Anyone else feel misrepresented by Catholics in TV?

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VeritasLuxMea said:
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? :D)
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This is a very good point and question.

How do I want Catholics portrayed…hhmmmmm
I think the answer to that question probably lies in asking why is religion of the Character brought up in the first place? From that purpose we can then suggest what would be the best portrayal of a Catholic in that context.

To take examples two very different program genres…
The Golden girls…where two of the characters, Dorothy and her mother Sophia were Sicilian and Catholic. Obviously there can be a great deal of humor there and even as a Catholic I could laugh at some of it. However…If I were to give it a bit more balance…I might include, not as a plot device but just as a “matter of fact” reference(s), things like Sophia coming or going to Church. A small thing but important to many Catholics.
But - since the purpose of program is primarily humor - it is OK to employ some of the more humorous aspects of being “Catholic”…Things that we can all identify with and laugh at.

Bones…It always struck me that one of the main reasons for having Agent Booth be Catholic is for the “tension” and the “discussions” between Agent Booth and Dr Brennan. However - they made the Atheist Scientist, Dr Brennan, a brilliant “thinker”, and highly knowledgeable in her field and in her “atheistic” faith, while Agent Booth is little more than a “Cultural Catholic” and totally unequipped to engage her in any really meaningful way in these brief but important discussions.
In this case, in order to present a more balanced view, it would be better to have the Catholic character be more devout, well versed and able to better express the Theistic view. Unless of course the purpose of the producers and writers IS to tilt the discussion toward secular atheism…

A third example - also a drama form a while ago - would be “Jack McCoy” on “Law and Order”. A very interesting and complex Character…and “Catholic”…But in his case it is made clear that he is a non-practicing - non-believing Catholic…and yet in several instances during his long run on that program there were moments of real conflict in his heart and soul over things spiritual.
From that standpoint Jack McCoy was a good character who happened to have been “raised Catholic”.

So - in order to say what sort of “Catholic” we would like to see it seems that we should consider first what the purpose “faith” plays in the storyline…

Peace
James
 
VeritasLuxMea said:
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? :D)
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I want to see Catholics, actual Catholics, not people who think they are, portrayed as real people. The perfect Christian is a stereotype, as well as the monstrous one, and I want to see realistic characters that I can identify with.

Example: Nightcrawler is X2. He’s a devout Catholic, and that is on of his most important character traits from the comics. However, being a perfect Catholic was his entire personality in the film, they completely took away the fact that he was a goofball who loves old swashbucking films.

On the other hand, there’s the times when the writers just don’t care, like that awful X-Files movie that treated all priests in it as creep pedophiles and have the Catholic lead blaspheming while in bed with her boyfriend.
 
Christianus_Dei said:
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.
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Yes, Kate was Catholic. But so is Abby.
 
Christianus_Dei said:
I always feel so frustrated. The networks try to represent Catholics in their main characters, but to make them popular characters, they always make them liberal, towards at least one issue. Usually sex before marriage. I just can’t stand it. Christians always write themselves as Mary-Sues, and the media either shows us as bigots or “thinking for ourselves,” as it were. I’m tired of it. Someday I hope to be able to do something about it. I have a hard enough time identifiying with characters as it is, I don’t need to be identifiying with either a perfect little Sue or an implied neo-nazi. Even if the second X-Men film, the writers manage to turn the most religious character, who was supposed to be a prankster, into a perfectly perfect in every way Sue.

Who else is annoyed by this?
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I am
 
I remember a tv series about twenty years ago called “Father Dowling Mysteries”. It starred Tom Bosley and Tracy Nelson. I watched it sometimes. It was a fun show. I think any group, be it ethnic or religious, is usually portrayed on tv in a positive liberal way. I don’t think Hollywood will portray Catholics in a positive light. Since Hollywood disagrees with the Church on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, I think Catholics will be portrayed according to their own liberal agenda.
 
