Is This How We Play the Game? More School Sports

Rudy (1993)
If you were to listen to some of Twitter's great minds of the atheist variety, you'd think the Church has brought nothing of value to the world; only war, prejudice, and intolerance. I assume people who tweet such things have no respect for higher education because most of the major universities in the United States were founded as religious institutions. I’m writing, of course, about schools such as Princeton (Presbyterians), Yale (Puritans), and Harvard (yet other Puritans). (Harvard did just hire an atheist chaplain -- a choice the founders of the institution might find, um, questionable.)

And then there is Notre Dame, still very much a Roman Catholic institution and also one of the most respected universities in the country. It’s a school respected for its academics but loved for its football team. Going back to the days of Knute Rockne (widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in football history which led to retellings of his story on the silver screen with Pat O’Brien and Ronald Reagan). The football team still has a tremendous following, and NBC has a contract to show all their games on their streaming service.

This love of Notre Dame football is the basis of Rudy -- and the foundation of the true story behind the film. It's the story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who wanted to play Notre Dame football more than anything else in the world. This seemed rather unlikely as he was a small guy and a terrible student.

In the film we see Rudy (Sean Astin) in his high school years at a Catholic school in Joliet, Illinois, giving his all on the football field but not so much in the classroom. The priest who taught civics told Rudy the opposite lesson to that taught in almost all sports films. He told Rudy that dreamers don’t accomplish things in this life, but instead, “The secret to happiness is to be thankful for the things the good Lord has bestowed upon us. Not everyone was meant to go to college. You don’t have the grades to go to community college, much less Notre Dame.”

This priest takes a group of students to visit Notre Dame, but refuses to let Rudy on the bus. Since Rudy has no chance of attending the school, he believes Rudy is just coming to sightsee and gawk.

This might not be how priests are supposed to act in sports films, but I’m not going to be too hard on the guy. Our society, particularly the media, often looks down on those who pursue blue-collar jobs though these are honorable and vital jobs. The steel workers in Rudy’s family do important work. The advice the priest gives Rudy is not bad advice. But Rudy has something that keeps him following his dream even after this decent little speech from his high school priest.

Rudy doesn’t go to college out of high school. Instead, he works in a steel mill, but when his friend is killed in an accident at the steel mill, Rudy decides he has to give his dream a real shot. At the funeral, the priest implores God to spare Rudy's friend Peter from everlasting punishment. Rudy decides to think of this world and not just the world beyond, so he takes a bus to North Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame is one of the only football programs in the country that encourages walk-ons for the team.

Rudy arrives at the Notre Dame security post early in the morning, well before anything is open. Rudy says to the security guard, “There must be someone I can talk to.” The guard says, “You can always talk to a priest.” (That kind of line almost guarantees a bonus Steeple in our Movie Churches ratings.)

Rudy finds Father Cavenaugh (Robert Prosky), a priest on the campus. When Rudy tells the priest about being there to follow his dream, the priest thinks Rudy wants to be a priest. He is surprised to learn Rudy wants to be a football player. Rudy tells the priest his story, including his poor academic record.

The priest can’t get Rudy into the university, but he tells Rudy, “I can get you one semester, at a junior college, Holy Cross. If you get the grades there, you can go one more semester. Then you might get a chance to go to Notre Dame.” It’s a small chance, but good for the priest for offering it. Rudy takes full advantage of it.

At Holy Cross, Rudy takes a religious studies class where he talks about the inspiration of Scripture with a very low view of the doctrine of inerrancy. A classmate, D-Bob (Jon Favreau), offers to help Rudy with his studies. He tells Rudy that with the priest teaching that class, “all you need to remember is ‘sitz im leben’ and you’ll be good.”

Rudy does well at Holy Cross but still worries about getting into Notre Dame. He goes to one of the university’s chapels to pray, and Father Cavenaugh finds him there and asks if Rudy is “taking [his] appeal to a higher court.” 

Rudy asks the priest if he can help him get in. The priest responds, “Son, in thirty-five years of religious study, I’ve come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts; there is a God, and I’m not Him.”

Rudy gets in at Notre Dame -- and gets on the football team. (Otherwise there would obviously not be a movie). We see a couple more priests in the film, one on the sidelines and another praying with the team before a game.

The priests all come off pretty well, as does the school -- which isn't surprising when one considers that this was the first film that Notre Dame permitted to be filmed on campus since Knute Rockne, All American in 1940. Therefore, the priests in this film, for their good work of pursuing higher education and meaningful life, earn our highest rating of Four Steeples.

Back to back to school month: Heathers

Heathers (1989)

We’ve had some bad Christian Slater films here, with another scheduled for next month (coming attractions -- Apocalypse Month). Heathers, though, is a classic in the high school genre. Drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs argues it's the best high school comedy, knocking out all the John Hughes contenders. Director Michael Lehmann won the Independent Spirit Award for this film as Best First Feature. Empire Magazine ranked the film #412 in the 500 Greatest Films of All Time.

