Posted on 05/12/2006 5:21:36 PM PDT by Pyro7480
Tom Hanks Provokes Catholics’ Ire
As if starring in one of the highest profile blasphemies of history was not enough, The Da Vinci Code star Tom Hanks has added insult to injury with a blasphemous skit on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” on May 6.
During the show’s beginning monologue, cast members dressed as clergymen and “clergywomen” reportedly derided Mr. Hanks for starring in The Da Vinci Code and threatened him with eternal damnation.
The blasphemous parody escalated as actor Jason Sudeikis appeared dressed as “Jesus Christ,” saying that he forgave Mr. Hanks. Mr. Hanks responded, “So you have seen the movie.” To which “Our Lord” quipped that he had not, but that he forgave Hanks for having made a boring movie in the past (The Terminal).
Many could not fathom what Mr. Hanks hoped to accomplish by further provoking Catholics who will be protesting his film at theaters beginning May 19.
“I do not think that Catholics across the country found Tom Hanks’ blasphemous “Saturday Night Live” skit amusing,” said TFP Rejecting The Da Vinci Code campaign coordinator Francis Slobodnik. “I am certain that his attempt at humor will result in more protests and do further harm to box office sales of The Da Vinci Code movie.”
Catholic ping!
Please move this to the Religion forum instead.
Publicity.
Thank you! :-)
I used to like Tom Hanks. I have lost a lot of respect for him.
Keep protesting folks - it may entice people to research the history of the church.......and educate themselves
Sarcasm?
"Keep protesting folks - it may entice people to research the history of the church.......and educate themselves"
good point - when people learn the truth it leads to great vocations. Like Cardinal Herranz (as quoted in Time Magazine).
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1622576/posts
If that is the case--if much of the negative feeling regarding Opus at this point is displaced anger over the direction of the church--then The Da Vinci Code may be the best fate that could befall it. The movie will not deter Opus' usual constituency--conservative Catholics do not look to Ron Howard for guidance. But by forcing Opus into greater transparency, the film could aid it: if the organization is as harmless and "mature" as Bohlin contends, then such exposure could bring in a bumper crop of devotees--with perhaps even more to come if, as seems likely, American Catholicism becomes both more Hispanic and more conservative.
That is the kind of outcome Julian Cardinal Herranz, Opus' ranking Vatican official, expects. Long ago, he says, when he was editing a university newspaper, someone submitted a story claiming that Opus Dei was part of a worldwide conspiracy. Fascinated, Herranz began talking to Opus members, eventually becoming one himself. "That article I read was fiction," he says. "And now I'm here. I became a priest, I came to Rome, I became a bishop, and now a Cardinal. All because I read a fictional story about Opus Dei."
This time they've gone a bit further. Sony Corporation, Ron Howard, and Tom Hanks were given a chance to show they had an ounce of decency by prefacing the film with a disclaimer which would slightly mitigate the character assassination of Opus Dei. No one asked them to alter the artistic content of the film one whit.
Sony responded with the nonsequitur that the film was not, in fact, offensive, which is a stunning bit of delusional "reasoning" in light of the fact that people were telling them that they did, indeed, find it so. How could Catholics not be offended by a film the trailer for which accuses the Church of perpetrating "the biggest coverup in human history"?
Ron Howard abjectly refused to attach the disclaimer, though it would have cost him nothing to have done so, parroting the ridiculous line that it is "just a work of fiction." But it is a "fictional" presentation of a real organization, Opus Dei, whose members are having their reputations dragged through the mud thereby. That is to say, the film is a slander, and probably actionable, as Cdl. Arinze has suggested.
Now we have Tom Hanks adding insult to injury with this SNL "performance". (I'm actually old enough to remember when that show was funny, but that was back in the Gilda Radner era.) I guess his intent is to goad us even further in the hopes of raising an emotional response. (Aside: I used to know someone who hosted a small-town radio talk show. I was young and naive enough at that time to think this was a noble endeavor in the service of democracy, free speech, etc. He made it clear that it was all about "getting a rise out of people". In his view, people tuned in to hear a verbal battle; they didn't much care about the issues being discussed.) I say we shouldn't give Mr. Hanks the satisfaction. His actions speak volumes about what kind of person he is.
By all means, let's use this as a teaching moment. The USCCB is planning to air a television special on NBC the week of May 20th, called Jesus Decoded which should help serve that purpose. But the other thing to keep in mind is that the Catholic Church often doesn't win by "winning battles", but by enduring. The program of the cultural elites is intrinsically self-destructive, and we'll still be here to pick up the pieces after the logical consequences of their positions play themselves out. So, rather than (much) public protesting, I would suggest we keep in mind that there are about 1 billion Catholics in the world, many of whom are Sony customers, and have long memories. I know that I will be looking at Konica/Minolta, Nikon, or Canon next time I buy a digital camera. And I'm not likely to go to another movie directed by Ron Howard, or buy a DVD for a film starring Tom Hanks. If you get my drift ...
I saw that Saturday Night Live, and thought it was funny, the bit about The Terminal.
Great point.
About all Tom Hanks knows is that there is money to be made in being Anti-Catholic.I doubt if he knows very much about the history of the Catholic Church.
I read somewhere that Tom Hanks was once Catholic...though he is now Greek Orthodox (he converted when he married...)
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