Another Lesson in Irony
Keisha Castle Hughes, 16, stars in the newly released movie "The Nativity Story." In real life, Huges is reportedly pregant with her boyfriend's baby and, as a result, did not attend a screening of the movie at the Vatican. Moreover, Pope Benedict XVI refused to attend the screening because Hughes was expecting a child out of wedlock.
In the movie, Hughes plays the role of Mary.
5 comments:
This is pretty funny. I'm not religious, but I like to compare the stance of religious zealots to that of the guy they ostesibly emulate: Jesus. You think Jesus would boycott Kiesha Castle Hughes? I don't think so either. In fact, didn't Jesus pretty much kick it with prostitutes and thieves? How the hell has his message been so corrupted? Would Jesus have burned witches? Held an inquisition? Went on bloody crusades? Bombed abortion clinics? I thought not. And that's why the pope is a fucking joke. No credibility whatsoever.
I'm not Catholic and I hate to find myself in positions where I defend the Pope, of all people, but I think there's an important difference between boycotting a movie in an age when attending the movie could mean something, and burning witches or bombing clinics.
Jesus wouldn't burn or bomb. Or hate, generally. But it's far from clear to me what he would have done about this particular movie, so I think you go too far.
In jest, I'll note that the intersection between fiction and reality could suggest to Jesus that his mother had been statutorily raped, and that his father was a no-name 19-year-old actor. No matter how you slice it, that's insulting.
chris,
is your comment directed specifically at mad.j.d. or to the original posting as well?
I stand by my argument, and my feelings are not Catholic-specific. The Pope's boycott is not the same thing as burning/bombing, but it is a microcosm of the same implication: that religious higher-ups have perversely become servants of their own doctrine as opposed to emulating Christ. I don't pretend to know Jesus's behavioral patterns, but I really don't believe he would shun Keisha Castle Hughes, or anybody for that matter. Jesus was a big picture guy, not a micromanager. I doubt he had any stance on having babies out of wedlock, but even if he did, he'd have still been pretty cool to a pregnant 16-year-old. The Pope should pick his battles. I think he should be pleased that a Christmas movie is actually about Jesus instead of Tim Allen in a fatsuit. If a mainstream movie gets out the message about Jesus, and stars an actress who has made a questionable moral decision in real life, when it's all said and done, isn't that preferable (from a Christian standpoint) to the movie never having been made? I just can't believe the stuff people get hung up on.
But maybe you're right. Maybe I go too far.
I was responding to mad.j.d's comments, not your original post.
I just turned to google to find how active the Pope's boycott was, and I found a story which suggests the Vatican has actually endorsed Nativity. The Vatican's number two attended the movie premiere. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061127/film_nm/nativity_dc)
So, I don't know what's going on. The only story I could find about a boycott was from England's The Guardian, and it said "reports indicate the Pope is boycotting" without referencing those reports.
In my original post here, I wanted to point out that Jesus did not live in a world as media-saturated as ours. I think it would be very interesting to see how newspapers and media outlets would interpret and report on his works in 2006. Again, I'm not Catholic and I'm no Pope-lover, but I am nominally religious, and I think there are peculiar pressures on religious leaders that Jesus, for instance, never faced.
Nothing excuses hate, by the way, and I think there's plenty of religious hate out there that isn't misreported or misunderstood and which is a fucking joke.
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