CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING IN HOLLYWOOD MOVIES Jorge Iglesias

CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING IN HOLLYWOOD MOVIES Jorge Iglesias, Ph. D

***SPOILER ALERT***

Overview � � The Power of Film Catholic Social Teaching � Children of Men � Erin Brockovich � The Florida Project � The Dark Knight � Discussion

The Power of Film � � � Reasons for watching Impact on our daily lives Thoughts from the critics Allegorical reading Catholic interpretation

Reasons for Watching

Impact on Our Daily Lives

Thoughts from the Critics � � Roger Ebert: “Good films make us better people. ” Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB: � Persuasion � Folklore � Worldview � Traditional structure

Allegorical Reading Types of interpretation � Literal � Allegorical � Moral � Anagogical

Catholic Interpretation Appropriation � Catholic katholicos universal � Long tradition of using secular sources

Catholic Interpretation The role of the Catholic critic � Images � Worldview � Allegory

Catholic Social Teaching 101 � � What is Social Teaching? Seven Main Themes

What is Social Teaching? � � Careful with the term “social justice” Pope Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno (1931) � Living wage � Subsidiarity � Not a state of public affairs, but a personal virtue � � Goal: to improve the common good of a “free and responsible people” Focus: the family

Seven Main Themes � � � � Life and Dignity of the Human Person Call to Family, Community, and Participation Rights and Responsibilities Option for the Poor and Vulnerable The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers Solidarity Care for God’s Creation

Children of Men (2006) � � � 2027 Infertility Britain is functional Rebel groups State of siege Immigration

Children of Men (2006)

Children of Men - Immigration � https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=161 h 1 o 168 x. U

Catholic Teaching - Immigration � Rerum Novarum (Pope Leo XIII, 1891) � Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor � Rejects both socialism and unrestricted capitalism � Unions � Private property � Welcoming the Stranger Among Us (USCCB, 2001) � Unity in Diversity � Migration � Regulation of borders � Justice and mercy

Erin Brockovich (2000) � � � 1993 -1996 Hinkley, CA Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Groundwater contamination (50 s and 60 s) Severe health problems

Erin Brockovich (2000)

Catholic Teaching – Care for God’s Creation � Octogesima Adveniens (Pope Paul VI, 1971) � Risk of destroying nature � The framework is no longer under our control � Centesimus Annus (St. John Paul II, 1991) � Limit the waste of environmental resources � The gift of the Earth, and the gift of ourselves � Caritas in Veritate (Pope Benedict XVI, 2009) � Nature is not more important than the human person � “It is contradictory to insist that future generations respect the natural environment when our educational systems and laws do not help them to respect themselves. ”

Care for God’s Creation – Laudato Si’ (Pope Francis, 2015) � � � We are not God Integral ecology Care for the poor Climate change Global solidarity Hope

The Florida Project (2017) � � � Life in a motel 6 -year-old Moonee and her single mother Episodic Documentary Contrast with Walt Disney World

The Florida Project (2017)

The Florida Project - Poverty � https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=NVt. Jw 389 B XM

US Poverty Facts Poverty thresholds One person…………………$12, 228 Two people………………. . . $15, 569 Three people………………. $19, 105 Four people………………. . . $24, 563 Five people…………………$29, 111

US Poverty Facts � 6. 7% of the population live in deep poverty (21. 3 million people) � 29. 8% live close to poverty (95 million people)

US Poverty by Gender

US Poverty by Age 15. 3 million kids (almost 1 in every 5)

US Poverty by Ethnicity

Catholic Teaching - Poverty Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis, 2013) � Challenges of today’s world [52 -75] NO to… � …an economy of exclusion � …the new idolatry of money � …a financial system which rules rather than serves � …the inequality which spawns violence

Catholic Teaching - Poverty Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis, 2013) � Distribution of income [202 -208] � “As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no solution will be found for the world’s problems. […] Inequality is the root of social ills. ” � “We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. ” � Economy: “the art of achieving a fitting management of our common home. ”

Catholic Teaching - Poverty Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis, 2013) � Concern for the vulnerable [209 -216] � “The current model, with its emphasis on success and self-reliance, does not appear to favor an investment in efforts to help the slow, the weak or the less talented to find opportunities in life. ” � Specifically mentioned: the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly, migrants, victims of human trafficking, mistreated women, the unborn, creation as a whole.

Catholic Teaching - Poverty Evangelii Gaudium (Pope Francis, 2013) � The common good and peace in society [217 -237] � Time is greater than space � Unity prevails over conflict � Realities are more important than ideas � The whole is greater than the part

The Dark Knight (2008) � � � Gotham City, “NJ” Batman must stop the anarchistic Joker Good vs. evil Do the ends justify the means? Is anyone “beyond good and evil”?

The Dark Knight – Dignity of the Human Person � https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=K 4 GAQt. Gtd _0

Conclusions � � What we get from a film what we bring to it Worldview � Lens � Frame � All the world’s a film

Discussion