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Originally posted by lucifershammerThe night before last.
when was the last time you saw a sympathetic character in a Roman collar in a Hollywood film?
As it happens, the film that I've seen most recently is The Name of the Rose, and old film concerned with the Inquisition. There are sympathetic and unsympathetic characters--both in abundance--that are monks, priests, and the like. It's also a much better story than The Da Vinci Code. Of course, Umberto Eco's book is far superior to the movie, whild Dan Brown's novel is one of those rare books that is outdone by the movie version.
Edit: Although I have not seen Ladder 49, I've read that it receives accolades from Catholics for its positive portrayal of Christianity.
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Originally posted by WulebgrThat's a coincidence. We rented The Name of the Rose on Saturday ourselves.
The night before last.
As it happens, the film that I've seen most recently is The Name of the Rose, and old film concerned with the Inquisition. There are sympathetic and unsympathetic characters--both in abundance--that are monks, priests, and the like. It's also a much better story than The Da Vinci Code. Of course, Umberto Eco's book is ...[text shortened]... ie, whild Dan Brown's novel is one of those rare books that is outdone by the movie version.
In any case, TNOTR is a good example in itself. Virtually all of the sympathetic characters in the film are your classic anti-establishment rebels, all of the loyalists are either bigoted or simply insane.
EDIT: I'll meet your Ladder 49 with Da Vinci Code and raise it with V for Vendetta - neither of which is two years old.
Originally posted by lucifershammerWe found it for $5.50 at Walmart, and I had last seen it on TV in 1988.
That's a coincidence. We rented The Name of the Rose on Saturday ourselves.
In any case, TNOTR is a good example in itself. Virtually all of the sympathetic characters in the film are your classic anti-establishment rebels, all of the loyalists are either bigoted or simply insane.
It's an example of indirect social critique: employing historical abuses to comment on contemporary issues, and I'll agree that the Church on balance does not appear in a positive light. However, the message the Church claims at its center is not abused by the writer or filmmaker, although both focus on characters that abuse their office.
Such critique might emerge from one inside the Church who seeks to purify it, but then a focus on the inquisition would invlove a certain layer of irony. I've never heard anyone allege that Eco is a Christian, however.
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Originally posted by WulebgrHe isn't - quite the opposite. I first encountered the "Jesus married Mary Magdalene" theme in Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.
We found it for $5.50 at Walmart, and I had last seen it on TV in 1988.
It's an example of indirect social critique: employing historical abuses to comment on contemporary issues, and I'll agree that the Church on balance does not appear in a positive light. However, the message the Church claims at its center is not abused by the writer or filmmaker, alt ...[text shortened]... ve a certain layer of irony. I've never heard anyone allege that Eco is a Christian, however.
Nevertheless, even portrayals of the Inquisition can be exaggerated. Bernard Gui, for instance, gets massively villainized in the book - quite unfair considering this was a man who only had 42 convictions out of over 900 trials.
Originally posted by lucifershammerAgreed.
He isn't - quite the opposite. I first encountered the "Jesus married Mary Magdalene" theme in Eco's Foucault's Pendulum.
Nevertheless, even portrayals of the Inquisition can be exaggerated. Bernard Gui, for instance, gets massively villainized in the book - quite unfair considering this was a man who only had 42 convictions out of over 900 trials.