Heathers is a dark satire about adolescent suicide and murder. Veronica (Winona Ryder) is a part of her Ohio high school’s top clique, the Heathers -- though she's the only girl in the group not named Heather. The Heathers and the young men who follow them dominate the school, forcing other students to bow to their narcissistic whims. Things change when a new kid, J.D. (Slater), comes into the school. He's a rebel who charms Veronica into considering the attractions of homicide. 

Admittedly, there isn't a lot of church and clergy in this film, but what is there is choice.

Glenn Shadix (of Beetlejuice fame) plays Father Ripper, the priest who conducts Heather Chandler's funeral after J.D. and Veronica accidentally (?) poisoned her. The couple forged a suicide note for Heather, causing great concern in the school and community that it may be a harbinger of a plague of teen suicides. Father Ripper, dressed in a white robe, collar, and paisley stole, addresses these concerns in his homily at Heather’s funeral:

“I blame not Heather, but rather a society that tells the youth that answers can be found in MTV video games. We must pray that other teenagers of Sherwood, Ohio, would know the name of that righteous dude that can solve their problems. It’s Jesus Christ, and He’s in the Book.”

The packed house in this formal church answers the priest's words with a loud “Amen.”(It was filmed in Pasadena's Church of the Angels, an Anglican church with stone walls and elegant stained glass windows.) 

It’s an open casket service and a rather strange quirk in proceedings is to encourage individuals to come forward and pray beside the body. The audience is allowed to hear the silent prayers, including Veronica’s apology for killing her friend. Not all of the attendees treat the setting with respect (one of the remaining Heathers uses holy water to straighten her hair).

More die in the film. J.D. tricks Veronica into helping him kill two of the school's football stars, Kurt and Ram. Again, a fake suicide note is produced, this time making it appear the young men were gay lovers who killed themselves to hide their passion from the world. We don’t get to hear Father Ripper at this funeral, but we do hear Ram’s father stand by his son’s open casket (both boys lie in state, wearing their football helmets). The priest watches as the father looks at his dead son and loudly proclaims, “I don’t care that you were a pansy. You made me proud. I love my dead son.” (J.D. ponders a little too loudly at the service whether he would still love his gay son if he “had a pulse.”)

We do see one more funeral at the church, though it is actually part of a dream of Veronica’s. Now Father Ripper is dressed in a flowery, hippy robe with a plethora of beads. Everyone in the pews is wearing white robes and 3-D glasses.

Though the sermon is just a figment of Veronica’s imagination, the words she puts into Father Ripper’s mouth are interesting and strange, “‘Eskimo.’ Heather underlined a lot of things in this copy of Moby Dick, but I believe ‘Eskimo’ is the key to understanding Heather’s pain. On the surface, Heather was the vivacious young lady we all knew her to be. But her soul was in Antarctica, freezing with the knowledge of how her fellow teenagers can be cruel, the way that parents can be unresponsive. And as she writes so eloquently in her suicide note, ‘the way life can suck.’ We’ll all miss Sherwood’s little Eskimo. Let’s just hope she’s rubbing noses with Jesus.”

In this same dream, the first dead Heather appears to Veronica and tells her she is SO bored of Heaven, “If we sing Kumbaya one more time…”

From Veronica’s dreams and attitudes, it seems she doesn’t believe that Father Ripper understands or cares about young people more than any other adults. Just as teachers are only concerned about their jobs and parents are concerned about themselves, the priest is just concerned about selling Jesus. But Father Ripper doesn’t kill others or himself -- which isn’t nothing in this film, so he avoids our lowest rating. We give Father Ripper and his church a Movie Churches rating of Two Steeples. 

(Heathers is rated 'R' and currently available on Amazon Prime. If you've already seen the film, the best way to watch it again is on Joe Bob Brigg's Last Drive-In Theater supplemented by excellent commentary.)

Back to Back to School Month: Catching Faith

Catching Faith (2015)

I know I need to talk about churches and clergy in these films, but I have to deal with another issue here at the start, because it bothered me the whole time I was watching Catching Faith.

A Christian high school football team is a major part of the plot of this film. The son of the family, Beau Taylor (Garrett Westton), is a senior and a star player -- presumably on the varsity team.  The football games are played on school days (Fridays?) in the afternoon. My high school had some varsity day games, but they were on Saturdays.

Surely this school has a junior varsity team. If the Varsity plays after the end of the school day and after a JV game (and perhaps after a freshman game) in Wisconsin in the fall, surely the sun would not be burning bright as it is during all the games in this film -- including the end-of-season championship game.