One of my favorite characters on television was Elliot Stabler, a detective on Law & Order SVU. He was a faithful Catholic without being a Mary Sue. He was consistently pro-life: not just against abortion, but also spoke out against suicide, euthanasia, eugenics, etc. He clashed with other characters several times on these issues, especially his very liberal partner. He was a father of five who loved his family. He was open about his faith, and it came up frequently, both at work and in his personal life. He seemed to be better formed in his faith than your stereotypical cradle Catholic.

But he definitely had flaws. He had significant anger issues and a lot of family problems, mostly having to do with the nature of his work. He and his wife almost got a divorce. His children were far from perfect. He definitely wasn’t a perfect Catholic; in one episode, he went to confession and it was revealed that he hadn’t been in years.

I think Elliot was by far one of the most positive and, at the same time, realistic portrayals of a religious person I’ve ever seen on TV. Too bad the actor left the show and the character had to be written out. He was like a breath of fresh air.
 
So you’re telling me that Boondock Saints is not an accurate representation of Catholics…?

Darn it!

Really though, no one likes the way that men are portrayed in the media. At the same time they also hate how women are portrayed. There are issues with how Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all portrayed. Of course blacks and Latinos are portrayed very poorly as well.

What I’m trying to say here is that you shouldn’t take “the media” to heart. Everyone has a complaint about how their group is shown, but really it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day it is just entertainment. As in, complete and total nonsense.
 
BlueEyedLady said:
So you’re telling me that Boondock Saints is not an accurate representation of Catholics…?

Darn it!

Really though, no one likes the way that men are portrayed in the media. At the same time they also hate how women are portrayed. There are issues with how Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all portrayed. Of course blacks and Latinos are portrayed very poorly as well.

What I’m trying to say here is that you shouldn’t take “the media” to heart. Everyone has a complaint about how their group is shown, but really it doesn’t matter because at the end of the day it is just entertainment. As in, complete and total nonsense.
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I agree with you to an extent. It is supposed to be entertainment and, no, we cannot take it seriously. That being said, if the material is going to be, say, Catholic beliefs, then the media can at least use proper teaching and not what they think is Catholic belief. Of course that is an example, this can apply to all walks of life. Sit-coms need to do the same, yes it will be a caricature of a certain demographic, but at lease use correct teaching.

Btw, Boondock Saints is certainly a guilty pleasure, though I don’t care much for the sequel that followed.
 
But Boondock Saints is the reason I decided to become confirmed!

Actually I kind of liked the way Catholics were portrayed in that film (okay, so becoming vigilantes might not have been great but I’ll come back to that). They were working class Irish boys, they went to Church, they prayed, they drank, they fought. Devout Catholics with their own set of vices just like the rest of us. I believed their flaws and I believed their devotion.

The vigilante part could even be a social commentary. I think the disillusionment with the justice system and the secret yearning for a hero is a pretty common thread in people. If it wasn’t, Batman and Spiderman wouldn’t be so popular. I love that they took a new spin on the “masked man” bit that comic books have used for so long and replaced it with some good ol’ Irish Catholic boys!
 
OneDayASaint said:
But Boondock Saints is the reason I decided to become confirmed!

Actually I kind of liked the way Catholics were portrayed in that film (okay, so becoming vigilantes might not have been great but I’ll come back to that). They were working class Irish boys, they went to Church, they prayed, they drank, they fought. Devout Catholics with their own set of vices just like the rest of us. I believed their flaws and I believed their devotion.
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But they’re Irish. They have a moral obligation to get drunk and fight.
 
Catholics on the other hand get a slightly better portrayal than evangelicals in the mainstream media.

There are some sympathetic characters that are Catholics but I have not seen one who is evangelical.
 
Sarcelle said:
Catholics on the other hand get a slightly better portrayal than evangelicals in the mainstream media.
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That would quickly change if they had to start portraying only “real” Catholics.
 
Sarcelle said:
Catholics on the other hand get a slightly better portrayal than evangelicals in the mainstream media.

