I knew that eventually something like this would happen. "Watch it," they said. "Nothing could go wrong," they said. But I didn't watch The Chosen, nor will I.
It's just that today, people think that emotional value trumps adherence to the truth (and don't believe that the truth can convey emotional value).
In general, I think it's a mistake to have actors play sacred persons. I know I will be repelled by the sappiness, the lameness. But in particular, the stakes are too high here.
Fr. Dave Nix explains here what exactly is wrong with a scene in Season 2, Episode 3. Read what he says to understand how little details that seem so relatable and "human" actually erode our understanding of the great mystery of the Incarnation and the vital and beautiful role that the great Mother of God plays.
But we should know this.
Without necessarily having the theological particulars at our fingertips, something in us should rebel at depicting Mary this way -- as just another woman who finds herself at a loss to understand what God wants of her or what the meaning of His actions are.
The angel doesn't react to her that way; Joseph doesn't; the wedding guests and servants at Cana don't. Every thing we know from the Gospel points to her set-apartness and her holiness. Unless we have lost our own common sense regarding holiness, we should treat her the way we treat an especially delicate antique treasure -- and also the way we treat a particularly fearsome warrior (or do you not know that she "comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array"?).
If the takeaway after watching this episode (or worse, if the children's takeaway) is that Mary is pretty much like us in our fallen nature and *proclivity to sin*, then things are not well.
I try to explain here in this post on my other blog why looking at the Mother of God as a person with basically the same reactions to things as we have will not ultimately help us in our spiritual life (or in any other way); it comes down to the fact that we will simply have nothing left, and we will have offended God.
Apparently, the link to PadrePeregrino is broken.
ReplyDeleteIt is working for me... https://padreperegrino.org/2021/04/chosenblasph/
Delete"If the takeaway after watching this episode (or worse, if the children's takeaway) is that Mary is pretty much like us in our fallen nature and *proclivity to sin*, then things are not well. "
ReplyDeleteThis is the enemy's sick attempt at damaging our love for our Mother and belief that Mary is The Mother of God. I was worried the show would go sideways in a big way, and here we are. Thank you!
Thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteThis feels like more of an Amish reaction to art than a Catholic one. I highly recommend watching the chosen. I’d love to hear what you personally think of it. In reality, Jesus and Mary are both human. And this series really seeks to explore Christ’s Humanity while safeguarding his perfection and divinity. Jesus is Son of God And Son of Man and His Mother’s humanity is the only thing that gives Him right to that second important title. If a man (or woman) who are made in the Image of God and are called to be Christ to the world cannot play sacred characters then we certainly shouldn’t have images of them carved in wood and stone or paint (elements even less worthy of portraying the sacred characters .) This strikes me as iconoclastic. My mother (who is very Protestant) walked away from that same episode appreciating a little more the special place Mary holds. The Chosen is not something we should take as infallible like scripture. It should be wrestled with like any other work of religious art. It seems like you would have us throw out our whole history of passion plays, or any artistic icon of heaven. When this says that the fathers believed that Christ’s birth was as “light through glass”, I’ve been told by priests that that is a “pious belief” but not doctrine nor conscious binding on the faithful. There are things that I don’t believe are likely historical in the chosen rendition but I think the producer is truly trying to awaken a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus and quite possibly his Mother, protestant though he be. He has given an honored place to the blessed Virgin. Much more so than most evangelical Protestants. And I really appreciate that. And it has helped me to pray better. I feel like you are making the “perfect” an enemy to the “good”. If we are not open to another person’s interpretation of sacred characters we are not left with left with OUR OWN interpretation of sacred characters. What may seem like purity on the surface has the potential to lead to the misunderstanding that our ideas are right. And our ideas go unchallenged. I think it’s more likely that the devil is trying to get people not to watch this incredibly powerful series. The devil hates that he was thwarted by a human girl. Of course he wants us to think her as high and grand. But the truth is she is humble and lowly. And God loves the humble. He didn’t choose the Blesses Virgin because she was grand, she became grand because he chose her. And I think this series helps us get more in touch with the people Jesus chose, “The Chosen”, and it helps us hear His heat His call to us.
ReplyDeletePlease forgive the typos.
DeleteI simply object to making Our Lady sound like a dumb 21st century woman cut off from her patrimony and common sense.
DeleteIf something is hugely popular and contains errors that magnify ones I see all around me (denigrating Mary) and threaten to make them part of the consciousness of the faithful (as has already happened), I have to say something.
