Hollywood's Big Disconnect - Interview With Father Jonathan Morris, Fox News Analyst

Zenit News Agency ^ | March 17, 2006

[NYer]

ROME, MARCH 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Hollywood still doesn't get it -- judging by the recent Academy Awards.

So says Legionary Father Jonathan Morris, a news analyst for the Fox News Channel. He offers the U.S.-based television station ethical perspectives on current events.

The Ohio-born priest, stationed in Rome, shared with ZENIT his views on what the recent Oscars say about the state of the U.S. film industry.

Q: Were the recent Academy Awards in line with the type of movies people are actually watching? Could you cite examples? And what do those figures indicate?

Father Morris: There has been a disconnect between Hollywood and American values for a very long time. This year it just became more obvious.

If we look at the list of movies which received the most Oscar nominations and their corresponding ranking in box-office ticket sales, it's evident that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thinks differently than the average American about what movies are worth seeing.

For instance, "Brokeback Mountain," a homosexual-themed movie, received an impressive eight nominations, and won three Oscars, yet it ranked only 27th place in box-office sales. "Crash" garned six nominations, but ended up 49th place at the box office.

"Good Night, and Good Luck" picked up six nominations, but was 90th at the box office. And then there's "Memoirs of a Geisha" which also received six nominations, but only managed 45th place in receipts.

"Crash" ended up with the coveted Best Picture award, but theater owners didn't share the Academy's enthusiasm. It played mostly to empty theaters.

Likewise, "Capote" was honored with five nominations, including Best Picture, and an Oscar, but it didn't even make the top 100 at the box office.

Q: And the movies that did do well in the box office?

Father Morris: The top four movies for gross ticket sales, in this order, were:

"Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith," which grossed $380 million gross, but received only one Oscar nomination;

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," which collected $288 million -- but only one nomination;

"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," collected $288 million, but only three Oscar nominations;

And "War of the Worlds," which brought in $234 million and also managed three nominations.

A telling piece of information is that "March of the Penguins," nominated in Best Documentary category, actually grossed more money than any of the Best Picture nominees.

Q: Hollywood is a business. So why is it giving awards to products that aren't working?

Father Morris: Yes, Hollywood is a business, but it is more than a business.

It is an elite group of highly intelligent and wildly creative people that have been steeped in a subculture that has been sick for a very long time.

I know people in Hollywood. I've worked on Hollywood sets. The people are good, their talent is superb. But they are steeped in a sick culture and it has its effects. It changes the way we think and what we value. The Oscars reveal what Hollywood values.

It isn't a coincidence that the big moneymakers were devoid of big propaganda.

They didn't glorify homosexuality -- like "Brokeback" and "Capote." They didn't squeeze in 182 expletives -- like "Crash"; gratuitously bash America -- like "Syriana," which got two nominations; or feature subject matter unmentionable in this interview -- like "Geisha" and "Transamerica."

Q: Some might argue that the "best" movies aren't necessarily the biggest moneymakers, since they might demand more intellectual rigor to appreciate them. Could that be the case this year?

Father Morris: You are right to point out box-office revenues alone don't determine artistic worth. Pornography, for example, is a profitable industry, but it is bad in every way.

In the movie industry, however, people think twice about what they see. Going to the movies is an investment of time and money, and their investment is a reflection of what they value. The numbers show Americans don't think propaganda is worth their while.

On the one hand, people want to see movies which will help them relax, escape momentarily from the hardship of life. I think it's a legitimate desire. That's why science fiction movies like "Star Wars" have always been so big.

But there is more to film than escapism. We are attracted to learning something new about the world and about ourselves. The "Chronicles of Narnia" and Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" are just two examples. When Hollywood unites great art with great ideas the result is a blockbuster.

Q: What could you suggest to parents who are raising their children in an anti-Christian media environment?

Father Morris: Our mission is to be in the world without being of the world. We love to complain about the media. It's an easy target.

