how war and despair are bound by no religion. It is not about the church he believes in but the America he believes in. I find it fascinating Mitt Romney followed in JFK’s footsteps, taking an informational and defensive approach to religious influence on his presidential campaign.
So often, politicians fear religious connections, they don’t trust religious people, and they often shun the idea of it. Religion unfortunately has a negative connotation in the political world and this hurts our nation. JFK felt the need to talk about his religion in his speech about separation of church and state because, if he hadn’t, people would be unsure as to where he stood on how his religion would influence.
Unfortunately we believe that, unless someone believes exactly what we believe, they are wrong. They are viewed as wrong for being vocal about their religious opinions because that is often something that is kept quite personal.
If Mitt Romney had run for President around the time JFK did when people still valued religion rather than spirituality, he would have been more likely to have become president. However, because we now live in a world that shuns religious values and associations, we do not find those who are religious to be relatable or understood.
In news culture media rather than politics, I feel like Catholicism holds a better place in people’s minds than any other religion. Very rarely do we see Catholics framed by news media in a negative light. If a Catholic commits a crime, the headline will be something like, “Man Kills 3 In Church Shooting” but if a Muslim man commits the same crime, the headline would be, “Muslim Terrorist Bombs Church, Killing 10.”
In popular culture, we rarely see Catholics in a negative light. I believe this is due to the fact that so many people are Catholics. Everyone knows a Catholic, making it more difficult for the media to “other” them. Because Catholics are more “relatable” to western culture and because the religion is so prominent, they are almost protected from negative portrayals of media.
I think there's definitely some truth to the 3 types of Catholics portrayed in the media. I've noticed that most of the Catholics in the media I've seen are foreign, a bit quirky, and somewhat hypocritical even though they say they're very devoted to their religion. It seems like they always have exaggerated personalities and are often not the kindest individuals. I don't necessarily think that the Catholics shown on TV are a great representation of the Catholic people I know in real life- most of the characteristics of Catholics in the media are very exaggerated forms of those I see in people I know. That being said, I don't think that these portrayals are that negative in comparison with some of the other portrayals of religion in the media (Islam, mormons, etc.).
ReplyDeleteAs for JFK and Romney's speeches, I think that since Catholicism is less radical than mormonism, Kennedy was able to be a lot more convincing that church and state would remain separate if he were elected than Romney was. Though they said similar things, I don't think that people believed Romney as much as they did JFK due to the stereotypes the media perpetuates of mormons that are a lot more peculiar than how Catholics are represented. Catholicism doesn't seem to be as extreme one way or the other, but mormonism does and that's what makes it seem more threatening.
Both of the speeches by JFK and Mitt Romney were fascinating to me. Here were two great men, separated by political parties, religious views, and more than 47 years, who were running for the same office and faced the same issue: persecuted for their religious backgrounds. I thought it was interesting that both Romney and Kennedy declared that they would not disavow their religious beliefs just to appease voters. They also promised that their church leaders would have no influence on their decisions as president. Both trusted that the American people would look beyond their religious views and see them as a person.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, the speeches were very different. JFK focused more on specific issues of his time that were being overlooked because of his religion. I found it interesting that Romney said he wouldn’t become the spokesman for his religion and share his beliefs, yet he gave a testimony of Jesus Christ. Some might say that JFK’s speech was more effective; I think that JFK’s message was more broad. He created a dream of an America where everyone was equal, where there was a complete separation of church and state. Romney’s speech was less concrete, but also inspiring. Overall, I was amazed at the similarities of the candidates’ situation and the unique outcome for each.
I thought that Fuchs’ stereotypes, although not covering every perception about Catholics, were fairly accurate. As a boy, I remember watching “The Three Musketeers” with my dad. The villain was Cardinal Richelieu, played by Tim Curry, who sought to take the throne through the murder of King Louis. That Catholic leaders had hidden agendas and were all evil stuck with me for years until I learned better.
From this assignment, I realized that there are actually a lot of similarities between Mormons and Catholics. In many ways, we are misjudged, misunderstood, and misrepresented in the media. However, both our Church and the Catholic Church are doing good things in the world and trying to help people better understand through campaigns like the “I’m a Mormon” campaign and the “Catholics Come Home” campaign.