Okay, there is one other thing that bothered me in this film -- let me vent, and then we'll get to the part where we talk about the church and clergy. Early in the film, the mother of the Taylor family, Alexa (Lorena Segura York) is asked, “What do you do?”

Her answer was, “We have twins. My son is the star of the football team. My daughter is a valedictorian.” I have all kinds of problems with this, including, of course, that this woman defines herself solely by her offspring, but that's not even my biggest issue with this. Something else that bothers me more is that she calls her daughter, Ravyn (Bethany Peterson), a valedictorian. Since the football season is in process, this is obviously the fall (even though the sun sets inexplicably late), so that year's valedictorian is months away from being decided. We also see Ravyn's dad (Dariush Moslemi) hand her a thin, business-sized envelope at a football game. The skinny envelope contains early acceptance at some great college (anyone who watched Gilmore Girls knows skinny college envelopes don’t have good news. You want a fat envelope. Also, this movie is from 2015 -- didn't that kind of thing come in an email or online portal?) Ravyn's parents give her a quick pat on the back and then go back to watching the game. 

Also, the letter says she has to keep her grades up to keep her acceptance,t wasn’t  so it isn't really an acceptance letter.

Alright, enough of preliminaries. Is there any church or clergy in this film (since that's what we're here to talk about)? We do see Alexa leaving a church service. The building is a big brick edifice; I’d guess it was a mainline church. We never go inside that church or meet clergy from there, but there are two other Christian institutions depicted in the film: a Bible study and a Christian school.

Alexa has just started attending a small group with women who all seem to be about her age, all attractive, well dressed, and able to meet during the day. It could well be that this is a Bible study affiliated with a church, but they never talk about a church. It certainly isn’t Bible Study Fellowship, but if it is some other parachurch organization, we never hear what it is.

The group is starting a new study which doesn’t focus on any particular book of the Bible or concept in Scripture, but rather on self-discovery. (At the end of one session the group leader does say, “Read I Kings chapters 17 and 18,” but we never hear the group discuss that, or any other Scripture.)

Alexa seems to like the people in the group, but initially, she's unwilling to discuss anything personal. She feels pressured to share more deeply, and snaps at one point, “You don’t like or accept my answers.” But eventually she seems to find the women in the group to be a source of encouragement and strength.

The big conflict in the film is when Beau goes to a drinking party after a game. The police bust the party, but let Beau off. But the school has a Code of Conduct that says drinking, among other offenses, makes him a student ineligible for extracurricular activities. Beau’s parents insist on Beau reporting himself.

The school coach, Coach Z (Bill Engvall), doesn’t try to work around the school rules to have Beau play. He lets Beau sit on the bench, but he doesn’t let his star play. And he encourages Beau by telling him that just as a receiver must trust the quarterback, on the field of life each of us must trust God as our quarterback. As a teacher at a Christian school, he does serve a pastoral role and does it well.

I appreciated how Beau and Ravyn were depicted dealing with real temptation and moral choices and their relationship with each other. I was disappointed that the film culminated with the Big Game. (Will there be a way for Beau to play in the playoff game? Will the school win the game? I’ll leave you in suspense.)

The school and Bible study do encourage the Taylors to see God and live in integrity, so I’m giving them Three Steeples out of Four. (If that Bible study actually studied the Bible, they might have rated higher.)

Back to Back to School Month: The Devil's Playground

The Devil’s Playground (1976)
There are quite a lot of films called The Devil’s Playground, but few of them would work for the purposes of this blog about churches and clergy. The 1932 documentary on fishing around the world certainly wouldn’t help. Neither would the 1937 romance with Richard Dix as a submarine officer and Delores del Rio as a dance hall girl. I love Hopalong Cassidy as much as the next guy, but his 1946 adventure pits him against a corrupt sheriff, not a corrupt clergyman. The 2002 film about Amish youth on Rumspringa comes closer, but it’s a documentary and we generally do feature films here. I’m also not going to bother with the 2010 feature about a mercenary seeking a cure in a zombie apocalypse or the 2018 short about military veterans who become cartel hitmen.

No, the best The Devil’s Playground for our purposes was made in 1976 by writer/director Fred Schepisi. Schepisi was a part of the Australian film renaissance of the 1970s and 1980s that included directors such as Peter Weir (Picnic at Hanging Rock), Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career), George Miller (Mad Max), and Bruce Beresford (Breaker Morant). Schepisi first received international attention with his film about Aborigines, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.

Schepisi based the script of The Devil’s Playground on his own experiences as a student in an all-boys Catholic school in the 1950’s. The film opens in the beginning of a school year in 1953. Tom Allen (Simon Burke) is a thirteen-year-old student at a De La Salle Brothers seminary for young men in Melbourne.

In much of the film, the priests deal with the “coming of age” of the boys (chiefly issues of sexuality). The sexual abuse of young people by priests has been an important story for some time now, but this film made in the 1970’s doesn’t portray any physical abuse of the children (but emotional and psychological abuse perhaps).

