Anyone else feel misrepresented by Catholics in TV?

[exoflare]

Those are a long way from being current…

Bones is currently still running, but I never watched it.

 

[peacoat]

While you do make vaild points about how Catholics are portrayed, I really don’t see how it’s any different than how 98% of Catholics behave.

Sorry. I think this is one of the cases where the Catholics, not the Media, is at fault.

 

[Sarcelle]

I think Abby Sciuto the Goth forensic scientist in NCIS is Catholic.

I remember her saying she went to Mass during a Christmas episode and she also goes bowling with nuns.

She is my favorite character in my favorite show.

 

[OneDayASaint]

My daughter is a Catholic who is a professional stage manager out in California. She considers herself a light in a very very dark place. She can’t be an “in-your-face” Catholic, and she has to be careful about certain issues, especially the issue of homosexual marriage. If she is too vocal, she could end up blacklisted and this would essentially mean the end of her career–no job = no money = no food or shelter= coming home to live with Mom and Dad while preparing for a totally different career.

My daughter lights a soft light in her world. E.g., one of the things that she always does is pray backstage before the show. She doesn’t make a big deal out of it–no kneeling, no arms uplifted and loud chanting. The prayer is silent, and the Sign of the Cross is the only visible evidence of the prayer.

But actors find out about it, and so far, they have been touched by her loving action. They ask her if she prays for them specifically, and when she says yes, they are totally touched and grateful.

This simple prayer for fellow professionals may be having a huge impact on some big names in the show business world, even though that impact is not immediately obvious. No miracle conversions. But the seeds are definitely being planted by my daughter.

Thank you for sharing this information about your daughter! She is now officially an inspiration for me. Please tell her so if she would find encouragement in it.

I was secular for so long and while I think there is a very important place for militants I feel like for me it would be better to be that soft light in a very dark place. Even before my conversion I had really shady friends with really shady lifestyles and while I don’t think I took them out of it entirely, I think they walked away after our friendship with something new. For example, two guys I knew went to strip clubs all the time and I thought that was really bad even before being Catholic and I would tell them this - often. One night they went to one and there was a stripper that looked like me and they got to talking to her and she told them she didn’t like what she did but she had a child and all sorts of other stuff so basically a really terrible position brought her to that place and she wasn’t happy doing what she was doing. They told me about it the next day and seemed very disturbed - so apparently what I had been telling them in combination with their experience really rocked their point of view. Maybe they still go, maybe they don’t, but their hearts have definitely been softened. If I had been a militant we never would have been friends and I never would’ve had the chance to lovingly tell them I don’t agree with them. Some people only listen to the “soft lights” (that is permanently part of my vernacular now, I liked it!) and when you have someone taking a different path towards evangelizing (an important one, but different) sometimes it pushes people away. I was one of those people who would run when someone talked like that but my grandfather talked to me the way I talk to other people and look at me now! He didn’t live to see it but he is why I am a Catholic today! (Well, I know the Holy Spirit had something to do with it to and the Grace of God - but on a worldly level it was all him.)

And I feel guilty sometimes not being a militant. Hearing about your daughter has encouraged me and reminds me of what my RCIA director told me - we are all called to serve God in our own way. Maybe I’m meant to be a soft light in what I’ve always called (even before Catholicism) the trenches.

 

[Christianus_Dei]

I think Abby Sciuto the Goth forensic scientist in NCIS is Catholic.

I remember her saying she went to Mass during a Christmas episode and she also goes bowling with nuns.

She is my favorite character in my favorite show.

I remember she said church, but not mass. But she is a great character, and one of her gothic tattoos is a cross. It doesn’t come up much, but she is a Christian, definitely.

And I know Kate was Catholic. She even inquires if a potential love interest is to see if it’ll work out.

 

[oldcatholicguy]

Really??? Which ones? I never see Catholics portrayed in the media, in main characters or otherwise.

Booth from that “I’m a really smart scientist so I don’t need to believe in God, hey look it’s my hippie wannabe New Age bisexual coworker” Bones show. Any chance they get they throw out that his character is Catholic which is usually followed by some rather non-Catholic actions (sleeping around, child out of wedlock, etc.)

