Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies explores theology in film

For decades, Hollywood has used Catholic themes, imagery and stories in its movies. Rev. Greg Vance discussed this phenomenon with students in an event called “Catholicism in Film: Deep Truths and Stereotypes.” at the Caruso Catholic Center Wednesday.

Vance began by listing the reasons people watch films, whether it’s the presence of a certain actor, director, composer or otherwise. He told the audience that watching certain movies can enrich their spiritual life because they take inspiration from a movie’s premise or message. To illustrate this topic, he divided movies into two categories: whether Catholicism is central to a movie’s plot and whether the movie contains theological themes.

“I’ve been thinking about these categories … for a long time,” Vance said. “I developed [them] through my experience of watching movies and trying to interpret [them].”

Vance organized his presentation on Catholicism in film into four categories: films about the church that are theologically aware; films about the church that are not theologically aware; films not about the church that are theologically aware; and films not about the church that are not theologically aware.

Throughout the presentation, he explained how various movies fit into each classification, showing trailers or clips for each.

“I was looking for movies that not many people would’ve seen … because I wanted people to come away with a thought of, ‘Well, I want to watch that movie,’” Vance said. “I also wanted movies that [represented] each category that I was trying to develop.”

In the first section, he showed films like “Risen” and “Of Gods and Men” that are set in Biblical times or centered around priests. However, he noted that some movies in this category, like “Agora,” did not necessarily support the theological message.

The second category mostly consisted of horror movies that center around a demonic entity. Vance explained how films like “The Nun” or “The Exorcist” use Catholic imagery to evoke fright, but are not based in theological knowledge. To illustrate how detached many of these horror movies are, he showed “The Devil and Father Amorth,” which detailed an actual exorcism. In the film’s trailer, director William Friedkin claims he did not know much about an exorcism when directing “The Exorcist,” thus rendering that film not theologically aware.

In the third category, Vance showed the sheer volume of popular films considered theological based off their imagery or parallels to Catholic teachings. He used the binary sunset scene from the original “Star Wars” because its imagery and music represented the beginning of spirituality. He discussed how Sam carrying Frodo in “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” was author J.R.R. Tolkien’s version of the Calvary, in which Simon held Jesus while he carried the burden of the cross.

He also discussed how many sports or war movies, such as “Any Given Sunday” or “The Great Dictator,” alluded to Catholicism through their portrayals of teams as churches and speeches as sermons.

“He talked about how movies can be enriching spiritually but also don’t have a surface appearance of theology,” said Joseph Bioche, an undeclared freshman who attended the lecture. “I thought about it in a different light.”

Vance said finding movies that were neither about the church nor theologically aware was challenging; he only showed “Wall Street,” explaining how its glorification of greed classified it as an anti-sermon.

He concluded with an overview of the importance of narrative and Catholicism, stating that the relationship between the two elements falls in between binary opposition and complementarity.

“I thought it was very well put together,” Bioche said. “Father [Vance] had a lot of good and insightful things to say, but at the same time, it wasn’t too dense.”

After the presentation, Vance opened the discussion to the audience for questions, who supplemented the discussion with their own suggestions of movies that exist in a theological gray area. The event’s final message was spreading an understanding of the nuances of theology and the way Christian images are represented in popular media.

“Underlying [this event] is the recognition that story and image and picture is a powerful way to move the human spirit,” said James Heft, President of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies. “Therefore, if we don’t pay attention to it, both aesthetically and rationally, we will miss out on some of the most powerful media there is in our own time.”