Growing up my best friend was a Catholic. She didn't mention much about it and I didn't really know much about Catholics other than they had confessions and Mass on Sunday. The Catholic church are portrayed as strict, mysterious, secretive, and traditional. In the Sound of Music the nuns seem to take a very strict observance to their standards and a no-nonsense type of personality. When I think of nuns I have two different and somewhat opposite perceptions, one being the super kind, caring and sweet while the other mean, strict, and threatening. The sweet nun reminds me of Maria from the Sound of Music or Sister Encarnacion from Nacho Libre. Then I imagine the nuns at a catholic school who would smack a students hand if he wasn't paying attention. In most movies that portray Catholics, they present a dark, secretive side to the story. There has been multiple instances where a character commits a horrible sin and then keeps it a secret only to confess it in confession.
ReplyDeleteFuchs' classifications, from what I've seen on the media, are correct. From what I've mentioned before Catholics are conveyed as very traditional to their beliefs and strict to their standards. Its true nuns seem seclusive, out of touch, and considering to the "Flying nuns" show, awkward. In regards to the darkness and secrecy I think of The Da Vinci Code. Recently, I watched a show where one of the main characters kept a huge secret from the press and her family and would go to confession to relay her sin.
From what we've talked about in past classes, the Catholic church compared to the other religions we've talked about has been conveyed in similar ways. Like we've mentioned before, religion as a whole has been determined as something that is more negative than positive and Catholicism is no different. Comparing how the media portrayed catholicism to my friend growing up, she displayed nothing close to the media's characteristics. Everyone needs to understand that every religion is stereotyped and its important to find out for yourself the truth.
I think I've been introduced to a split view of Catholicism. On the one hand, its members seem very devout and actively engaged in their religion. The concept of "catholic guilt" is one I often associate with the catholic people I have met and the media portrayals I have seen. On the other hand, as a religious organization, I'm more familiar with the scandal plagued old-world view of religion that seems synonymous with the Catholic church by way of its structure as well as various news stories about corrupt priests and malpractices within the organizational structure of the church.
ReplyDeleteI think part of the way Catholicism is portrayed comes as a negative reaction from the rest of the world, that remembers a dark age history of the Catholic Church as being one of incredible influence and, in some cases, a suppressor of innovations in thought. Because of this, the moral calculator that defines Catholicism in media portrayals seems to come with an asterisk. Even as they act well and promote good in their daily habits, they are presented as a church whose motives have to be questioned constantly. This is likely why Kennedy's personal religious views were such a matter of concern back then, and why Romney's views were problematic in 2008 and 2012. People tend to easily equate a large centralized religion to something that can be swayed by corruption, and so a shade of doubt has to always be cast on whatever media coverage follows.
I attribute a lot of the media stereotypes to the rise of the nones. Catholicism is probably the most well-known religion in the United States, so as society turned away from institutionalized religion, it would make sense that a huge portion of this was turning away from the Catholic church, and much of the stereotyping or negative media coverage focuses on the parts of Catholicism that is formalized and institutionalized instead of spiritual beliefs (for example: confession, mistakes made by church leaders, asking for donations, etc.).
ReplyDeleteI think that the goofy, nerdy stereotype is one that is actually carried over into most all Christian religions. Protestant, Evangelical, Baptists, and even Mormons often get that same stereotype, likely because we are all so overtly faith focused that a lot of Christians end up saying things like "God will take care of everything" or "All I need is my faith." I don't think there is anything wrong with those type of statements and I have probably used some, but a lot of intellectuals who are non-religious see these statements as Christians turning a blind eye to what they need to do, their responsibilities, and also the realities of the world.
One thing I thought was really interesting was the way JFK ended up having to defend himself and emphasize the separation of church and state. People thought that he would have to report to a priest or that he would be influenced by religious leaders in how to make decisions for the country. Interesting that he had to explain that his church wouldn't impose on him how to lead the country. I think Mitt Romney ended up facing the exact same thing: people thought a church would run the country instead of a president.
