Heaven Help Us

[Catholic4Jesus]

Not too long ago I saw this movie made in the mid-1980’s called “Heaven Help Us.” It was a movie that took place in the mid-1960’s of high school students attending this Catholic high school in New York. I wonder if any of you guys (mostly older members) have ever seen it and what are your opinions on it? I personally felt that it was an insult to the Catholic Church, but that’s just me.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

I really liked it when I was a kid but I haven’t seen it in years. I’ll have to look it up and watch it again. I remember it had a “cool” priest and another priest who was a real terror, although I’m guessing that if I watch it now the cool priest will likely be more of an unorthodox, liberal priest while the “bad” priest will simply be a strict, orthodox priest.

 

[Catholic4Jesus]

I really liked it when I was a kid but I haven’t seen it in years. I’ll have to look it up and watch it again. I remember it had a “cool” priest and another priest who was a real terror, although I’m guessing that if I watch it now the cool priest will likely be more of an unorthodox, liberal priest while the “bad” priest will simply be a strict, orthodox priest.

Actually those “priests” you mentioned were brothers. there was Brother Constance who was the older one who was mean to the students and even barbarically assaulted a few of the students in the film a few times, sadly he’s probably the traditional, conservative brother who was, if anything faithful to the teachings of the Church (which is a good thing in itself but just judging by his character) and then you had Brother Timothy, who was the younger one who would buddy up with the kids and smoke cigarettes with the kids, sadly he’s probably the liberal modernist who is unfaithful to the teachings of the Church. I think that all Catholics should have the faithfulness of Brother Constance, yet at the same time, have the friendly human spirit of Brother Timothy.

 

[Gordon_Sims]

Actually those “priests” you mentioned were brothers. there was Brother Constance who was the older one who was mean to the students and even barbarically assaulted a few of the students in the film a few times, sadly he’s probably the traditional, conservative brother who was, if anything faithful to the teachings of the Church (which is a good thing in itself but just judging by his character) and then you had Brother Timothy, who was the younger one who would buddy up with the kids and smoke cigarettes with the kids, sadly he’s probably the liberal modernist who is unfaithful to the teachings of the Church. I think that all Catholics should have the faithfulness of Brother Constance, yet at the same time, have the friendly human spirit of Brother Timothy.

My wife and I finally got around to watching this again last night. It was still amusing and I liked it from a nostalgic standpoint but it’s not something I’d let my kids watch. The vulgar and sexual language was a bit worse than I remembered and even the brothers (other than Timothy) who aren’t bad guys still aren’t portrayed very sympathetically. Actually, outside of Brother Timothy and Brother Constance, Brother Thadeus (Donald Sutherland) is the only one who’s given enough presence to even be considered a character. He’s portrayed somewhat unevenly, from an overly stern headmaster, to an overly emotional boob, then finally a progressive, liberal brother along the same lines as Timothy at the end.

Brother Timothy (John Heard) had the potential of being a really great character from a Catholic perspective had they presented any of his motivation as coming from a theological perspective instead of just being the cool, cigarette-smoking, rebellious brother; in the end, he was much more of a missed opportunity than anything else. He really doesn’t do much of anything in the movie outside of trying to act cool. Brother Constance was a bit too over the top, in my opinion, even for the purpose of being the main antagonist. However, had they toned him down at all, Dunn (Andrew McCarthy) would have been entirely unsympathetic at the end.

There were a couple other things in the movie that rubbed me the wrong way, but I can’t recall what they are at the moment. I don’t know that I’ll be watching it again any time soon, so it’s something of a moot point. I won’t go so far as to say the entire movie was a swipe at the Catholic Church, but it was close. It’s a shame, too, because I think, with just some minor tweaks, it could have been a very enjoyable and uplifting movie.

 

[Cojuanco]

How do we know their stances on the issues? I mean, if you go into any religious community, even as they affirm the same values, brothers can have very, very different personalities. Brother Constance came off as someone who simply valued rules without knowing why they were there.