In the wake of The Golden Compass and much longer dated Brokeback Mountain, some have questioned the utility of the USCCB Film and Broadcast Office offering reviews. The criticism comes in one of two forms:
- The private sector is fully capable of providing reviews. Decent Films would be an example of this.
- The USCCB should primarily concern itself with doctrinal matters, and it fails in this mission when it allows factors outside purely Catholic concerns to predominate its movie reviews.
I’m more in the position of not caring. My family enjoys movies about once or twice a month. We go to the theater about twice a year. Most recently that was for Hitman, a movie I thoroughly enjoyed, but admittedly it lacked in Catholic themes. Short of a film deliberately designed to offend the senses, I’m not searching for people to caution me about seeing bare breasts implying non-marital sex in Schindler’s List. Amazingly enough, there were people who wanted to keep their children from seeing Schindler’s List because of that particular scene. (One could have other reasons to object, and I’m not telling parents how to raise their children.)
And so it is with the USCCB film reviews. We pretend that we live in a culture that is innocent and pure, and there are evil film makers out there waiting to prey upon our children. Look around! It isn’t just the film makers. Look at your neighbors. Look in your own home. Evil is plentiful all around. I’m certainly not going to tell you what films your kid should see, but let’s not pretend every child is just one film away from losing their faith, becoming a mass murderer, becoming pregnant, or whatever other social malady we wish to conjure up. While I personally won’t bring Harry Potter into my home, I’m not going to have an existential crisis if one of my children enjoys the books.
As to the arguments raised above, I don’t think it is outside the purview of the Church to offer commentary about the culture. The private sector is free to as well. I also don’t have an issue with giving one’s primary considerations to be evaluating whether a film is entertaining or furthers the human understanding. If I were in charge, I would get rid of the office, because I don’t think it is an effective office.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In