There are some sympathetic characters that are Catholics but I have not seen one who is evangelical.
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Sadly that is true. Even a character like Ned Flanders gets treated badly. I’ve watched early episodes of the Simpsons, and at first he seemed like just a typical devout mainline christian who was a little overzealous but really nice. However, I think this is meant to be more out of ridicule than flattery. Later episodes seem to make fun of him more, even if it is subtle.
 
Just a comment, while film can be just as bad, there are some decent films with good or returning Catholics in film. The Way was an excellent film, and though it was kind of a scary film, I thought The Rite with Anthony Hopkins did a pretty good job not just covering exorcisms, but showed the struggles of the young priest in the film pretty well and didn’t seem to be heretical from what I saw. I’m sure there are others that are fairly recent. Any help?
 
I really loved The Book of Eli. I don’t think he was specifically Catholic but I really liked the main character and the story line.
 
Therana said:
One of my favorite characters on television was Elliot Stabler, a detective on Law & Order SVU. He was a faithful Catholic without being a Mary Sue. He was consistently pro-life: not just against abortion, but also spoke out against suicide, euthanasia, eugenics, etc. He clashed with other characters several times on these issues, especially his very liberal partner. He was a father of five who loved his family. He was open about his faith, and it came up frequently, both at work and in his personal life. He seemed to be better formed in his faith than your stereotypical cradle Catholic.

But he definitely had flaws. He had significant anger issues and a lot of family problems, mostly having to do with the nature of his work. He and his wife almost got a divorce. His children were far from perfect. He definitely wasn’t a perfect Catholic; in one episode, he went to confession and it was revealed that he hadn’t been in years.

I think Elliot was by far one of the most positive and, at the same time, realistic portrayals of a religious person I’ve ever seen on TV. Too bad the actor left the show and the character had to be written out. He was like a breath of fresh air.
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Agreed on Stabler. But, SVU in general is usually pretty down on Catholics, IMO. I’ve noticed it many times, and even my brother made the comment “Man, someone behind that show really hates us!”. Seriously, they’ve gone to the sex-abuse storylines more times than I care to mention.

In a recent episode where Catholicism played a fairly visible role, a morning Mass was portrayed as having three people in attendence (though, to be fair, in real life more people do need to go to Church). The episode that followed featured a so-called devout Catholic that also happened to be a prostitute drug addict that had no intention on giving up her lifestyle. Confession played a role, too: This lady went to confess her sins, while the detectives listened in through her Cross necklace (called a Crucifix, despite the fact our Crucifed Lord was not present on it) that doubled as a wire. They couldn’t even bother to get Absolution right: The Priest simply said “you have the Lord’s forgiveness”. Later on, the prostitute stated she would be fogiven once she finished her penance, but not before (she had to fast for five days). Oh, and this was after she had already had sex again after the Confession. Yes, I know, the showrunner’s goal isn’t to portray an accurate portrayal of Catholicism, but it irks me nevertheless.

Blue Bloods, on the other hand, is fantastic. It’s a great show all-around, but notably they’re a strong Irish Catholic family, and while they’re not perfect (who is?), their faith plays an integral role in the series. Even Tom Selleck, who isn’t Catholic, has stated that he loves that aspect of the show. Catholicism in general seems to be treated very reverently on BB, which is verrrry refreshing since it seems that pretty much every other show that brings up Catholicism has dedicated themselves to portraying every last one of our Priests as pedophiles.

Also, I love Fr. Mulcahey on MASH. Not only was he always shown respect, but he was one of the most compassionate & human characters I’ve seen on TV. He was a very, very positive portrayal of a Catholic. I’ve seen pretty much every episode of MASH, and I’ve never noticed any “errors”, theology-wise, either. Fun fact: Mulcahey was constantly being asked “Do you do Methodist weddings/services/etc.?”. This was because the actor that played him is Methodist in real life. I always thought that was pretty funny.
 
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