I think that Fuchs pretty accurately summed up the general portrayals of Catholicism in the media, with the goofy, extremely traditional, and scandals. When I was younger I remember seeing lots of portrayals of the goofy side of Catholicism. For example movies like Sister Act or the over the top eccentric, but still good hearted nuns in TV and movies. But I think more and more I have been noticing more stereotyping of Catholics in the last category, scandalous. When it came out about the mass sexual abuse of children by priests prevalent throughout the church and the church’s lack of punishment and even their apparent efforts to cover it up, the media ran with it. Almost everywhere in entertainment and media I have seen commentary on the incident. From shows like South Park and Family Guy, to stand-up comedy sets, even to games, like Cards Against Humanity. And it’s not just scandals on the child molestation, but scandals of all kinds. From affairs to cover-ups, to rumors of nuns killing their babies to hide sexual activity and burying them in the walls of churches. These kinds of rumors span from centuries ago to present day. There are countless rumors floating around the internet about such things, it’s hard to tell what is fact and what is fiction. I did manage to find two articles that put shed some light on the subject, focusing on the discovery of 800 babies found on the grounds of an unwed mothers’ home in Ireland.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.inquisitr.com/1281922/catholic-church-explains-the-bodies-of-nearly-800-children-found-in-septic-tank-behind-a-former-mother-and-baby-home/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/09/the-truth-behind-irelands-dead-babies-scandal-five-questions/
But the truth of the matter is that the Catholic Church is ancient, it has been around forever, and so of course there are going to be some questionable things in its history, just as with anything else in this world. But people also forget to remember that we live in a completely different time, more countries and people believe in social equality and justice now more than ever. 100s of years ago, things like that weren’t as highly valued and that was just the way the world was. So I think in recent years, as archaeology has gotten better, more things are being discovered by past and ancient organizations and peoples than before. And with the internet these discoveries get pushed out and spread around like wildfire, but not everyone does their research to see how true these articles are. With the Catholic Church, I think it’s just human nature to want to know the deep dark secrets, or the “gossip” with anything, and particularly with things that appear to be so good. This is the same reason why celebrity tabloids are a thing, people crave to know nitty gritty information that is contrary to what something or someone presents themselves as. People take these rumors and stories and put them into the media.
One of the thoughts I had while reading and watching was that of the nones. In the films and media portrayals, Catholic characters appear to be rigid and structured. As we’ve gone further away from religious practices, people are more afraid and distanced from organized religion. I think that’s the issue. Today, and during JFK’s time, people were leaning away from structured ideals. Maybe the majority of society wasn’t feeling that way, but the media helped the trend. This is why I think films such as The Godfather were produced in a way that frames the Catholic church as a negative influence. Also, people are just afraid of what they don’t know.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of JFK and Mitt Romney, people were scared of two things: having an establishment (of religion and government) govern over them and having something different govern over them. I think JKF did a great job in going into detail by explaining the history and principles held by the American people, that we don’t exclude those from office based on faith. It’s not about the religion, it’s about the separation between church and state. With the Catholic church’s history, I’m sure that was a harder one to sell, but he did it.
Thinking of how Catholicism is portrayed brings me to two very different ways in which I’ve seen it represented. The first is In one of my favorite shows, Psych. The episode focuses on girls who need an exorcism and are possessed by a demon. Shaun, one of the main characters refuses to believe anything that Father Nicholas says because of bad experiences he had with the church in the past. The episode also talks about how the “New Catholic Church” doesn’t believe in any demons or exorcisms but that it’s “come a long way since then”. I’ve also seen several documentaries that cover this same topic.
ReplyDeleteThe other example is in the movie Nacho Libre. The representation here is of the restricted priest and nun life. A large portion of the movie focuses on Nacho and Sister Encarnacion thinking of breaking their vowes and get married. Although the movie is meant to be satirical and humorous, it does show some core values of the church in a negative light.
As we’ve discussed before, the LDS church has dealt with a large amount of stereotypical and satirical portrayal. However, because the Catholic religion is one of the largest organized religions in the world, the occurrences of these media stereotypes show up much more often. Although unfair or even brutal at times, I don’t think it is anymore hurtful than the attack on other religions. Because Catholicism is a very old religion, it’s traditions seem outdated and antiquated. This further can make it a target for media scrutiny. As we’ve seen in the growing LDS religion, the larger and more permanent you become, the more you are out there in the public eye, thus resulting in increased opportunity for scrutiny.
What I noticed while reading through this blog post is that I somehow have missed out on a lot of movies that include portrayals of Catholicism it them. The only movie/tv reference that I am familiar with in this post, is "Sister Act." So the videos were actually just helping me play catch up with a lot of portrayals and references to Catholicism that I've never seen before. I noticed a theme. Catholicism in these movies tend to 1) include up-tight members and 2) a common place for rebellion. In "Sister Act" there are a bunch of nuns who are under strict rules, but when a new woman is introduced into the group, they start to kind of rebel against authority. In "The Sound of Music," the main girl doesn't feel she fits in, so she find her own way to live and it is against her traditional nun values. So to me, Catholicism is portrayed as restrictive in these examples.
ReplyDeleteI also know that when I think of the Catholic church, I think mysterious, because of movie TRAILERS that I've seen. Again, haven't seen many movies about it, but I know what a lot of them are about. The catholic church has kind of a scary, mysterious vibe to it in a lot of them.
