Anti-Catholic asides in scripts - TVs "Bones"

[tomarin]

I agree, gratuitous swipe. I would have had to change the channel.

 

[DaveBj]

The entertainment industry likes to take jabs at Christianity. This is unfortunate. Why can’t they respect us?

Because we Christians don’t riot and blow things up when we’re offended.

 

[Joie_de_Vivre]

As other have noted the character is portrayed as a person who believes all religions are man made and made to satisfy people’s need to be comforted, she would also probably fit in the word anthropological. The show isn’t anti-Catholic.

 

[CaptFun]

You should actually watch the whole series to get a full understanding. Her character is actually an atheist who is married to Booth, a devout catholic.

The show is not anti-catholic, because the moral authority ( and all around good guy) in the show is Booth, a devout catholic.

The show actually does a good job of showing the compromises both of them make to understand each others viewpoint.
She has come to understand how important religion is to him (and ppl in general) rather than strictly from the pov of an anthropologist. so much so that two seasons ago she allowed the kids to be baptised and raised catholic (even though she does not believe).

Some of that’s good to hear. It can be done. The devil is in the Bible … and is quoted directly … winning some battles too. (Although the Bible never does a moral equivalency thing … the lessons about evil run toward giving us armor against it)).

That particular quote went unanswered by the Catholic … and may actually bear the bad fruit of getting some wavering Catholics to give up the faith ('cos it’s silly!).

How many drops of poison before the vitamin drink isn’t good for you anymore I wonder?

 

[CaptFun]

I think you might be being overly sensitive. Bones features the main character “Bones” juxtaposed to the man who becomes her husband, “Booth”. Booth is a devout Catholic. Bones is an atheist. Both are portrayed true to character, and I never felt the writers used Booth’s character to make Catholicism look bad. And Bones always made caustic comments about pretty much everything- her lack of a sense of humor and her bluntness to the point of rudeness was part of her character.

I might be. I was sensitive enough to pick it UP though. And I wonder how many times I’ve heard my faith made fun of that I was so insensitive that I didn’t even notice.

Hollywood and TV can be inspiring. And not just in patriotic or religious films. I can see where such a program as this, where Catholicism and Christianity is subjected to acid tests and comes through could give particular insights and be very good. In the few times I’ve seen “Bones” I’ve often been either on my way somewhere or channel surfing and don’t stay long enough to REALLY get it.

But challenges to faith and morals are hitting us all the time. Even in the G movies.
Part of me wanted to see Lara and Dr. Zhivago get together again … and I easily bought the justifications for it when they did … BUT … they were both married. And so did some of us come out of that fine show with a little idea that adultery under some circumstances … is justified … or even GOOD? I’m afraid I think so.

- I actually began with Zhivago as my example? :blushing: - I could have (should have?) named any number of others. Notably some of the recent award winners that championed homosexual acts and euthanasia rather directly as their main point.

In some ways though, the innocuous programs where our filters are down are in a position to do us serious harm if we aren’t careful.

 

[CaptFun]

I agree, gratuitous swipe. I would have had to change the channel.

Well put. In fact that’s what I did.

But it was between innings and I would have gone back to baseball anyway.

 

[randomuser]

Have you guys watched the series much? My wife and have and if you guys had then you’d know that Temperance Brennan is an atheist, because she and Seeley Booth have often gone round verbally about their different beliefs because he’s Catholic. In the course of the series there have been many places where Booth explains and defends the faith with her and she has never derided it though she remains skeptical.

So it’s basically a rip-off of the Mulder/Scully atheist/Christian thing in “The X-Files”?

 

[QuestLove]

So it’s basically a rip-off of the Mulder/Scully atheist/Christian thing in “The X-Files”?

Except that Bones is based on the life of the real Dr. Kathy Reichs (not sure there is a real-life Booth character though).

But I think the larger picture is that this show does show the dynamics that go on in a mixed faith (or faith/no faith) marriage. I know lots of couples like this who are not on the same page with their religion but somehow it seems to work.

 

[bluerose]

Except that Bones is based on the life of the real Dr. Kathy Reichs (not sure there is a real-life Booth character though).

But I think the larger picture is that this show does show the dynamics that go on in a mixed faith (or faith/no faith) marriage. I know lots of couples like this who are not on the same page with their religion but somehow it seems to work.

I don’t think the show is based on Dr. Reichs’ real life, although she is the author of the Temperance Brennan series which started with “Deja Dead”, published in 1997. Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist and a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

 

[Rhubarb]

The character of Dr. Brennan is a staunch atheist and materialist. The comments were part of the character. I’ll never understand getting so upset about things like this. It’s not an endorsement of that statement by the producers.

Booth is a devout Catholic and often collides with Brennan on the topic of faith. And as the series progresses, Brennan develops a sort of understanding of spiritualism,even if it isn’t for her.

 

[QuestLove]

I don’t think the show is based on Dr. Reichs’ real life, although she is the author of the Temperance Brennan series which started with “Deja Dead”, published in 1997. Kathy Reichs is a forensic anthropologist and a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

You are quite right, the series is based on the books by Reichs (good reads btw). The “Bones” character in the series though is loosely based on Reichs herself (although Reichs herself has stated that she is not as socially awkward as brennan is). The atheist/catholic debate that is a factor in the show may be fictional as well.