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Posted on 04/16/2012 7:40:18 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
I’m not Catholic. But I can certainly understand why my Catholic friends are offended by the new “Three Stooges” movie, helmed by the irreverent Farrelly Brothers, released by Twentieth Century Fox.
The film would have been fine had Peter and Bobby Farrelly stuck to the slapstick comedy for which Moe, Larry and Curly are beloved by Stooges fans. But they had to ruin it, had to court controversy, by their sacrilegious portrayal of a Catholic nun as some sort of hoochie.
Cast as “Sister Bernice,” Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kate Upton wears a nun’s veil, an oversized rosary and a decidedly undersized, barely-there ‘nunkini.’ The newby actress might have known better than to insult the religious faith of 68.5 million Americans had she not dropped out of 10th grade at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy in Melbourne, Fla.
Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, provided a useful history lesson for the 19-year-old tart.
“In the 1950s,” he recalled, “Hollywood generally avoided crude fare and was respectful of religion. Today, it specializes in crudity and trashes Christianity, especially Catholicism.”
Indeed, Tinseltown’s portrayal of nuns has gone from Jennifer Jones, in “The Song of Bernadette,” and Julie Andrews, in “The Sound of Music,” to Lindsay Lohan, as a gun-licking nun in the Robert Rodriguez flick “Machete,” and, now, Upton, as a skanky nun in “Three Stooges.”
What particularly galls is that studio execs at Twentieth Century Fox think the sacrilegious portrayal of a nun is some great big joke.
“As far as the nun attire,” one Fox exec told The Hollywood Reporter, “I think we did the audience a favor by letting Kate Upton wear the nunkini rather than Larry David,” who (cross)dressed up in nun’s garb to play Sister “Mary Mengele.”
Well, as Curly the Stooge might say, “Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck.”
It’s soooo funny to mock the Catholic faith. Soooo clever to portray a nun attired in a skimpy outfit much far more likely to be seen in a strip club than on a beach (much less a church). Soooo hilarious to give another nun the same last name as the Nazi physician at Auschwitz known as the “Angel of Death.”
But imagine if the Farrelly brothers directed the same “Stooges” script, if Fox released the same film with, say, homosexuals or blacks or Mexican illegals or Muslims as the butt of the film’s denigrating humor, rather than Catholics.
There would be such a hue and cry from the far-left, politically-correct Hollywood establishment that the fair-haired Farrelly boys might never work in that town again.
Hollywood is a God-forsaken wasteland. And it continues to rend America’s moral fabric.
They do that to show how tolerant they are. Now if it was about Mohammad, well then .....
Yup. As a non-Catholic, I will avoid this so-called “comedy.”
Here, here.
As a Christian, I never thought of anything in the film as derogatory towards anyone.
Well, except for the Jersey Shore folks, but they needed mocked. That alone was worth the price of admission.
There are some who go out of their way to find ways to be offended.
Nyuk nyuk nyuk
Good, an honest review by someone who FREAKIN ACTUALLY SAW THE MOVIE.
I’m tired of hearing rants against a show, from folks who haven’t even seen the show. So, Kudo’s to you, my FRiend.
Thanks for posting!!
I WON’T be going to the theatre to see this movie. There are just some things that Hollyweird should NOT remake. The Three Stooges fall into that category.
They had to get a dig in on “The Weekly Standard” as one of the villains was reading this in bed. Probably few noticed this but I did - basically a gratuitous introduction of politics. Which, btw, was completely out of character as that
character would never be reading such a magazine. Also, the villains tended to be “1 percent types” so there was definitely a fanning of the class warfare flames, IMHO.
It'd be hard to make a comedy about a murdering child molester.
I wonder how the original Stooges would have taken this new version, considering that they were all Jewish. A lot of the old vaudeville acts had Yiddish roots.
Honest? Huh, some KIDS never grow up, and you don't have to see trash to know it's in there based on the general content.
Quite right. As I reflect on my fondness of the original Stooges, I think of who may have been offenced by them. So far I’ve come up with carpenters, plumbers, firemen, policemen, doctors, prisoners, cowboys, foreign legionaires, football players, and door to door salesmen - and those are just from a few of my favorites...
Exactly. The Stooges were one of a kind, and there’s no possible way to recreate what they did. Let them rest in peace, and don’t insult their memory with some piece of trash.
I haven’t seen the movie, have you?
Or, are you just having a grand old emotional tyrade, knowing nothing about the charges ... and calling other people who want to know the actual facts, “kids”? Maybe they made fun of Nuns, maybe they didn’t. I don’t know, and chances are you don’t either. This “Kid” is withholding condemnation until I have an idea of what I’m talking about.
If you want to carry on, get a parade going, march up and down your block - singing and carrying signs. Knock yourself out. Why not? The Black Panthers are having a grand old time with Trayvon and Zimmerman.
But, you’ll look pretty stupid when someone shows you that you don’t know what you are talking about .... again.
I’m not religeous, but I’d say the young woman is truely blessed...
I saw the freakin movie. It’s offensive. If the Farrelly Bros. featured a character playing a sexed up nurse, school teacher, flight attendant or waitress, I would have given them a pass. But why a Catholic nun? Are you saying, Hodar, that it was in no way meant to offend Catholics?
I saw the movie, and agree the scene wasn’t neccessary, but in the grand scheme of things it was literally a blip near the very end of the film. Really not sure why they went there other than for a cheap visual joke, that honestly wasn’t needed.
I as a Catholic am not overly offended by it, given how my religion is attacked daily on Free Republic by supposed fellow Christians, and given how Nuns were a large part of the film, overall the film wasn’t a blast at Catholicism, and they didn’t remotely take countless cheap shots that have been routine.