Let's look at the individual priests of the Brotherhood at the school. They certainly vary in temperament and suitability for caring for young students.

Brother Francine (Arthur Dignam) most probably should never be allowed within hearing distance of adolescents. We first meet him as he is watching boys shower. Most of the boys are wearing bathing suits, but one is naked. He says, “That’s disgusting. The body is the enemy of the soul. The rest of you boys, avert your eyes. The eyes are the window to the soul. Guard against your senses at all times. Preparing to be a brother requires… self-denial, self-discipline to be one of God’s chosen few.” (As a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, Brother Francine should know that calling the body evil in this way is Gnostic heresy. God made our bodies and our bodies are not “enemies.”)

Brother Francine is the character who drops the title line, saying, “Undisciplined minds are the devil’s playground,” but as the film goes on, we learn that his mind is not disciplined. We see him take the boys to a public swimming pool and Francine peeps at women and girls in the changing room (I do hope most public restrooms in Australia were built better. In the film it is scary-easy to look into the changing rooms from the outside). As Francine rests in his bed, we see some of his lurid fantasies of swimming with naked women.

Eventually, we see Francine break down utterly in front of his fellow priests. He's sent off to a psychiatric facility after this outburst, “I hate life. It’s evil, sick, despicable. The body dominates the mind. It always wins. What else are you thinking, Frank? Your mind is a cesspool of desire. The only answer is to give in, or lose your mind. I have a damn good body, but no one has looked at it for years, let alone touched it. It’s done nothing. But the mind, it has. It’s sinned. Oh, how it’s sinned. Twisted, cowardly, perverted sins. I hate life. I hate it.” This is a man who should not have been allowed around young men.

The school brings Father Marshall (played by novelist Thomas Keneally) to speak at a special retreat for the boys that focuses on sexual purity and preparing for a future in ministry. He has a much more positive view of life than Francine, “Don’t give into falderal and fanatics, be yourself. Keep your smile seen around the world.” He concludes the conference with these words, “I’m sure you all have a future in the religious life. This retreat should have helped you grow in confidence for your future vocation. I have no more to say. I’ve enjoyed being with you. I’d give my right arm to stay with you longer. By the way boys, if you ever become a missionary, don’t use that phrase with a cannibal.” He then blesses the desserts the boys are about to enjoy after a two day fast.

We see Brothers Jim (Peter Cox) and Frank in civilian clothes when they go to a soccer game in the city. After the game, the men stop at a bar where they drink freely. Frank begins to flirt with a woman in the bar, and when he is asked what he does for a living he responds, “I’m a school teacher.” Jim is shocked by Frank and stumbles drunkenly out of the bar and Frank must follow him. (At the end of the film -- spoiler! -- when young Tom flees from the school, Jim and Frank give him a ride to the boy’s home in the city.)

Brothers Frank and Jim seem like nice guys who encourage the students. Brother Arnold (Jonathan Hardy) who leads the boys in singalongs and soccer games. Brother Victor (Nick Tate) is assigned for sharing the facts of life with the students and seems to do so in a comfortable and practical way.

Also on campus is a retired member of the faculty, Brother Sebastian (Charles McCallum), who seems to be getting senile. He has a different view of things than most priests saying, "What’s so wrong with masturbation? We spend so much time hating our bodies.” He is opposed to Brother Francine in every way, particularly in temperament. Toward the end of the film, Sebastian talks with Tom and encourages him to live his own life, which is a turning point in Tom deciding to leave the school.

So the priests are a mixed bag. A worrisome thing is that the school doesn’t quash a secret society of students whose sadomasochistic practices lead to the death of a student.

So what's the steeple rating for the seminary and clergy in The Devil’s Playground? Two Steeples, which isn't our lowest rating, but it isn’t great.

Back to Back to School Month: The Mighty Macs

The Mighty Macs (2009)

This film makes an ideal transition from Nun Month to Back to School Month (though it would also work as a changeover to Sports Month). The Mighty Macs tells the true story of Cathy Rush (Carla Gugino), a first-time college basketball coach who led the women’s team of a small, Catholic college to a national championship (actually three national championships.)

Like any film based on true events, some liberties were taken with the facts, but some of the more incredible details of the movie were true. Rush was only 22 years old when she began coaching, barely older than her students (though Gugino was 38 when she played the role). She was married to Ed Rush (David Boreanaz), an NBA referee (the film leaves out that she was already the mother of two young children who she would sometimes bring to practices). 

The school was sadly lacking in supplies. Rush began coaching at the school with only one basketball and no gym (it had recently burned down; all games the first season were away games). The school couldn’t afford new uniforms, so they were forced to go with a “retro” look.

But we, of course, are not here to write about basketball but about the clergy in the film, which in this case is nuns. And to start with, this is a pretty good group of nuns.

