MOVIES: The Nativity Story

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Liberalsaved said:
Knowing that everyone is connected regardless of the barriers we set in our minds does not make you a liberal. This conversation has really veered into makey no sense land, so I’m just going to bow out.
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Liberalsaved, I would like to see both movies. My mother-in-law is about to recieve her Phd in Anthropology, and her whole focus was on the Mayan culture. I would love to talk about on a thread about that movie. I don’t understand why you had to come on this thread and post what you did.
Apocalypto is a braver story
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It seem like you just bait people into an arguement. What is the point? Anyways, can’t people just talk about this movie, it will cause enough dicussion.
 
I saw the previews for this movie and had tears in my eyes too… I am leary of course, I don’t want anyone to portray our Holy Mother in anything but the most perfect light. The only thing that made me raise my eyebrow watching the preview was Mary having hard labor… Would she have experienced hard labor? She was sinless…
 
I just watched some of the videos on the film… The thing that kind of bothered me was the scene with Mary and Elizabeth, Mary talking about being betrothed and the law saying she has to remain pure for a year. Why would she say that? Just because the way it would look, or are the trying to imply that she would have relations with him after a year?
 
AmyS said:
Liberalsaved, I would like to see both movies. My mother-in-law is about to recieve her Phd in Anthropology, and her whole focus was on the Mayan culture. I would love to talk about on a thread about that movie. I don’t understand why you had to come on this thread and post what you did. It seem like you just bait people into an arguement. What is the point? Anyways, can’t people just talk about this movie, it will cause enough dicussion.
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I didn’t post it to start anything. I suppose I should have said I probably won’t see it at theaters. I see pretty much everything on DVD eventually. My statement about Apocalytpo really has nothign to do with cultural or religious issues, and everything to do with the fact that I applaud movies that do something different.

Of course, I’m assuming this about The Nativity Story, I’ll admit that. But the previews all point to a direct lift of the story, and I suppose I’d really like to see some of the historical context matter to the story. Sometimes no context works, like it did in Passion, but Passion presented such a stark, no-nonsense view of the crucifixtion, that most people had never seen it that way before. That’s what I want to see when people take the time and bother to adapt ANY historical story to the screen. Most everyone who is going to go see The Nativity Story knows the basic story, and it seems like they are just going to directly lift that.

I suppose that’s how best I can explain that. It IS a thread abotu the movie, so i thought I’d chime in, but I knew full well I was going to be the dissenting voice. It still wasn’t meant as an attack.
 
AmyS said:
I saw the previews for this movie and had tears in my eyes too… I am leary of course, I don’t want anyone to portray our Holy Mother in anything but the most perfect light. The only thing that made me raise my eyebrow watching the preview was Mary having hard labor… Would she have experienced hard labor? She was sinless…
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Hmmm. That wasn’t in the theatrical preview I saw.

If you’re just going by Biblical law, would the birth of the Savior override the rule of painful childbirth? I think that would be part of the price. Just my interpretation though.
 
Liberalsaved said:
Hmmm. That wasn’t in the theatrical preview I saw.

If you’re just going by Biblical law, would the birth of the Savior override the rule of painful childbirth? I think that would be part of the price. Just my interpretation though.
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Painful childbirth was the result of Eve’s sin. Hard labour for men was the result of Adam’s sin. Since Mary was sinless, it would made sense that she would not endure painful childbirth; although, there really isn’t anything to say she didn’t. She could have had painful childbirth like all other women, because she was still human, even though she was a sinless human.
 
If the movie avoids reflecting the true Catholic view of Mary, then why would any Catholic Christian want to see it?

After all, we believe that our view of Mary is not only proper, but ultimately completely true. Would anye Catholic want to see a move that portrays their earthly Mother in a less then correct manner? If not, then why would we see something that lessens the view of our Mother in Heaven?

I have not seen the movie, yet the reports so far seem to speak volumes about the ordinary nature of Mary, and to Protestants ordinary means sin and children beyond Jesus.
 
According to Catholic tradition, Jesus was born of Mary like sunlight passing through a crystal. The clip of the labour scene put me off a bit.
 
I was in a “Pauline Books & Media Store” last Saturday and one of the Sister’s told me about this upcoming movie. I was really excited about it and asked her if she would make a copy of the flyer for me. This most definitely sounds like a nice movie for the whole family. I strongly encourage everyone to see it! God bless you all!
 