You might not be aware that it is doctrine that Our Lady did not suffer the pains of childbirth. See the Catechism of the Council of Trent:
Roman Catechism of the Council of Trent of 1566
“To Eve it was said: ‘In pain you shall bring forth children’ (Gen. 3:16). Mary was exempt from this law, for preserving her virginal integrity inviolate, she brought forth Jesus the Son of God, without experiencing, as we have already said, any sense of pain.” (Roman Catechism, “The Creed” Article III)
I concede that neither this episode nor this series are perfect. To clarify, this episode doesn’t say anything about her having pain in childbirth. I think it’s also important to note, in the context of the episode, why they had Mary say that Jesus “needed to be cleaned” when he was born. (even if it’s historically inaccurate.) They were drawing attention to the fact that, The child Jesus needed His Mary. As a message to protestants, that is really quite profound. And it doesn’t stop there. As Jesus is doing his work of healing the sick she is sitting with those who already believe in him (aka the church) and encouraging them to ponder deeper and stay on the proper path of conversation (perhaps suggesting that Mary should still be/still is active in our salvation. again, A biggie for protestants). she points out how her longing for her son makes her come and sit and talk with his disciples and offer her help. Rhema says “we’ll take it.” Again, modeling for us a healthy response to the mother of our Lord.The episode concludes with Mary once again “cleaning” him off, (after he has exhausted and dirtied himself healing the sick ) helping him and tending to him still. All of the disciples are left in silence. Humbled by their own “mistakes.” Looking on and pondering our Lady, Who is only concerned with tending to our Lord. Jesus lovingly says to his mother “what would I do without you?” Like any great work of art, it’s meant to relay an experience to us. It’s not a dogmatic theological argument. We have books for that. We have catechisms for that. This is meant to call our hearts to ponder our Lord and our lady. She asks the question “ how do you think I felt?“ it says nothing about her ever having sinned. It calls the viewer to ponder how Mary felt. And I may come to a different conclusion than the show does. But the question is important. how many great saints Felt sinless? In their great humility they felt lowly. Whatever flaws this series and this episode have I am positive they were not meant to degrade our lady in any way. Quite the contrary. As Protestants they were going in the opposite direction. We’ll see where it goes from here. I am praying that the Holy Spirit will honor their attempts and guide their work to the glory of the Lord.
DeleteI can appreciate the idea that there is an artistic exploration of the human details of Gospel scenes, and I am all for it.
DeleteWe don't disagree in principle. For me, it's a question of what the basic assumptions are in a particular case. As to the general rule, we are on the same page -- I would hardly want a work of art to be didactic or unapproachably informational.
My experience with contemporary Catholics is that blatant errors are taken for granted -- not even discussed. Perhaps Protestants are moving towards being more reverent towards Mary, but Catholics are moving away.
In my rather conservative parish a Christmas Eve sermon featured Mary "screaming in agony" at the birth of Jesus.
It's normal right now to view Mary not as an unapproachable quasi deity (which would be incorrect) but as, literally, "an unwed teen mom, an illegal immigrant." Catholics have taken the Protestant dismissal of Mary and lowered it to irreverent depths.
For Catholics, the need is to recover reverence and piety. I'm dismayed by the pervasiveness in contemporary art (statues, images) of a sentimental, profane, even blasphemous idea of the saints.
Fr. Nix reports the dialog (the link is in the post). I think there are implications in it that stray from the truth of what actually happened and what we ought to believe if we don't want to tear apart that which we are trying to make better known. I believe in artistically showing things according to the truth, not according to being on some scale of "almost" truth that might some day become closer to the truth.
Here is the dialogue:
“Oh,” Mother Mary says, laughing. “Well, nothing about it was easy, I can tell you that. [Nothing? this is expressed the way we would express it, according to our "easy or hard birth" paradigm, but she was preserved from sin, from that paradigm -- why is she being made to speak in these terms?] It wasn’t in my hometown. My mother wasn’t there. We had no midwife. I don’t know if I’m ready to give all the details. Maybe some other time. But I do remember this. When Joseph handed him to me [I'm not sure about this -- I don't think Joseph was the midwife], it was like nothing I expected. It was like everything I had heard about having a baby but I thought this would be completely different.”
“What do you mean?” asks Simon
Mother Mary continues, “I had to clean him off. He was covered in, uh, I will be polite [this goes against what tradition has always taught, and in any case, the implication is profane]. He needed to be cleaned. He was cold. And he was crying. And…He needed my help. My help. A teenager from Nazareth [teenager -- do you think she would have used this word?]. It actually made me think for just one moment, is this really the son of God? And Joseph later told me he briefly thought the same thing. But we knew he was. I don’t know what I expected. But He was crying and He needed me. And I wondered how long that would last. He doesn’t need me anymore. Not since we taught him how to walk and eat. He hasn’t needed me for a long time I suppose. And after Joseph passed, may he rest in peace, He grew up even quicker. And I wish I could say that made me happy. Of course as a Jew I’m excited to see everything He does for our people and I’m proud of Him. But, as a mom, it makes me a little sad sometimes.”
"He hasn't needed me for a long time I suppose." What could be further from the truth! Two VERY influential people in my life, a wise and pious old man and a priest - a hermit - both insisted to me that Our Lord could not have done it (it meaning everything) without her. And I am only now beginning to see what they were saying. She is great.
DeleteAnyway, I also had the thought that yes, I really think Protestants are increasing their appreciation of the Blessed Mother, but this kind of loose lingo would only lower her in a weak Catholic's eyes. Not good.
I've always liked the Zeffirelli "Jesus of Nazareth", though, from the '80s.
Thanks for the review. I have seen the movie advertised but have not watched it.
ReplyDeleteI had an argument/debate with my brother about this issue with The Chosen which Bishop Barron and Scott Hahn have praised profusely. How sad that two well known Catholics would set the bar so low for the truths about Our Blessed Mother. While Fr. Nix is correct on these issues, because of his known problems with obedience he might not be the best defender. People find fault with him first and he is devalued as a source. Our Blessed Mother deserves the truth to be known of her — not misrepresented— as much as Our Lord. The Chosen projects a very Protestant image of her and it’s intentional. Why say “he had to be cleaned up” about the infant Jesus? It’s not relevant to anything and it does nothing but poke a finger in the eye of Catholics who believe in her perpetual virginity. My brother argues that the show is bringing people to scripture, but the truth is the truth and it is misrepresented. Catholics, especially those whom others follow and believe, should be careful about where they set the bar on biblical entertainment. Get your Maryology right, folks.
ReplyDeleteA sinless person would never complain about anything - they would see things from a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteYes, simply and aptly put! Exactly right.
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