Unruly Catholics from Dante to Madonna: Faith, Heresy, and Politics in Cultural Studies

232 Pages·2013·0.2 MB·English

by  Marc DiPaolo

Unruly Catholics from
Dante to Madonna
Faith, Heresy, and
Politics in Cultural Studies
Edited by Marc DiPaolo
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2013
Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
10 Thornbury Road, Plymouth PL6 7PP, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2013 by Marc DiPaolo
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic
or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written
permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Unruly Catholics from Dante to Madonna : faith, heresy, and politics in cultural studies /
edited by Marc DiPaolo.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8108-8851-7 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-8852-4 (ebook) 1.
Church renewal—Catholic Church. 2. Catholic Church—History—21st century.
3. Catholic Church—In literature. 4. Catholics in literature. 5. Christianity and culture.
I. Di Paolo, Marc, editor of compilation.
BX1746.U57 2013
282—dc23
2013018536
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For Keira

Contents
List of Figures vii
Preface: Liberal Catholics: Damnable Heretics or More Catholic Than
the Pope? ix
Acknowledgments xxv
Introduction: Meeting Madonna and C. S. Lewis Again, for the First Time xxvii
Marc DiPaolo
Part I: Cafeteria Catholics vs. Orthodox Catholics: Literary Models
of Roman Catholicism
1 Dante: Cafeteria Catholic? 3
Ronald B. Herzman
2 Graham Greene, Believing Skeptic 17
Darren J. N. Middleton
3 Wild(e) Religion: The Legacy of Oscar Wilde for Queer Theology 33
Frederick S. Roden
4 Queering the Eucharist: Gerard Manley Hopkins’s “The Blessed Virgin” 39
Kathryn Inskeep
5 Holy Fools in Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited and Helena 57
Adam DeVille
v
vi Contents
Part II: Catholicism and the American Culture Wars
6 Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Red State: How Kevin Smith’s
Spirituality Speaks to Generation X 81
John Kenneth Muir
7 The Catholic Worker Ethic and the Spirit of Marxism 95
Kate Henley Averett
8 Rosemary’s Baby and Cold War Catholicism 111
Thomas Aiello
9 The Tragedy of Power in The Godfather and Star Wars 125
Douglas Williams
Part III: A Roadmap for Reform
10 Roma Locuta Est, Causa Finita Est: Power, Discursivity, and the
Roman Catholic Hierarchy 153
Dan Wood
Index 169
About the Contributors 179
Figures
P.1 Linus Roache and Tom Wilkinson in Priest (1994). xi
I.1 The cinematic Aslan, from The Lion, the Witch, and the
Wardrobe (2005). xxxiv
I.2 Madonna promotional image from “Like a Prayer” (1989). xliv
I.3 Ricky Gervais in The Invention of Lying (2009). xlviii
I.4 Peter O’Toole in The Ruling Class (1972). 1
2.1 Graham Greene’s grave in Cimetière des Monts-de-Corsier. 19
2.2 Richard Attenborough and Carol Marsh in Brighton Rock
(1947). 21
4.1 “The Virgin Adoring the Host,” 1852, oil painting by Jean-
Auguste-Dominique Ingres. 47
5.1 Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons in Brideshead Revisited
(1981). 69
6.1 Kevin Smith in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001). 83
6.2 Buddy Christ statue from Dogma (1999). 87
6.3 Michael Parks in Red State (2011). 90
6.4 The congregation is roused in Red State (2011). 91
8.1 Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby (1968). 113
9.1 Raf Vallone and Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part III (1990). 137
9.2 Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, and Hayden Christensen in
Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith (2005). 141
vii

Preface
Liberal Catholics: Damnable Heretics
or More Catholic Than the Pope?
STEPHEN COLBERT: I still go to church, and my children are being raised in the
Catholic Church. I was actually my daughter’s catechist last year for First Communion,
which was a great opportunity to speak very simply and plainly about your faith without
anybody saying, “Yeah, but do you believe that stuff?,” which happens a lot in what I do.
TERRY GROSS: How do you deal with contradictions between the Church and the
way you live your life? Which is something that a lot of people in the Catholic Church
have to deal with.
COLBERT: Well, sure, that’s the hallmark of an American Catholic is the individua-
tion of America and the homogenation of the Church in terms of dogma. I love my
church. I don’t think that it actually makes zombies or unquestioning people. I think
it is actually a church that values intellectualism. But, certainly, it can become very
dogmatically rigid. Somebody once asked me, “How do you be a father . . . and be anti-
authoritarian?” And I said, “That’s not nearly as hard as being anti-authoritarian and
being a Roman Catholic. That’s really patting your head and rubbing your belly at the
same time! I don’t know. I don’t believe that I can’t disagree with my church.”
—Fresh Air: Stars: Terry Gross Interviews 11 Stars of Stage and Screen, February 1,
2007
CONAN O’BRIEN: We’ve actually never talked about this, but you had a very strict
Catholic upbringing.
MICHAEL MOORE: Yeah, that’s true. My parents are good Irish Catholics.
O’BRIEN: Mine too. I grew up in a large family, Irish Catholic—pretty serious Irish
Catholic.
ix