Subtitled: On what it means to be truly Catholic.
“It never occurs to the critic to do anything so simple as to compare what is Catholic with what is Non-Catholic. The one thing that never seems to cross his mind, when he argues about what the Church is like, is the simple question of what the world would be like without it.”(From The Thing by G.K. Chesterton)
It’s February 2nd and you know what that means: it’s the Feast of the Presentation! I love the image of Mary and Joseph at the temple—presenting the Savior and giving Him over, as it were, to God and the men that He came to redeem. Mary knows she has to let him go and then she gets told as much by the prophet Simeon. What mom hasn’t had her heart pierced by a sword? It’s par for this parenting course, I think.
On that note…
It’s also game day today! Got your menu planned? Here’s the thing and why I bring it up: If you’re a mom who does big family fun for the Super Bowl—and I try—please make sure you got someone on commercial duty. I’m always in and out of the kitchen keeping the snack trays full, which is why——having seen previews of commercials like this one*—I plan to have my daughter standing by with the clicker.
UPDATE: The tide is turning! (I think…I hope…) I’ve removed the video and was thrilled to see that it didn’t make the Super Bowl cut. (Thank you, Charlotte, for sharing the good news of its being banned, and congrats to your husband on his winning team.) In fact, most of the commercials were pretty decent, with the exception of that John Stamos one, and hey? That Bruno Mars was one class act! Talk it up on your blogs, everyone. Let the organizers know how much you liked him.
This is better, I think, than my screaming “Pause it!” I am Calm Mom, after all. I will tell Cate ahead of time to click away from the crap.
It’s a never-ending battle, isn’t it? We are always—always!–having to sift the chaff out of our wheat. I could, I guess, just go “gluten-free,”…which is my somewhat bloated metaphor (ha) for not watching TV or going to movies at all.
Goodness knows, there is a lot of chaff.
Speaking of which, I’d like to address the movie Frozen. Have you seen it? Got an opinion?
Not surprisingly, my kids loved it; and I did, too, with some reservations.
Yes, Elsa gets a bit vampy in the song “Let It Go” and that “no right, no wrong, no rules for me” line really bugged me. Worst of all was reading some reviews that called it a “coming out” song and referred to other “gay” themes throughout the film.
Really? Well, I guess you could you see it that way if you tried, and I guess there are critics who do seek those themes. For us, for the most part, it was just a really cute movie with really great songs…and its take-away theme, for me, was love.
Self-sacrificial love! Which is the very best kind.
As Catholics, we need to bring our faith to every table, whether it be the biggest sporting event of the year or the most popular movie in the theaters. We are in the world even while we’re not of it. Karen Edmisten says it beautifully here. “We’ll be fighting this fight our whole life,” she says, “because our faith is counter-cultural, but I have found that it works out (at least so far) to do the ‘guided exposure’ thing. Because there is so often some real beauty mixed in with messages that leave God out.”
Do take some time to read her thoughts, as Karen is one of the most well-balanced Catholic writers I know.
I love your blog and this post! We are going to some friends' house tonight for the Super Bowl, and I am thankful to have the sort of friends who I know will shut all that junk off! I don't want to give up TV and movies all together!
I LOVE Frozen…. didn't see "Let It Go" that way. I mean, what happens to Elsa in the course of the movie? She DOES she right and wrong. She learns to control her powers and "unfreezes" her heart to save Anna. So I mean, I guess you can see gay themes in that….but then again, people also see it in "Over the Rainbow", so….I guess you see what you want to see? But I didn't read it that way. And I love that song, and Olaf. 🙂 (I may or may not have a large stuffed Olaf in my bedroom….)
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie. You're doing it all wrong. The trick is to watch the commercials and do everything else during the game!
Thanks for those words on Frozen. Just two days ago I was asked if I knew that THAT was the theme…the gay theme. I was like huh?? And then I was kind of mad because why can't we enjoy those beautiful messages in peace? Sometimes I get quite tired of being reminded of all the bad out there when we are just trying to enjoy those good moments intermixed. (Kinda like being the mom who never gets to eat a meal uninterrupted.)
