As a Parish Priest, I used mainstream films
as part of my ministry for over twenty years
The first film I showed to my last
congregation was ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, Al
Gore’s prophetic lecture on the threat of climate change. A few years later I showed
Terrence Malik’s film ‘The Tree of Life’ because
it seemed to me to be the most challenging contemporary spiritual work of
art. I also showed film
seasons during Advent and Lent, to illustrate the themes of Being Human and Speaking Truth to Power.
Why some films achieve ‘cult status’. Of course many of them do
so because they embody very popular but deplorable attitudes, promoting
over-the-top or über-masculinity and casting
women as victims, normalizing soft pornography or promoting the superiority of
might over right.
But the film industry also knows that many of us, their public, have
nobler convictions and aspirations. We are capable of understanding more
subtle explorations of what it means to be human; and isn’t that the central
question of our ‘incarnational’ theology?
I rarely show explicitly ‘religious’
movies. Most of these
are made to instruct rather than to entertain. Church people will watch them, often because they
reinforce what they already believe. I would happily show Jesus of Montreal, a film that asks how
the church of today would react to a truly Christ-like figure, or even One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – a truly challenging
parallel narrative to the passion of Christ - rather than Mel Gibson’s film The Passion. In fact I would never
show that film anywhere.
I also used films when training Clergy,
helping them see the connections between film and faith, but all this started when I was Diocesan
Youth Officer, helping volunteer
leaders see how the themes and values of some films could feed into their youth
programmes, especially when they were away for a week or weekend and the
youngsters wanted to watch a video in the evening.
The ‘teaching’ intention did not need to be stated. As long as a film is entertaining, its message is likely to percolate
through into the hearts and minds of those who watch. Those who have ears to hear. I think
that it is more important for young people coming under the influence of the
church to internalize values consistent with our faith than it is to teach them
how many disciples there were, to recite the books of the Bible, or the even
the Ten Commandments.
For example, very
few twelve-year-olds I have worked with had difficulty resisting the temptation
to ‘covet their neighbour’s wife’. However,
inculcating respectful attitudes to girls and womankind as early as possible is
vitally important, especially in today’s culture, inundated with misogyny and
pornography. Boys need to
know what it is like to be ‘honourable’ men. Girls also need to learn respect for themselves as well as
to expect it from others. There are plenty of films that treat
females with contempt – even while appearing to value them - so let’s make sure
young people are exposed to more positive attitudes and roles. The recent Hunger Games’ series does so; but Jennifer Lawrence’s previous film, Winter’s
Bone, provides a much more realistic and relevant heroine.
When training youth leaders I would often use just a single
‘clip’ to make a point.
Early in the Peter Weir film ‘Witness’ a
young boy is in a police station.
He has seen a brutal killing and is being shown mug-shots of possible
suspects. When the policeman in
charge of the investigation, John Book, has to take a phone call the boy
wanders off. While he is
looking in a Trophy cabinet the
boy sees a photograph of the killer.
He is a senior police officer. John Book notices a subtle change in the boy’s
physical attitude, and goes over to him.
The boy wordlessly points at the photo. John Book quietly puts his hand over
the boy’s, curling the accusing finger back. He then gets the boy out of the Police
Station as fast as he can without arousing suspicion. This three minute scene is pivotal to the plot,
and a wonderful example of the detailed attention youth leaders need to pay to
the young people they work with,
their awareness of body
language, and their willingness to believe what they are told,
The whole film is also worth watching as it shows us the power of
‘witness’. This young, vulnerable,
naïve boy (he is a member of the Amish Community) bears witness to a great
wrong committed by powerful, 'respectable' and utterly ruthless men. But in the end none of their
strength, position or violence can defeat the power of this witness. There are many other less
obvious but important threads running through this wonderful film, in fact a
whole Lent Course worth.
Among the many films that valorize power and revenge rather than proper
vulnerability and justice, such examples as Witness are to be treasured.
I am constantly encouraged by the way many
films that promote and embody the virtues that St Paul extolled find an appreciative
audience. Many of them
are listed, described and sometimes analyzed in this blog. as films that engage us and in ways
that are subtle or direct inform us, bearing goodly messages.
