Benedictine’s new podcast, the Catholic Film Club, is a new platform for filmmakers and BC professors to discuss the craft and morality of movies, and, its hosts say, “build a community of faith and scholarship around film.”
The podcast, which was started this past fall, is produced by the Center for Catholic Media at Benedictine College. Hosted by filmmaker Michael Coy, who is often joined by co-host Patrick Bautista, the show covers topics ranging from the technical artistry of film to plotlines to the Greek tradition of stories.
The show’s first episode notes that there is a lot of good Catholic discussion around film, but it is disconnected. The podcast aims to “bring those voices together.”
The show also fills the void of proper Catholic film commentary. Many movies and filmmakers delve into overtly or subtly religious topics, and yet by and large, film commentary is secular. Because of this, commentaries often ignore or misread religious themes, resulting in a lacking conversation about the film. Christianity offers a special lens with which to view art and beauty.
Avid horror fan and theater professor Dr. Nathan Bowman has appeared on the podcast twice. He says “Each and every one of us is created in God’s image, right? God is creator and now we create as humans…so this internal drive we have to create, what does it mean? And I think this is an important question to ask.”
Meaning can bring change in a viewer. But must there always be a message to a movie? No, thinks the Catholic Film Club host.
Coy says, “A movie doesn’t need to be chasing ultimate truth, there’s joy that can be gotten out of pure fun and that’s nothing to sneeze at. If you’re making something with innocence and with joy, then something beautiful is going to happen.”
Let fun be fun.
“People put movies on too high of a pedestal,” Coy continues.
Not all of them need to be a moral compass, just as not all of them need to be slapstick comedies. Watching a movie should be about what one enjoys just as much as it should be about building oneself.
There is a lot of good in pure entertainment, and a lot of challenge in it for the filmmaker too.
But for filmmakers who aren’t making something for fun, there is a responsibility to share truth – particularly for Catholic filmmakers. They can do this in a unique way with film, translating over screen in a singularly immersive way.
When movies do warrant conversations, how is one to start them?
First off, know that these conversations are wanted. Discussion and engagement with one another are natural and edifying. People want to hear from other people!
Second, don’t fear hurting someone else’s feelings. Of course, be respectful. However, dancing around a sensitive opinion does nothing for an engaging conversation. It is subjective art, and not, Coy says, a “sacred space…they should give you permission to talk about big ideas!”
“Just because Paul Thomas Anderson is being honest doesn’t mean he’s right!” he says.
The main thing, both Bowman and Coy believe, is that movie-goers must be ready to be uncomfortable. By engaging with the unexpected, the unknown, and to some extent, the unliked, ideas can be formed. When values and beliefs are challenged, they can be strengthened.
Bowman believes that good art gets conversation going and that it is a brave thing to take in media and be ready to disagree. “Be willing to enter into that and express what it is about the movie that that made you uncomfortable, a be honest with it…let the discomfort be productive!”
He adds that one should avoid having preconceived notions about a film or other media production before experiencing it. To some extent, this can’t be avoided, but as best as the viewer can, they should let the art speak for itself.
Ultimately, these conversations are important, and art is important. But it isn’t the most important thing. Coy tells a story that showed him the order of importance: real life first, then art.
Though he’d built his life around movies and film – it was his career, his passion, and what he enjoyed – he realized he had enough right in front of him during a pivotal moment.
“It’s part of the joy of it that [movies] are not the most important things,” he said. “My wife, before we got married, she put my name on a marquee. It said, ‘Happy Birthday Michael!’ And at that point I was like, that’s all I need. I don’t need anything else after that. Like, that’s my name in lights, and if that’s what it’s going to be, then that’s what it’s going to be. And suddenly movies took their proper place, and I was able to really have fun with them.”
More than real life, it was real joy.
Art is a reflection for life, and the conversations that can flow from it are beneficial and in many ways beatifying. But revelations from real life will always offer the more real, tangible, and immediate benefit.
Turn down the TV’s volume to look first for the truth in one’s own life, then at the truth the filmmaker is sharing.