Generally Catholics can laugh at their faith in my experience. I do think the scene didn’t need to be there, and really didn’t offer much other than a quick cheap visual joke, but I didn’t feel the film was a huge smack against my religion.
At least in that photo, i think she looks awful.
Sexed Up? A bit over the top, yes, it was a revealing outfit, but the didn’t portray her as a horndog, or even imply anything was going on with her or she was looking for men.. nor did they try to take cheap jokes about priests with young boys, which in a orphanage run by Church they could have.
I thought the scene was an attempt at a sight gag, that, really wasn’t needed, but hardly do I feel my faith has been assaulted. It wasn’t in best of taste, and it really served little purpose other than a sight gag. All in all they didn’t go into the gutter where they could have many times regarding catholicism.
I can say as a student of the Catholic School System, no nun I ever met looked that good in our out of her Habbit.. if they had, I might have studied harder.
Why the nun? Because if they were going to do this gag, its the only option they had.. there reqally werent any other female characters in the script other than the sexpot wife that was trying to bump off her husband, and since they played her as a sexpot from the get go, showing her in something revealing wouldn’t have been out of character.
The only other female characters in the film, besides the kids, were the nuns at the orphanage. So, take a character and put them out of character and you get what hopefully is funny. I saw this personally as an unneeded sight gag, but hardly do I feel my faith is under fire from it.
Deal with far worse things routinely on here by fellow “christians” attacking my faith nearly daily.
This is one funny movie. Those actors do have the Stooges down pat IMO.
I guess they should be happy that they didn’t show a Priest walking around with a little boy on a leash and carrying a whip in his other hand.
I haven’t seen it. I don’t know. Are all Catholic nuns unattractive, fat and ugly? Somehow I doubt it. What did she do, what did she say, how did she act?
Without some facts, so far we have 1 Freeper who said it wasn’t offensive, and now you are claiming it was offensive.
I don’t know. Some people go out of their way to find offense where none is intended. I heard that Pixar’s “Up” was offensive to Senior Citizens, yet I didn’t see it as offensive at all.
I’m a big fan of The Three Stooges, and I feared the worst.
In fact, the movie wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. There was no notable Catholic bashing. Upton was fine and there was nothing offensive about her bathing suit scene, as it was only one shot where she was lifeguarding a pool filled with swimming orphans.
The scene in the trailer was not in the finished film.
As for bashing 1% types, The Stooges often found themselves
The scene in the trailer was not in the finished film.
"Don't be an idiot you moron!"
One of the regular themes of the original Stooges shorts was pitting them against high society types, the 1% of their day. Wealthy foils for the Stooges is true to the original shorts.
I want to kneel at that altar. Bless me, Sister, and forgive me for all the sins I am about to commit.
In fact, the movie wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared.
Good news for us Stooge fans who haven't been bowled over by the trailers . . .
What about the nun, played by Larry David, named “Sister Mary Mengele?” Did you find it inoffensive that she happened to share the same last name as Josef Mengele, the Nazi SS officer, the death camp doctor who committed all manner of atrocities?
“I guess they should be happy that they didn’t show a Priest walking around with a little boy on a leash and carrying a whip in his other hand.”
####
Pure stupidity.
Do you find it offensive that the Catholic Church appears to have at best turned a blind eye to the holocaust WHILE it was occurring?
I think that’s why Larry David has the nun share the same last name as a Nazi SS officer—he’s taking a direct jab at the Church’s position during the holocaust.
Go back to Rome, Papist...
There, I got your daily attack quota out of the way (you're welcome)...
Are you suggesting that Catholics were complicit in the Holocaust?
I called the nuns I grew up with all sorts of names, and most were not flattering.
No I didn’t take major offense, and frankly I thought they character was actually far tamer than I expected her to be given she was to be their “foil” during their childhood.
If I am going to get worked up every time someone takes a cheap shot at Catholics I’d never have time for anything else. I didn’t walk into the movie expecting it to be a testament or ode to my faith. I didn’t get offended when the Stewardess told the priest “your own knees father” in Airplane II either.. in fact I laughed out loud.
I didn’t see my religion really presented in a negative light in the film, in fact it was about as generic a portrayal as you could find. Wasn’t really a huge commentary on religioin at all, just a characters in a story, and the story had really nothing to do with religion of any sort. Believe me, I’ve watched idiots take cheap shots at the foundation of my faith my entire life, including often times on this very site.
I can’t get upset everyone puts on a habbit and tells an off color joke at my religions expense, and frankly this movie didn’t offend my sensibilities at all. I did find the nun in the bikini scene nothing more than an attempt at a cheap sight gag, that didn’t work for me, and really wasn’t needed, but it didn’t make feel like my religion was assaulted.
I agree, the film was far better than I expected... I did expect a lot more cheap shotting and I have no doubt many scenes were filmed but were recognized to simply not be funny or to be too predictable and were left on the cutting room floor.
The movie itself was a pretty fair homage to the source material, and far better than I had expected.
What, no pics?
What I find offensive is that ignoramuses like you continue to engage in revisionist history. Your conclusion can only be reached if you have your head in your dirt chute.
Alsi, the nuns were portrayed as good, caring, and decent people. They are exasperated after dealing with the knuckleheads for 25 years, but they clearly love them, even going out of their way to spare their feelings.
The Stooges themselves go out to save their orphanage, motivated by loyalty and live.
The boys themselves are bound by fraternal love.
Anyone finding something to be deeply offended about is just looking too hard.
A wise guy, eh?
I’m an old stooges fan. I liked Sean Hayes as Jerry Lewis and I’ve heard the actors doing Moe and Curly get it right; so I’ll probably go see.
I am surprised at the comments about a Farrelly Bros movie. It’s not like they can sneak up on you. Pay attention PEOPLE! It’s the Farrelly Bros!!
Fair enough!
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