 

[Christianus_Dei]

I don’t know about a lot of shows…but two I can think of where a main Character(s) are

The Golden Girls and Bones.

In neither case do they appear to be well formed Catholics.

Of course there was MASH and Fr Mulcahey…I’m not sure how I feel about that character…

I suspect there are others…

Peace
James

Bones was actually what I was watching that spurred me to post this. Gosh, Booth, Brennan keeps asking obvious and badly informed questions, and you’re all “Buh, wuh, I dunno, wait, what?.. You know, science isn’t everything.” It isn’t even that he has no moral scruples with fornication, he doesn’t even seem to know anything about his faith. I suppose, in that regard, maybe we could chalk his lack of sexual ethics to invincible ignorance. At least he seems to love his faith, not that he knows anything about it… Really, I think he’s only Catholic so that Brennan can make fun of it.

Gosh, one time during some random cop show, one character said to someone who was coming on to him “I’m in a commited relationship, and I’m Catholic. I don’t sleep with just anyone.” And I’m thinking “Ugh. At least they tried…” At least I’m thinking that now…

 

[Cat]

Thank you for sharing this information about your daughter! She is now officially an inspiration for me. Please tell her so if she would find encouragement in it.

I was secular for so long and while I think there is a very important place for militants I feel like for me it would be better to be that soft light in a very dark place. Even before my conversion I had really shady friends with really shady lifestyles and while I don’t think I took them out of it entirely, I think they walked away after our friendship with something new. For example, two guys I knew went to strip clubs all the time and I thought that was really bad even before being Catholic and I would tell them this - often. One night they went to one and there was a stripper that looked like me and they got to talking to her and she told them she didn’t like what she did but she had a child and all sorts of other stuff so basically a really terrible position brought her to that place and she wasn’t happy doing what she was doing. They told me about it the next day and seemed very disturbed - so apparently what I had been telling them in combination with their experience really rocked their point of view. Maybe they still go, maybe they don’t, but their hearts have definitely been softened. If I had been a militant we never would have been friends and I never would’ve had the chance to lovingly tell them I don’t agree with them. Some people only listen to the “soft lights” (that is permanently part of my vernacular now, I liked it!) and when you have someone taking a different path towards evangelizing (an important one, but different) sometimes it pushes people away. I was one of those people who would run when someone talked like that but my grandfather talked to me the way I talk to other people and look at me now! He didn’t live to see it but he is why I am a Catholic today! (Well, I know the Holy Spirit had something to do with it to and the Grace of God - but on a worldly level it was all him.)

And I feel guilty sometimes not being a militant. Hearing about your daughter has encouraged me and reminds me of what my RCIA director told me - we are all called to serve God in our own way. Maybe I’m meant to be a soft light in what I’ve always called (even before Catholicism) the trenches.

I really like your story of the strip club.

I think it has to do with speaking the language of the people in your particular mission field.

A missionary to a South American country would learn the vernacular language and not expect all the people to listen to him preach in his own language.

Same in entertainment. There is a “language” that these people speak. It may be English, but there is a lot of vocabulary and mannerisms that regular folks like me wouldn’t understand. Here’s an example–many entertainment professionals are very “spiritual,” but they are not necessarily religious and definitely not “Christian.” However, a “missionary to the entertainment professionals” can make use of this “spirituality” and that’s exactly what my daughter has done with her regular prayers before the shows. It’s especially effective because she doesn’t pray out loud (unless she happens to be working with another Christian, and then they pray together).

This prayer time also makes use of another trait that many entertainment professionals have–they are very superstitious and often do or say little things that they think will help them to have a good performance. Prayer before a show is a good way to play into that, but it isn’t a pagan practice, it’s real! God answers prayer.

 

[Cat]

I apologize for taking the topic OT a little, although I hope that the conversation will help you to see that Catholic characters on TV are the way they are because that’s what the writers and actors have actually seen in their real lives.

One Catholic character that I think was very well done is Dana Scully on the X-Files. There was an excellent episode (very scary) where the murderer was a devout Catholic and went way overboard with scrupulosity. So he was a very good Catholic, but a very bad man. Anyway, Dana made comments about her Rosary and that it was a comfort.