Immaculata University in rural Pennsylvania was founded in 1920 by nuns of the order of the Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and run by nuns. When the film opens, in November of 1971, the school is financial straits. Rush goes in for a job interview with the school’s head who is also the convent's Mother Superior (Ellen Burstyn).

In the film, one of the first questions the Reverend Mother asks Rush is “Which Catherine are you named after?” 

Rush dodges the question but does nothing to dissuade the Reverend Mother from thinking she was from a Catholic background (which was not the case). The Mother Superior makes it clear her main objective for the basketball program is to suppress the girls’ hormones. She is rather alarmed by the thought that Rush’s coaching policy is to turn the girls into real athletes but offers Rush $450 a year to coach the team. Rush accepts (this was indeed her salary). 

The coach tells her, “Mrs. Rush, I hope you are a better coach than negotiator. I would have paid you $500.”

Rush laughs, "I would have done it for nothing."

The sisters, students, and staff attend mass together, though we do see Coach Rush arriving late (she does cross herself upon entry). She passes a note to a student during the service, urging her to join the basketball team. The coach seems to take every opportunity to recruit.

Rush also works to raise funds for her team (really, to obtain any funds at all for her team) from the school's administration, but the Reverend Mother responds, “We’re also requesting once again for the heating system in the freshman dorm be replaced.” As Rush continues to pester her for money, she eventually shows the coach the meager resources used to care for ailing and elderly retired nuns on the grounds and her own quite humble living quarters. She tells Rush, “This is my room, you can help yourself to anything I have.” 

Rush begins to seek outside sources, appealing to the townspeople and alumni.

Rush gets assistance from a Sister Sunday (Marley Shelton), a young nun who serves as her assistant coach. The young nun had been praying for God’s guidance about continuing in her calling and taking her final vows. We see her in the church praying, “I implore You to send me a sign. I am listening for Your voice.” Just then, she hears a basketball whistle downstairs. She goes downstairs to see the team working out in the cramped recreation center and is recruited. She enjoys working with the practices and Rush appreciates having another driver to get the team to games.

Sister Sunday and Rush invite local boys to scrimmage against the girls. (We actually see Sister Sunday slap one of the boy’s butts during one of these practices!) When the Reverend Mother learns of this, she reprimands them -- no males were allowed on campus at that time. Rush also gets into hot water when they run some unorthodox drills. When it's found out, Sister Sunday takes the responsibility and the hit, but the Reverend Mother threatens this will be Rush’s last season.

Rush and Sunday and their team do quite well. They are eventually invited to the National Tournament, but they have no money for transportation to the tournament. But the girls on the team sell soaps and “soothing creams” that were donated to the school, going door to door in the community. They also sell buttons reading “We Will Be #1.”

The Mother Superior is eventually won over to their cause. She gives them the money she saved from her poker winnings. (Poker night had, in more prosperous times, been one of the more unusual recreations for the sisters at the school.) There's enough to buy bus passes for the team, but not the coaches.

They discover another way to cut costs. At that time, airlines allowed clergy to fly free. Sister Sunday wears her habit -- and Coach Rush dons one too. As they wait for their flight, Rush confesses another “sin” to Sister Sunday. She isn’t really a Catholic, she’s a Baptist. Much is forgiven by those who win games. Even that.

The other nuns at the school also support the team, dipping into their personal funds to support the team by attending the championship games. A banner can be spotted in the stand at one of the Macs' games, reading “Mark 9:23.” (“Everything is possible for one who believes.”)

Rush and the Macs did win that championship -- and two after that. But that isn’t our concern here. What is important to us here at Movie Churches is that the Sisters of Immaculata University guide their students with love and care and present an example of simple, godly living, earning our highest Movie Church rating of Four Steeples.

(This film is rated 'G' which is pretty rare these days.)

Welcome Back to School at Movie Churches

School Ties (1992)

It's strange to reach a time in life when the school year is no longer a part of my personal calendar. Even before I went to school myself, having my older brothers and sisters leave for school at the end of summer was a big deal. Every year that I went to school, the night before school started was so full of excitement and anxiety that I couldn’t sleep. During the couple of decades when I had kids of my own going off to school, my life was still shaped by the rhythm of the academic year.

Through the centuries, the Church took the lead in providing education. A major focus of the Reformation was education; Martin Luther was concerned that people should be able to read the Bible for themselves. The Catholic Church has provided education on every level for centuries.

Fortunately, most of the Christian schools depicted in film also have clergy, so these schools are fair game for Movie Churches. Sadly, some of these “Christian” schools we'll be watching this month aren’t very Christian. (We have looked at Movie Church Schools before.)

St. Matthews, the prep school that provides the location for School Ties, is an example. The film opens with students in chapel singing “Crown Him with Many Crowns.” The students are then addressed by a school official assuring them of the nobility of their school tradition. They conclude with the Lord’s prayer.

