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or normalizing violence and, therefore, legitimating further violence.” Violence is a close cousin with another trend that concerns Leonard, especially in American films: revenge. That theme can sometimes be handled in a comedic way, such as in The First Wives Club, about three 50something friends who wreak havoc on their ex-husbands who abandon them for younger women. But retaliation is seldom handled with such a light touch. More often, revenge manifests through carnage. From Carrie to Kill Bill, Machete to Django Unchained— filmmakers and audiences can be bloodthirsty, and that is a disconcerting trend. “We don’t forgive. We don’t reconcile. We don’t deal with the issues,” he says. “We get our revenge. We have payback and retribution. And I don’t think it’s by accident. I don’t think film creates that phenomenon. I think it reflects back to us what’s happening in society.” One film that still haunts Leonard as a mixed bag is 2004’s The Passion of the Christ. While he praises much of Mel Gibson’s depiction of the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus, he feels the film is unreasonably violent. “Fourteen minutes of the scourging at the pillar—blood and flesh and gore. I came out of the cinema wondering what was going on with Mel Gibson,” he says. “And yet there were Catholic bishops who wanted people in their dioceses to see it. I said to myself, ‘Hang on a minute! I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life saying implied violence is better than explicit violence. And here we have a film that’s explicitly violent.’ Now all of a sudden we’re saying, ‘Well, when it gets to the story of Jesus, all bets are off.’” As a tool for evangelization, The Passion, to this expert, missed the mark. “I don’t find shock ever to be the best way to evangelize,” he says. “I don’t find shock anywhere in the New Testament—from the apostles, disciples, or Christ himself—as a tool for reaching people. I want the evidence. Where’s the evidence that people came back to church or came to love Jesus more? If that’s true, then we should
Seven Films to See Here are seven films that Father Richard Leonard, SJ, thinks every Catholic must see.
1
Of Gods and Men (2010)
2
Babette’s Feast (1987)
3
Dead Man Walking (1995)
4
The Last Days (1998)
5
The Mission (1986)
6
Romero (1989)
7
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
“This is one of the finest religious and best Catholic films of all time. As their area is invaded by Islamic extremists, the monks have to discern whether they stay with their people or return to their native France.”
“Pope Francis’ favorite, this film can be read as a parable of eucharistic hospitality and as an homage to an artist, in this case a culinary artist.”
“Forgiveness does not deny things were done, but rises to say that despite what was done, I still forgive you. Sometimes we ask the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’ This film gives us the answer.”
“One of the most moving documentaries I have ever seen. It is like a biblical narrative: the story of scapegoat theology and the purification of memory.”
“Great themes here of the wages of sin and death, repentance, conversion, penance, and forgiveness. Are pride, riches, and greed the motivation for our most destructive behavior? When is it justified to take up arms?”
“Oscar Romero was the most unlikely of social prophets, but became the voice of the poor against El Salvador’s military junta. This is a moving film about the martyrs and the cost of following Jesus.”
“Andy is a Christ figure, an innocent man who is wrongly convicted and persecuted, but who nonetheless sets others free by how he lives his life. Against the odds, and even when the truth lets him down, Andy believes in hope and beauty.”
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