There was also an episode where she was in a hospital prayer chapel, but I don’t remember the episode (it was one of the Doggett episodes).

Frankly, I think that Catholics are, for the most part, better portrayed than evangelical Protestants or fundamentalist Protestants. With the wonderful exception of Ned Flanders on The Simpsons, evangelical Protestants and fundamentalists are portrayed as ignorant, undereducated, bigoted, angry, selfish, out-of date, out-of-touch, Bible-thumping fanatics who usually turn out to be the criminal abusing their wives and children, or murdering all homosexuals, or bombing non-Christian buildings like bars and abortion clinics. Also, they are often portrayed as hypocrites who loudly condemn extra-marital sex but are secretly having a incestuous relationship with all of their children, or have a gay lover in another city.

Grrr.

Speaking of The Simpsons, the Mayor of Springfield is a Catholic, and he portrayed as a philandering womanizer. But…a few years back, The Simpsons did a wonderful episode where Homer and Bart were in RCIA to become Catholics. I felt that the show did a great job of portraying Catholics (Liam Neeson was the priest), and it did a nice job of showing the prejudice by some Protestants (e.g., Marge and Rev. Lovejoy) against Catholics. I especially loved the part about “Catholic heaven” and “Protestant heaven”–so funny!

 

[Joe_5859]

Cat brings up some great points. Writers tend to write what they know. If they’ve only ever known Catholics of a certain flavor, that’s what they’ll write about.

It’s also a great point about how fundamentalists get an even shorter end of the stick in this regard. Of course, in some people’s minds, I don’t know that they differentiate a whole lot between fundamentalist Christians and Catholic Christians, so bad press for one group can be bad press for us all.

Often, I’ll notice that TV seems about 40 years behind in their portrayal of Catholics. There is one episode of the show “Psych” with an older priest who is convinced about possessions and exorcisms while the young priest dismisses it as a relic of days past. In my experience, today’s clerical demographics would probably show the reverse to be the more likely scenario.

 

[JRKH]

Cat brings up some great points. Writers tend to write what they know. If they’ve only ever known Catholics of a certain flavor, that’s what they’ll write about.

Yes - and in this regard it is too bad that they don’t bother to find out more…
Kind of like some of the “History channel” documentaries that are so egregiously poorly done…

It’s also a great point about how fundamentalists get an even shorter end of the stick in this regard. Of course, in some people’s minds, I don’t know that they differentiate a whole lot between fundamentalist Christians and Catholic Christians, so bad press for one group can be bad press for us all.

Amen -

Peace
James

 

[oldcatholicguy]

I just thought of one positive Catholic character in a TV show. Sharon Raydor in Major Crimes.

 

[Cat]

Yes - and in this regard it is too bad that they don’t bother to find out more…
Kind of like some of the “History channel” documentaries that are so egregiously poorly done…

Amen -

Peace
James

How do you know that they don’t try to do research and find out more?

Sadly, there are many many Catholics who fit the stereotypes often portrayed on television. I work with several Catholics, and all of them are 'liberal" in their views of Church teaching on issues like homosexuality, co-habitation, and contraception. All of them believe that abortion is something that they personally wouldn’t do, but they believe that it should be legal. And all of them believe that other religions are fine because God wouldn’t condemn anyone to hell.

I’m guessing that a lot of the writers DO look around for “real Catholics,” and don’t find any.

Like I said, we need more Christians to work in those circles.

 

[GingerWarrior]

No one here has mentioned Rescue Me… Very offensive towards Catholics, and downright blasphemous at times. It sucks, because watching the characters can be very addictive, but the writers seem to feel the need to throw that stuff in. There’s one character who’s having sex with her dead husband’s cousin one second and crying about somebody knocking over her statue of the Blessed Virgin the next. Speaking of which, let’s not even go into the assertions they make about Mary’s virginity… Oi vey.

 

[Christianus_Dei]

Booth from that “I’m a really smart scientist so I don’t need to believe in God, hey look it’s my hippie wannabe New Age bisexual coworker” Bones show. Any chance they get they throw out that his character is Catholic which is usually followed by some rather non-Catholic actions (sleeping around, child out of wedlock, etc.)