The theme of the film is anti-semitism in the 1950s, but the film was made in 1992. Not exactly cutting edge. In the movie, the school's very wealthy students treat the new star quarterback, David Greene (Brendan Fraser), as a hero until they learn he is Jewish. When Charlie Dillon (Matt Damon) accuses him of cheating, people believe the charges because, well, David’s Jewish.

The other students are angry David didn’t tell them he was Jewish. When David asks his roommate why he didn’t mention his religion, his friend says, “I’m Methodist. But Jews, everything about them is different.”

The school administrators are uneasy about having a Jewish student, but they are trying to move into the future. A priest meeting with administrators says about David, “You represent the best of what we think of as St. Matthews student.” It doesn’t seem, though, that the priest or faculty have been full-throated in speaking out against prejudice.

Christians who are prejudiced against Jews have always baffled me. The Church was all Jews when it began. All the Apostles and Paul were Jewish. And Jesus, well, as I said, it baffles me.

So St. Matthews receives a meager Two Steeples for our Movie Church rating.

Christmas Movies Month: In Theaters Now: Lady Bird

Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird, a new coming of age story written and directed by Greta Gerwig, opens with a quote from Joan Didion, “Anybody who talks about California hedonism has never spent a Christmas in Sacramento.” Didion was born and raised in Sacramento, as was Gerwig, as is Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson, the title character of this critically acclaimed film. (The film is not only making most of the “Ten Best Films of 2017” lists, it has a 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes -- with a record high number of reviews.)

This month we’re pushing the definition of a Christmas film here at Movie Churches, but this film not only opens with that quote mentioning Christmas, and we also get to see Lady Bird celebrate Christmas with her family. “Dance of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker is even included in the soundtrack.

And for this blog, it should be noted that there are churches, and there are clergy: priests and nuns. Lady Bird’s family doesn’t appear to be at all religious (Gerwig, who based this story on her own life, was raised Unitarian Universalist). Lady Bird (Saoirse Ronan) is sent by her parents to a Catholic school, not for religious reasons, but for safety’s sake (Lady Bird’s mother repeatedly mentions her son, Lady Bird’s brother, seeing a knifing outside a Sacramento public school.)

They’re not not required to fully participate. Sometimes Lady Bird appears to join in with the  singing and unison prayers, and sometimes she does not. When communion is distributed Lady Bird crosses her arms, which is often a request for a blessing while refusing communion. Lady Bird is also required to attend an anti abortion assembly and is suspended when we she argues against the guest speaker (to be fair, it is probably because Lady Bird uses obscenities in her argument.)

Films featuring Catholic Schools often portray the priests and nuns as being out of touch and clueless, even in films meaning to present them as positive (like last week’s featured film, The Bells of St. Mary’s). In films like Sing Street, the priests are downright mean -- if not outright evil. The teachers in Lady Bird really seem like kind people and good teachers.

Sister Sarah Joan (Lois Smith) genuinely cares about her students and presses them academically. She encourages them to read Augustine, Aquinas, and Kierkegaard (warning students that his description of “falling in love with God” will make them “swoon.”) When she chaperones the school dance, she encourages couples not to dance too close together, saying “Leave six inches for the Holy Spirit.” She also monitors skirt length, but not harshly. And when Lady Bird plays a mean-spirited practical joke on Sister Sarah Joan, the nun takes in all in good fun.

Lady Bird and her friend Julie sign up for the school drama program which is taught by Father Leviatch (Stephen Henderson). He obviously loves the theater and enthusiastically leads drama exercises along with his rehearsals. He takes on a very challenging musical, Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. We see students gossiping about the priest, wondering how he came into the priesthood. They say he was married before, and his son died because of suicide or a drug overdose. He seems to suffer great emotional stress which leads to his leaving his position at the school.

Father Walther (Bob Stephenson) takes over as drama teacher, but his experience is in coaching football. His passionate direction of a rehearsal like football practice is probably the funniest scene in the film..

We see that Lady Bird is not exactly devout. She and Julie steal the communion wafers for snacking (but before they are consecrated). She mocks the priests and nuns, but when she goes off to college, we see that her days at Catholic school had an impact. Belief in God means something to her, as does church. The school may not have made her a Catholic, but she has been changed.

If this blog was for evaluating films, I’d happily join all the other critics in their praise of Lady Bird. Instead, I’ll praise the nuns and priests in the film, giving them the highest Movie Church rating of Four Steeples.

(Rated R for language and sexual content)

School Movie Month: Au Revoir, les Enfants

Au Revoir les Enfants (1987)

The students of the school mock the teachers as “Monkeys” and marvel at the faculty’s stupidity and cluelessness -- pretty much like high school students everywhere -- but these particular students live during a strange and dangerous time. The school in Au Revoir les Enfants (1987), is in France during World War II when the French government collaborated with Nazi Germany. The boys are in a boarding school run by Carmelite Brothers. As often is the case, there is much more to the teachers than the students know.

