Tonight, at about the time "Hail Mary" opens its Chicago run,you will be conducting a special service at Holy Name Cathedral.Your purpose is to honor the Virgin Mary, in response to the newFrench film by Jean-Luc Godard, which has been condemned by the Popeand others as an attack on her.
As a Catholic layman, may I offer my respectful observations?
I have an advantage: I have seen the film, which many of itscritics have not. It is not a good film, but I submit that it is nota sacrilegious one. It retells the story of Mary, Joseph and theirchild in a modern setting, following the general outlines of thebiblical account.
In the Godard film, Mary is an ordinary teenager who playsbasketball and vows that she will sleep with no man. Her father runsa service station. Her boyfriend, Joseph, drives a taxi. An angelarrives by jet plane, is taken to the service station in Joseph'staxi and tells Mary that she will soon bear God's child.
In the film, much is made of Mary's puzzlement over thisannouncement. When she discovers that she is pregnant, she insiststo her parents, Joseph and her gynecologist that she is a virgin -something that her doctor confirms. Although her visit to thegynecologist has been described as particularly offensive, I didn't find it so. It serves as areminder that this woman was not only the mother of Christ, but also,in every respect, a human being with apprehensions and fears. Acentral fact of Catholicism is that God became man, but when wesentimentalize the figure of Mary into a bloodless, asexualabstraction, we diminish the meaning of that fact.
The film is resolute in placing Mary's situation in a modern-dayframe of reference, with contemporary expressions, reactions andopinions. Is this irreverent? I don't believe so. Much has beenmade of the fact that Mary plays girls' basketball, as if this is asacrilege. I believe Godard put her on the team in an attempt tomake her seem like an average teenager - as the completely humanbeing that God chose to bear his son. God did, after all, createbasketball and basketball players, and there are times when I suspectthat he is a DePaul fan.
The professions of Joseph and Mary's father also have becomecontroversial. But why? If Joseph could be a carpenter in the NewTestament, why not a taxi driver? The point is to show him as aneveryday workingman.
Most of the controversy about "Hail Mary" centers on the nudityin the film, of which there is a good deal. It is not, however, the sort of prurient anddegrading nudity that one can see in dozens of hard-core porno filmsthat play in Chicago every month. It is the sort of objective,non-sexual nudity that we might expect as a young girl questions themiracle that is happening within her body.
For the church, Mary is a symbol of what is good and pure inwomen. She also is important as the vessel chosen by God to bear hisson, who was both human and divine. "Hail Mary" is true to thatspirit. It does not exploit women, pander to prurient tastes orintend to arouse. And, in its own way, it is devout. If the filmhad not become an international cause celebre, I can imagine ascenario in which, instead of being attacked by one wing of thechurch, it could have been embraced by another wing, as athought-provoking statement on Mary's humanity.
As I suggested earlier, the film is not very good. People whohave not seen a lot of films by Godard will find it especiallyslow-moving. The story is hard to follow (despite its familiarity!).Scenes are shapeless and often lead nowhere. There is a curiousdetachment, a lack of emotion. The actors are too passive. Althoughsome of the story elements, such as Gabriel arriving in a jet plane,may sound satirical, the film handles them in a serious, deadpan,non-comic way. I cannot recommend "Hail Mary" - except, ironically,as a film that could inspire an interesting discussion.
While you are conducting your service tonight, other Catholicswill be picketing Facets Multimedia, which is showing the film. Youhave indicated that you believe picketing is not a wise choice; thatit only draws attention to a film.
My own feeling is that the people on the picket line will beprotesting a film most of them have not seen and will not see. Theirony is this: With their special devotion to Mary, they are perhapsthe only people in town who might find this film genuinelyinteresting. Sincerely, Roger Ebert
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