Just one thing: The character in question gave up being bi and ultimately realized that drama is stupid, and finally married the guy she liked.

 

[NeedsMercy]

No one here has mentioned Rescue Me… Very offensive towards Catholics, and downright blasphemous at times. It sucks, because watching the characters can be very addictive, but the writers seem to feel the need to throw that stuff in. There’s one character who’s having sex with her dead husband’s cousin one second and crying about somebody knocking over her statue of the Blessed Virgin the next. Speaking of which, let’s not even go into the assertions they make about Mary’s virginity… Oi vey.

Agree. My own pet peeves are the TV shows and movies were the mobsters (always Italian– ) are also purportedly Catholic; and the ever-popular, oft-repeated gaff confusing the Immaculate Conception with the Virgin Birth. Ya think from the number of times that the latter mistake was made, somebody would learn…

One of my favorite shows, Big Bang Theory, unfortunately is an equal opportunity stereotype presenter. The Hindu eats beef; the Jew lives with his mom; the nutso Evangelical mom–who calls Catholics “Rosary Rattlers”-- has the atheist son-scientist. And sure enough, the Jew marries the cute little Catholic girl.

And speaking of the Rosary, if I see another program where it is treated, and thought of, as a talisman or good luck charm, I think I’ll get sick…

 

[Christianus_Dei]

Cat brings up some great points. Writers tend to write what they know. If they’ve only ever known Catholics of a certain flavor, that’s what they’ll write about.

It’s also a great point about how fundamentalists get an even shorter end of the stick in this regard. Of course, in some people’s minds, I don’t know that they differentiate a whole lot between fundamentalist Christians and Catholic Christians, so bad press for one group can be bad press for us all.

Often, I’ll notice that TV seems about 40 years behind in their portrayal of Catholics. There is one episode of the show “Psych” with an older priest who is convinced about possessions and exorcisms while the young priest dismisses it as a relic of days past. In my experience, today’s clerical demographics would probably show the reverse to be the more likely scenario.

Ugh, that Priest jumped to conclusions so fast…

 

[JRKH]

How do you know that they don’t try to do research and find out more?

Sadly, there are many many Catholics who fit the stereotypes often portrayed on television. I work with several Catholics, and all of them are 'liberal" in their views of Church teaching on issues like homosexuality, co-habitation, and contraception. All of them believe that abortion is something that they personally wouldn’t do, but they believe that it should be legal. And all of them believe that other religions are fine because God wouldn’t condemn anyone to hell.

I’m guessing that a lot of the writers DO look around for “real Catholics,” and don’t find any.

Like I said, we need more Christians to work in those circles.

Cat - you are absolutely right…I don’t know. It was an unfair comment…
and I agree with the rest of your post too.

Peace
James

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

So wait, how ought Catholics to be represented?

The original poster doesn’t seem to like it when they are represented as “goody goodies.”

Others don’t seem to like it when Catholics are portrayed as sinners (though, I remind you, all Catholics ARE sinners), but I guess they just want Catholic to be portrayed as only “minor sinners” or something?

Let’s try starting with what everyone wants to see, then focus on what’s missing later.

(BTW, best Catholic goodie-goodie portrayal I remember was Tom Bosley as Father Dowling and Tracy Nelson as Sister Steve. Anyone remember that show? )

 

[Crescentinus]

So wait, how ought Catholics to be represented?

The original poster doesn’t seem to like it when they are represented as “goody goodies.”

Others don’t seem to like it when Catholics are portrayed as sinners (though, I remind you, all Catholics ARE sinners), but I guess they just want Catholic to be portrayed as only “minor sinners” or something?

Let’s try starting with what everyone wants to see, then focus on what’s missing later.

(BTW, best Catholic goodie-goodie portrayal I remember was Tom Bosley as Father Dowling and Tracy Nelson as Sister Steve. Anyone remember that show? )

I recall Michael Voris encountered this issue of Catholic representation on mainstream American TV in the past. I’ll get the video of his where he talks about it.