Au Revoir les Enfants is an autobiographical film written and directed by Louis Malle, one of the great filmmakers of the 20th century. Though the names were changed, Malle said this was a true story of what happened when he was a boarding student at the Petit College as a child in France.

Julien Quentin (Gaspard Manesse) takes the place of Malle, as a young boy from a well to do French family (which is true of most of the students in the school). Julien would rather stay with his family, but his mother says, “You know I can’t keep you in Paris with me.” He’s still young enough to respect the Brothers and their teachings, but his older brother is cynical about the priests (he, like many of the older students, calls the Monks “Monkeys”).

Julien becomes friends with Jean Bonnet, a new student brought into the school by the priests. Jean is Jewish, but the priests keep this quiet, of course. Jean claims to be Protestant which explains why he doesn’t participate in communion or confirmation. But Jean must still go to religion classes and chapel.

The boys still have some fun at the school -- we see boys acting out battles from the Crusades on stilts, and even one of the priests joins the fun. The school stages an elaborate capture the flag type game in the woods, but Julien and Jean get lost and are out after curfew. They are picked up by German soldiers, which obviously frightens Jean, but they are safely returned. The students even get to watch movies; no one laughs harder than the priests when they watch Charlie Chaplin’s The Immigrant.

Still, some things are forbidden in the school. Jean and Julien share and love books, particularly old novels like The Three Musketeers and Robinson Crusoe.  But Francois, Julien’s brother, gives Jean a forbidden novel, Arabian Nights, which is rich in naughty bits that the boys read quietly by flashlight at night. Francois won’t take communion, claiming to have moved on from the superstitions of religion. The school teaches Thomas Aquinas’ evidences for the existence of God, which Francois disdains, saying, “They really don’t hold water.” He expresses his desire to join the Resistance, but he doesn’t.

Of course, while Francois talks about resisting the Nazis, the priests are actually doing so by taking Jewish students into the boarding school. Francois mocks materialism, while the priests actually speak out against it to the rich and powerful.

When the parents are at the school along with the students, Father Jean preaches at a special chapel: “My message today is especially for the youngest among you, who will be confirmed in a few weeks. My children, we live in a time of discord and hatred. Christians kill one another. Those who should guide us betray us. More than ever, we must beware of selfishness and indifference. You’re all from wealthy families, some very wealthy. Because you’ve been given much, much will be asked of you. Remember the Bible’s stern lesson -- It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Saint James says, ‘Now, you rich, weep and wail for the woes awaiting you. Your wealth has rotted and your garments are eaten by worms.’ Worldly wealth corrupts souls and withers hearts. It makes men contemptuous, unjust, pitiless in their egotism. I understand the anger of those who have nothing when the rich feast so arrogantly.”

So, the Father Jean isn’t exactly timid in speaking to donors, and he does get some walk-outs.

He concludes by saying, “I don’t mean to shock you, but only to remind you that charity is a Christian’s first duty.”

The food is scarce in war times, so the priests insist that students share the food they receive from home with other students. Julien and Francois are among the students disciplined for not sharing, but a poor kid who works in the kitchen is disciplined much more severely for stealing food. He is fired. In vengeance, he tells the Nazis about the Jewish students.

Soldiers come and arrest not only the Jewish students, but some of the priests, including Father Jean. Francois realizes that the priests have been taking action against the regime all along, while he just talked about taking action.

As Father Jean is led off by the soldiers, he calls out the title, “Au revoir les enfants” (Goodbye, children). The real Father Jean was imprisoned and died in Mauthausen. No greater love can be shown, which is why the brothers of St. John of the Cross receive the highest rating of 4 Steeples.

(Of course, we don’t review films at this site, we review the clergy and churches in films. That said, this is a great film well worth seeking out.)

School Movie Month: God's Club

God’s Club,2015

At Movie Churches, we often note that we don’t review movies but rather the churches in movies. So I don’t need to mention that it may well be one of the worst Christian films I’ve ever seen. I should, as usual, be writing about the clergy and the churches in the film, but there are no churches in God’s Club. Maybe I shouldn’t be writing about it at all, but this annoying piece of socalled film took 90 minutes of my life that could have gone to, say, three episodes of 30 Rock before it leaves Netflix. I want to get something out of the unhappy experience.

Besides, the reason there is no church in the film is so strange, it provides the one compelling reason to write.

God’s Club opens with a childish argument between a husband and wife. The wife wants the husband to go with her to a meeting she says is very important to her. He whines about not feeling like going until she tells him they can get dessert on the way home. Sadly, their teenage daughter witnesses this sorry display. Stephen Baldwin plays the husband, Mike Evens, in the film. (He’s the Christian Baldwin brother, not the 30 Rock Baldwin.)