As far as the Mitt Romney and JFK speeches, I think the reason that JFK's speech was more influential for him was because he was a lot more focused on separating himself from his religion than Romney was. JFK said things that distracted from the fact that he is Catholic; the more political issues. Romney talked a lot about how people should embrace God and understand that our country was founded on the base of God. He said that God will always be a part of our lives and that isn't an issues. JFK said he would step down from the presidency if his religion and politics ever conflicted.
Something that was similar was that they both were clear in their speeches that their religion is important to them and that they stand firm to their values. JFK said he would never disavow his beliefs to become president. I think both men's speeches had their strengths, but JFK appealed to both religious people and non-religious people because of the way he spoke, and that is why it was in his favor.
Here’s a sad thing that I didn’t realize until reading this blog prompt – most of my perceptions of Catholicism come from movies and TV shows that use it for conspiracy and horror. I’m a huge fan of The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, both of which use Catholicism as a space for conspiracy theories. More recently, a major Oscar contender was the film Spotlight, which followed a team of reporters investigating claims that priests were sexually abusing children within the Catholic Church. In the second season of one of my favorite TV shows, American Horror Story, an asylum run by Catholic nuns is a breeding ground for demons and horror happenings. Even in Doubt, a fantastic film that’s less about religion and more about uncertainty and learning to trust oneself, Catholicism is painted in a bad light. I don’t have any qualms about Catholicism personally (other than the fact that the story in Spotlight is very true and very problematic), but that’s not to say I haven’t been influenced by media portrayals of it.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, when I watch the news, that’s where I really sympathize with Catholicism. There’s no horror there, although there may be some scandals. But let’s not forget that Pope Francis seems like one of the coolest, most understanding guys around. It’s unfortunate that the world-dominating church he’s in charge of seems to be so corrupt in so many instances. It’s really a beautiful religion, but the institution of it has problems. The way Catholicism is framed in the media especially perpetuates this idea that it’s a corrupt institution – it takes one quick Google search to find countless articles about priests and bishops charged of sexual misconduct.
I think that the JFK speech was more effective because it was the first time a speech like that had ever been done. He touched on the things he needed to and said them in the right way. Perhaps, people expected something new or exciting in Romney’s speech, but what they got was so similar to JFK’s that it did not break expectations. I also liked the camera angle better on the JFK speech because it made him look much more approachable, like talking to a friend. Romney’s speech was much more formal and seemed a little more aggressive in nature than the JFK speech. Just as Mormons often crave acceptance in mainstream media and culture, Catholics also enjoy positive coverage. Over time, many stereotypes have developed about the Catholic religion, as have Mormon stereotypes; so, for both religions to get coverage that breaks down some of those stereotypes brings satisfaction to the devout Catholic or Mormon.
ReplyDeleteI think that we tend to focus on the stereotypes too much in mainstream media, especially with scary movies that feature priests casting out demons, and others showing the religion as more of a cult following, like the Godfather. In reality, Catholic priests do much more than cast out demons, and Catholic families do more than just practice religion for show. I agree with the categories, sadly, because they are somewhat negative in nature. I remember attending a Catholic church with my friend when I was in elementary school. Although I do not remember what was said, I do remember the Pastor giving a sermon, the sacrament (wafer and wine), and then going to a movie afterwards. It was nice that church was only about 45 minutes. That being said, I think it was valuable to my friend’s family to spend that time together and enjoy a good religious message.
I think that the catholic church is trying to overcome negative stereotypes (I didn’t realize until I thought about it how frustrating those are) and that they are attacked just like the other churches. The media tends to focus so much on the negative rather than the positive aspects of the Catholic church, and the good they have done for many millions of people and families. The effect is that most all religions suffer from being portrayed negatively by the media, so it requires those religions to fight those stereotypes in any way they can – from social media and PR campaigns to working with the media to produce films and shows that are more accurate.
It is interesting to see how the Catholic church has been perceived by americans -- and how that perception has changed over the hears. What once was viewed as un-American and a cultural abnormality is now very american indeed. It may seem strange to some nowadays that JFK wasn't taken seriously by some to be president because of his Catholic faith. While this seems silly in todays standard -- this was a genuine issue at the time.
ReplyDeleteIrish Catholics, Italian Catholics and others were considered by some to be a lower class -- much like the prejudices some label on Mexican americans of our day. But perceptions change and Catholic americans are very much woven deeply into american identity and culture. Take many of hollywoods latest and greatest films for example. We have famous sports story such as Cinderella man, Rocky, Rudy and many others that have, among other things, that common affiliation with Catholicism. All of these stories feature a blue-collar american family that is Catholic.
These are very much "American" stories and are viewed as such by american society today. All in all -- I believe Catholicism is being viewed by the people and media as a nonissue and very american contribution.