I'm sick of someone's agenda taking all the fun out of something innocent. We actually had a great conversation about Else and the song after the movie. I told my kids, as a child of divorce, I really identified with the song. "Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know…" How many times did I hear, "This [the divorce] is our problem to figure out. It's not yours. You shouldn't be upset. We are doing this to be happy. You should be happy too!" Yeah, I felt like I couldn't say, "Hey, this really stinks and I don't like it!" because what difference would it make anyway. They were going to do what they thought was best for them and convince themselves it was best for me too.
Anyway, just FYI on that ad… Husband says it got banned and it won't be shown tonight.
I certainly wouldn't be upset if my husband and children suddenly said, "You know, everything on television is garbage. Let's get rid of it." But, I know they won't. But some day my children will, hopefully, look at that garbage and hear their mother's commentary in their heads and come to the same conclusion. For now I am supposed to be helping them form their consciences, so I am the reminder about why one visual exposure is good and another is not.
I admit I was not impressed with Frozen, but not because of a "gay" theme (they own the rainbow too, ya know?). I thought it was cold and hard, and impossible for a child to really understand. Why inflict a child with a cold heart? Makes no sense to me. I also didn't like the magic. But most of it went over Faith's head because kids, most of them, aren't that deep. It did warm my heart, no pun intended, to hear a group of a dozen girls or so at the dance studio singing "Do you want to build a snowman." These poor kids today have no good show tunes to sing, so that was refreshing!
Mags, thanks for the link. Charlotte, we had a similar discussion. I asked Ramona what she thought of the line, "Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know…." and she said, "Well, the trolls tell Elsa that she needs to learn to control her power, and her parents just tried to make her hide it and pretend it's not there. It's never good to keep secrets from people you love, so I think it's another case of bad Disney parenting." 🙂
Hope your Super Bowl Sunday was fun and ick-free, Mags!
We haven't seen the movie yet, mostly because we're cheap. We'll wait to see it on video. I did read the books at the book store though and watched some of the song clips. I do think the main theme is love, but of course, like you said, there will always be those people who say this or that and try to put a different spin on it.
Your Voices post really spoke to me, Margaret. It made me tear up, and then I used your words in a note to my teenage daughter. We argued today and I love her so much and she makes me want to scream – but she matters and she's loved and my sole mission at this time is to make her believe that. I stumble in that mission most when I forget that the same words apply to me too. – Caroline
Personally speaking, I am unsure how to bring my Catholic faith to a movie that is already made and rocking the box office. My Catholic faith is not going to change a venue that, by it's nature, is a one way street. As for guided parenting, I believe this is best done when one can pause a DVD and discuss. I've gone online and read enough reviews that make me approach this movie with extreme caution, in light of our Catholic faith. Apparently, the progressives and g. community love it and considering this movie an allegory for coming out. So, no, we won't be seeing this film, at least in the theater.
(http://www.policymic.com/articles/79455/7-moments-that-made-frozen-the-most-progressive-disney-movie-ever)
It seems to me Disney intended to make a movie that would put that sliver of glass into our hearts and harden our hearts to instill a 21st century mindset in which "love" is all that matters.
As for me, I would much prefer to read the original fairytale to my children in which good is portrayed as good and evil as evil, but keep in mind I am a huge fan of Andrew Pudewa's talk on Fairy Tales and the Moral Imagination.
I certainly don't mean to sound harsh, so please take what I say with coffee and chocolate ; )
But as our eldest child enters the teenage years we are very much aware of the spiritual battleground for her soul and the ways in which the devil seeks the ruin of souls. St. Michael, pray for us!
I too took my kids to see Frozen ~ they are 12, 10 and 5. All of them and myself enjoyed the movie. I loved that it was about family looking out for family. And no matter what problems arise, family will always be there to help you! The best part for me, in the end, she was saved by her sister and not by some guy!
I had no idea what to expect seeing Frozen in the theater with my 3, 5, 7 and 9 year olds (2 boys, 2 girls in the morning) except that people I trust told me I would love it and that it has a great message. All true. I loved it. I had a brief concern when my girls told me Elsa was "the best" and that they loved "Let it Go." I asked my 7 year old daughter if the lyrics were good and right and she was emphatic that No Good Queen abandons her people to live her own life! Ha. Got it in one, kid.