I didn't catch Mrs. Evens first name - she's gone quickly

They’re headed for a school board meeting that will be discussing whether Mrs. Evens should be allowed to have a Bible Club -- a Christian club called “God’s Club” -- at the high school. Both Mr. and Mrs. Evens are teachers at the high school, and everyone on the school board agrees there is no legal way to prevent the club. But the debate in this incredibly badly run meeting continues anyway. (The actual law about Christian clubs on public school campuses is a little more complex than the movie portrays it. In the last few years, the Christian organization InterVarsity was barred from California State and UC system campuses because they had the audacity to require Christian leadership for a Christian organization.) Back to the movie, where many parents are vocal about their disapproval of religion in any form having a place on school grounds.

On the drive home, the Evenses talk about the club, with Mike still saying it isn’t “my thing.” Mrs. Evens argues it’s the only way to help the troubled youth in the school. They joke and laugh and then unfortunately decide to smooch while driving. This leads to a deadly accident, and (spoiler) Mrs. Evens doesn’t survive long after the crash.

So, after three months of mourning at home, MIke returns to school and starts God’s Club on his own. I’ve been involved in Christian clubs at schools from my own high school years through my years as a pastor, so I’m familiar with some of the laws and regulations involved. One of those stipulations -- mentioned in the film -- is that the school can not be seen as sponsoring or endorsing the club. This has usually been interpreted as barring faculty from leading such a club. School staff can provide some supervision, being present in a classroom during club meetings, but usually not formal leadership. In this film Mike leads the club (and does it remarkably badly, especially considering he’s a teacher by profession).

During an event when students are encouraged to sign up for clubs, Mike and his daughter, Rebecca (Bridget Albaugh), sit behind a sign-up table for God’s Club (there are also tables for drama, chess, and hiking clubs). A couple of students sign up for the club, supposedly to sabotage it, but they make no serious attempt to do so. We were disappointed.

During Mike’s first club meeting, he rambles about how people have worshiped God since the paleolithic era. He rambles in response to questions that touch on other religions, the Bible, and the Resurrection. Talk of resurrection leads to talk of zombies, and the boys get sidetracked into a discussion of what was the best zombie movie. (This is the one part of the film that felt real.)

During that meeting, one of the boys makes a truly astounding statement. He says that there are no churches in the town where they live. This is just bizarre. From our travels, and even actual research, I can state quite confidently that any town large enough in the United States to have a high school, has at least one church, and most probably several churches. In 1880, George Walser founded a town, Liberal, Missouri,  that was supposed to be an Atheist Utopia, which would be church free. But that dream didn’t hold long. Christian missionaries soon came to plant churches in the outskirts of town, and soon there were churches in the town itself.

We’re are supposed to believe that the California city of Echo Grove is church-free, and the only religious organization of any kind is God’s Club at the high school. So within the reality of the movie, God’s Club can be seen as the only church in town, and Mike is the only clergy.  (Another interesting demographic oddity of Echo Grove - everyone in town seems to be white.)

At the next meeting of the club, Mike hands out rather ugly t-shirts emblazoned with a “God’s Club” logo and illustrated Bibles. (“Sick! A comic book!” one of the boys exclaims. “No, it’s a graphic novel,” says another.) But again, Mike presents an incoherent message.

Mike and his daughter don’t seem to know Scripture very well, except for citing the occasional verse. They don’t even seem to be familiar with Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek. Both father and daughter are egged into throwing the first punch in fights. Hardly the example that is going to win over a school and town.

The worst bit of theology is expressed by the daughter toward the end of the film. Vic is a troubled kid, who has been prescribed Prozac and other drugs to deal with his depression and suicidal tendencies. He begins a friendship with Rebecca and begins to read the Bible. He talks about these things with his therapist. His therapist tells his “studies show many people have been helped by reading the Bible” but also warns him that “Christian girls wait for marriage”.

At the climax of the film, Vic is considering suicide and Vic’s father (Lorenzo Lamas) blames Rebecca for discouraging his son from taking his meds (she didn’t). Vic runs off, and Rebecca finds him about to jump off a bridge, and Rebecca tells him, “If you kill yourself, you can’t go to heaven. It says so in the Bible!” Now the Bible says no such thing. There has been debate about the eternal fate of suicides for centuries in the church, and the reason there has been debate is because there is no handy verse to point to with a clear cut answer. Rebecca’s proclamation is bad theology and even worse counseling.

Mike creates controversy in the town and wrecks much havoc by insisting on starting a Christian club on campus when he could accomplish what he wants to accomplish by starting a Bible study in his home. What Echo Grove really needs is a good church, but I’m giving God’s Club on the high school campus just one steeple.