Deo_adiuvante_2 said:
I was in a “Pauline Books & Media Store” last Saturday and one of the Sister’s told me about this upcoming movie. I was really excited about it and asked her if she would make a copy of the flyer for me. This most definitely sounds like a nice movie for the whole family. I strongly encourage everyone to see it! God bless you all!
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How can you strongly encourage seeing the movie without having seen it first?
 
I am still debating whether to suspend my boycott of Hollywood to see this movie or not. I think I will wait until I see more reviews here. I have December 8 off and that may be a good day to see it 😉
 
I heard an audio trailer of the movie and it convinced me to stay away from the movie.

When using Luke 1:28 to reflect the annunciation, the film uses the Protestant interpretation of: “highly favored;” rather then the Catholic interpretation of “Hail, full of Grace.” To some that might seem like a small and petty reason not see a film, yet there is a huge difference between Mary being highly favored by God, versus Mary being literally full of Grace, because if Mary was NOT full of Grace, then she probably sinned, and she was not quite the person the Church sees in Our Lady. So, that single point is enough for me to know this is a Protestant movei, and Protestants simply do not have a correct view of Mary.
 
Then I guess I have the wrong Catholic bible (New American Bible - Saint Joseph Edition) - mine says “Hail, Favored one”.

So, you’re refusing to see it because they have the greeting slightly different? Isn’t that a little…much?

Now if they have an epilogue at the end and have Joseph and Mary surrounded by 5 more chidlren + Jesus, then its Protestant view.
 
jediliz said:
Then I guess I have the wrong Catholic bible (New American Bible - Saint Joseph Edition) - mine says “Hail, Favored one”.

So, you’re refusing to see it because they have the greeting slightly different? Isn’t that a little…much?

Now if they have an epilogue at the end and have Joseph and Mary surrounded by 5 more chidlren + Jesus, then its Protestant view.
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There is a huge difference between the two interpretations. Highly favored leads to a sinful Mary, whereas being full of Grace means Mary was free of sin. That one single interpretation is critical and it defines the difference between the Catholic and Protestants views of Mary. So, yes I will not see the movie for that one reason alone, yet I suspect there are many other things about the movie that would be anti-Catholic when studied.
 
I am hoping it will be in my town inEngland because it doesn’t come out here til 8th December! Whoever sees it can you review it on here so I can see? I have checked the website in England and I thought it was good. This Esther film was that bad, it hasn’t come here yet , it seems in England we don’t always get stuff unless it’s mainstream, at least not in my small town.
 
nativitymovie.blogspot.com/

Check out the blog entry about the Premiere at the VATICAN. It was interesting.

If this movie was anti-catholic, would the Pope allow it to have a premiere there? its too bad His Holiness could not attend.
 
jediliz said:
nativitymovie.blogspot.com/

Check out the blog entry about the Premiere at the VATICAN. It was interesting.

If this movie was anti-catholic, would the Pope allow it to have a premiere there? its too bad His Holiness could not attend.
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I would be careful about making assumptions about our Holy Father since he has not said anything about the film and Pope’s rarely ever make statements about popular media.

If the movie presents a strictly Protestant view of Mary, then it is an anti-Catholic film imo.
 
From what I have heard, the main problems are with Sts. Anne and Joachim–Mary’s parents–and how they are portrayed.
 
I’m going to have to wait to see what others experiences are. I’m often disappointed by movies and walk out thinking it was was a waste of my time and money.

The Passion of the Christ did not disappoint, FWIW. Any little details that are in opposition to Catholic teaching are going to drive me up a wall. This is true of non-Catholic topics as well.

I’m curious to see what Mel Gibson has done after The Passion both the topic and as art.
 
lak611 said:
I’m in North America, not South or Central America. It bored me in history class in school.
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Umm… not trying to be rude, but I think Apocalypto is about the Aztecs, the Mayas didn’t do human sacrifices, the Aztecs and Toltecs did… and Mexico is not South nor Central America. It is part of NORTH AMERICA just as the US and Canada.

And going back to the main point of this post… I really want to go see this movie, but I am afraid it will pose Mary as a normal human and say she had more children other than Jesus. Most religions believe Mary was not a virgin throughout her life.

If it does, this movie will cause confusion to those Catholics who don’t have a strong sense of what the Catholic faith is all about.
 
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