But there is a danger in spending our limited energy on criticizing and tearing down, without ever daring to build up. We need to shield our children from evil, but first and foremost we need to teach them the beauty of God and their faith. Children can't love what they don't know.

In the past, parents relied heavily on healthy environments to teach their children what is good and what is bad. The advent of the Internet age has changed all of that.

The new challenge represents a new opportunity: Be with your kids, teach them with your own example that the truth of the Gospel is the source of real joy.

[NYer]

Father Morris hosts a regular editorial column, a blog, for Foxnews.com, giving his perspective on top news stories. See www.foxnews.com/fatherjonathan.

[NYer]

Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list

[livius]

Interesting. I was stunned that Narnia - although very much a children's movie, as the original books were very much children's books - didn't get more nominations.

However, I thought Crash was excellent and I was surprised that it won. The language may have been crude, and the resolution of the many plots eventually went back to the bad/scared white guy, but the film was certainly thought provoking and also very well done, even with unknown actors.

Capote was also very good. The fact that Truman Capote was gay was not important and was not the point of the film. It was about a literary celebrity going out to interview and intrude on the lives of people he'd always considered lower than dirt, and somehow discovering that they had values, that he was using them, and that he was impressed and even attracted by the evil of the killers of this family. Yet at the end he himself recognizes this and realizes what is happening to him - and basically, he chooses his own good morality.

Brokeback Mountain, on the other hand, was not only a box office loser, but appears to be able to gain an audience on one point alone: you're the type of person who wants to watch gay male soft porn. Not worthy of anything, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that for once, somebody somwehere in Hollywood seemed to believe this too.

[Hildy]

Since when are the Academy Awards about how much money the movie makes...it's about being judged by your peers. These movies are the movies Hollywood thought were good. It has absolutely nothing to do with popularity.

[nickcarraway]

I don't approve of Brokeback Mountain, but I think some people are fooling themselves that it was a flop. It's made $81 million so far on a budget of $14 million. I don't think this is going to scare studios from making more homosexual movies. That much monet, closing in on $100 million, is not a flop in any way. And now the studios will figure that the first one took the flack, each successive movie will be more accepted. I hate to say it, but Brokeback was a huge success for the homosexual movement.

[nickcarraway]

I checked and it was the 25th grossing movie overall for 2005, and it will probably pass up several of the movies ahead of it. It grossed more than Dukes of Hazzard, with a budget of $50 million, and tons of publicity, which was considered a hit.

[I still care]

I think it may be the opposite. Sort of like a tv show that gets a lot of hype for being "cutting edge", and everyone turns in because of curiosity to see the first night - but bombs out after the first episode.

I think a lot of people went to see Brokeback because of curiousity about the "gay" movie.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

The good Movies count for a lot:


MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1085111/posts

.

[0siris]

"
I think a lot of people went to see Brokeback because of curiousity about the "gay" movie."

I would go one step further and say that not a lot of people actually did see Brokeback--I think a small % of the population goes to see Brokeback 5+ times, thus driving up its profits.

I don't think anyone's mind on homosexuality has been changed because of Brokeback. The movie preaches to the choir. If you're gay, or you're a pro-gay blue stater, you saw the movie (repeatedly) and praised it. If you're not towing the gay party line, you not only have not seen and given money to the film, but films like Brokeback merely strengthen your resolve to oppose/ignore the gay agenda. Brokeback, like the first series of "legalized gay marriage" in CA and MA, may be a Pyrrhic victory for homosexual activists.

[Rembrandt]

"I don't think anyone's mind on homosexuality has been changed because of Brokeback."


I agree. I didn't think twice about choosing to avoid Midnight Cowboy in 1972 or so and I didn't need to go see Brokeback Mtn. in 2006 to validate my earlier decision. I'd say gays just need to keep their mouths shut but I guess that would destroy their sex life so forget I said that.

