"Catholic School Girls" Review

Dear Readers,

The other night I went to an NAU theatre department production of Catholic School Girls, and it was alawhutiest woo. Like swiff.

To be fair, the acting was good, the set was good, the directing was good, the costumes were good, the lighting was good, blah blah blah, but the politics of the play was ala-quiff. The Catholic Church was characterized as a superstitious, oppressive, and sadist organization. The nuns were depicted as being either dotty or monstrous, delighting in the pain of little children.

The play followed four girls throughout their Catholic schooling. They all pretty much rebelled against the system, and the main protagonist of the play ended up renouncing the Catholic Church and God altogether, and the audience cheered.

As a people of faith, the play upset my wife and I. Now I have plenty of qualms with Catholic doctrine (ie infant baptism), and some of their history (ie the Spanish Inquisition) but overall I think the Catholic Church does more good than harm in the world. I especially respect modern Catholicism, the Catholicism that I've seen a lot of my friends practice.

I went to a mass in Tucson once with my friends in high school, and I enjoyed it. I liked the part where everybody turned to their neighbor, shook hands, and said, “Peace be with you.” I liked the way the priest sanctified the communion, and the believers ate the bread and drank the wine, remembering Jesus’ sacrifice. I enjoyed the pictures and statues all around the church depicting the life and death of Jesus. I enjoyed the way people were dressed up, out of respect for their cathedral and for their God. I liked the ceremony of the mass- the theatrical part of it all… the way the priest was dressed, the gentle handling of sacred objects.

After the mass I went to this Catholic youth group activity. We watched a cute skit about this girl saying her prayers at night. At first she was reciting the Lord’s Prayer really quickly, and then the voice of God came from offstage, (or maybe it was one of the Saints) and stopped the girl and said, “Wait! Slow down. Think about what you’re saying.” And then the girl said the Lord’s Prayer a lot slower, and talked with God about what it meant. The skit had a great moral to it: Don’t rush through your prayers- really think of all you have to be thankful for, and really take the time to take in the awe of talking with deity.

I remember after the skit, the Catholic young adult leaders had us go off alone and write a private letter to God. It was a nice activity. It really got me introspective, and spiritual.

I had an uplifting and interesting experience with my Catholic friends that evening. Of course you know that ultimately I do not believe that the Catholic Church is true. I do not believe that the Priesthood of God rests with that organization. I think that the true Priesthood and Christ’s true doctrine is to be found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But still, my experience that night going to mass and participating in the youth activities were, overall, wholesome and uplifting.

I think that if people follow Catholicism devoutly, they turn out to be really good people. And I think that more faithful Catholics would make this country stronger.

Catholic School Girls wasn’t an isolated incident. It wasn’t the one play in the NAU theatre season that pushed the envelope. There have been plenty of plays at NAU before, and there will be many plays afterward, that treat sacred things lightly, and that sometimes downright mock religion, faith, and God.

Outside of NAU, lots of movies and plays treat religion in a dissatisfying way. Even in Slumdog Millionaire, which is a wonderful movie, there was the scene where Hindus and Muslims were fighting, and the main character’s mother gets killed in the battle. Reflecting on those events, the main character Jamal Malik says “If it wasn’t for Rama and Allah, I would still have a mother.” In other words, Jamal was saying, “If there were no religion, and we were all secular humanists, and “Imagine” by John Lennon became our world anthem, everything would be great.”

Why is it that people in the entertainment business feel compelled to attack religion? Where are the plays about how faith in God has made people’s lives better and have influenced society for the better?

Of course not all movies and plays and TV shows are rough on religion. I saw one movie recently that portrayed religion in a pretty good way. It was Valkyrie, about the plot by some Germans to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The main character, Claus Von Stauffenberg, played by Tom Cruise, was a devout Roman Catholic who always wore a cross around his neck. The movie implied that Stauffenberg’s faith inspired him to try to kill Adolph Hitler and put Germany back into better hands. It was nice to see religion portrayed in a positive way.

Of course I don’t think that we ought to make it illegal to produce plays or movies like Catholic School Girls. I honor the First Amendment. I’m just asking writers and directors and producers politely to please stop making plays like Catholic School Girls.

Sincerely,
Telemoonfa