[It's me]

Father Morris: Our mission is to be in the world without being of the world. We love to complain about the media. It's an easy target.

But there is a danger in spending our limited energy on criticizing and tearing down, without ever daring to build up. We need to shield our children from evil, but first and foremost we need to teach them the beauty of God and their faith. Children can't love what they don't know.

In the past, parents relied heavily on healthy environments to teach their children what is good and what is bad. The advent of the Internet age has changed all of that.

The new challenge represents a new opportunity: Be with your kids, teach them with your own example that the truth of the Gospel is the source of real joy.

Well Fr. Morris, I have a solution.

[justa-hairyape]

I wonder if any other business could get away with marketing their product similar to the way Hollywood markets its movies. For example: Your paging through a magazine and come upon an add for 'Meat Helper'. The add does not list any description of the actual product. What you do see however is the following 'Roger Ebart gives Meat Helper two thumbs up'. 'Rolling Stoned says this may be the best helper product produced this year'. John Smith who actually helped make Meat Helper says, 'although you may not know exactly what you are eating, it sure will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up'.

Apparently Hollywood itself thinks many of its products will do better if many of us have no clue as to what its product is actually about. This is just one other reason why Hollywood is fading away. Once we have the technology on our desktops to make movies with similar technological qualities, its end will come quickly.

[RoadTest]

"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." - Matthew 23:9

[Mercat]

What about Pride and Prejudice? I'm about half way into the DVD right now but had to stop so I could watch KU lose last night. ;-(

[siunevada]

"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." - Matthew 23:9

"I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel." 1 Corinthian 4:15

Perhaps Matthew's Gospel had not yet been written on the day St. Paul wrote his letter.

I imagine Fr. Morris could care less how people address him; wouldn't want to be like those Pharisees in the marketplace.

[A.A. Cunningham]

Simpleton

[NYer]

"And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." - Matthew 23:9

In Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus is condemning the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He is saying that they desire the titles of respect for their own purposes, not for the glory of God; which is certainly wrong. He is not categorically condemning the use of titles of respect, but rather the misuse of them for one’s self interests.

In searching the New Testament, I came across numerous examples of New Testament authors calling human beings fathers. How do you explain this? Here is a truncated list of some examples:

1. Matthew Chapter 1 – Men are called "father" so many times that I quit counting.
2. Romans 4:1-18 – St. Paul calls Abraham our father no less than eight times. In fact, the name Abraham means "father of the multitude."
3. Romans 9:10 – Isaac is called our father
4. 1 Corinthians 4:15 – St. Paul calls himself a father to the Corinthians.
5. 1 Corinthians 10:1
6. Galatians 1:14
7. Ephesians 5:31 and 6:4
8. Philippians 2:22 – St. Paul calls himself a father to Timothy
9. Colossians 3:21
10. 1 Thessalonians. 2:11
11. 1 Timothy 5:1
12. 2 Timothy 1:3
13. Hebrews 1:1, 3:9 and 12:9

I could continue multiplying verses, but I think I’ve already become redundant. The point again is that our earthly "fathers" in the faith are not an end in themselves – like gurus – but that they are representations (albeit sometimes poor ones) of our heavenly Father; as St. Paul says in Ephesians 3:14-15 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." The Catholic practice is, and always has been, the same as the early Church (Catholic Church) that St. Paul is called "father" in those passages because he is a spiritual father. Priests are called "father" because they, like St. Paul, are spiritual fathers.

[Gerish]

"Our mission is to be in the world without being of the world."

That certainly is worth repeating.

[Brian_Baldwin]

This is an excellent article, I noticed it on ZENIT News tonight and was going to post it on the Forum, but then I checked if it was already posted and noticed it is already there, thank you.

[RayChuang88]

I will say this though: the first studio willing to make good movies with conservative themes will make a LOT of money in very short order. The enormous success of The Passion of the Christ is proof of this idea's success.