Posted on 04/27/2011 8:10:30 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
(RNS) In its new Sunday night series, The Borgias, Showtime has found the magic combination for ultimate crowd appeal in a scintillating soap opera about a bad-boy pope.
The Borgias follows the quasi-historic story of the Spanish noble family who, with the ascent of Rodrigo Borgia as Pope Alexander VI in 1492, brought a nighttime-television-style era of debauchery to the papacy.
The Borgias were infamous for simony — buying and selling church offices and sacraments. In their case, they bought the papacy through bribery and coercion.
But don’t forget the sexual promiscuity, bribery, double-crossing, incest, blackmail, murder, poisoning and all manner of unabashedly sinful behavior.
The debut episodes of The Borgias on Sunday (April 3) opened with scenes of intrigue and titillation. Called to the death bed of Pope Innocent VII, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) plots to become the next pope by any means necessary.
Meanwhile, his eldest son Cesare (Francois Arnaud) — an 18-year-old bishop of the church — and his fetching paramour engage in an athletic sexual encounter while his adolescent sister Lucretia (Holliday Grainger) watches through an open window.
Some viewers likely went scrambling to Wikipedia to look up the Borgias during those opening scenes, curious about these cardinals (and popes) who had lovers and children. According to the series, Borgia had numerous children by several mistresses; Pope Innocent VIII fathered a dozen offspring as well. In the 15th century, at least according to The Borgias, it was commonplace for Catholic clerics to have mistresses and large families despite their vows of celibacy.
At a time when stories of clergy sex abuse still regularly make international news, naughty popes and Catholic leaders behaving badly might strike a certain resonance with viewers, if fueled by nothing more than a sense of schadenfreude.
As the debut episodes unfold, Rodrigo buys his way to the throne of St. Peter; a cardinal is poisoned at a lavish dinner with other princes of the church; another cardinal is framed for murdering a chambermaid in his bed; and a traitorous assassin is paid to do the Borgia family’s dirty work.
But wait, there’s more: the new pope uses a tunnel from the Vatican to the villa of the murdered cardinal for regular rolls in the hay with his new mistress; his old mistress, meanwhile, promises to remain chaste now that the father of her children occupies the papal throne.
In short, the papacy has rarely looked worse than it does in The Borgias. And maybe that’s part of its appeal.
Not surprisingly, the arrival of the tawdry papal soap opera in the middle of Lent did not go unnoticed by the New York-based Catholic League, the perennial defenders of any and all perceived pop culture assaults directed at the Catholic Church.
In recent statements, Catholic League president Bill Donohue questioned why Vatican officials hadn’t formally protested The Borgias.
“For one thing, Catholics are used to being slammed by Hollywood, so The Borgias hardly shakes them,” Donohue said. “Catholics don’t expect perfection from (their) clergy. This, however, is beside the point. The most immediate issue is why Showtime decided to gift Catholics with this series during the Lenten season.”
An obvious answer is that this is the high season for all things spiritual. During Lent — with its fasting, abstaining, ashes, rituals and holy days — religion is a hot topic.
The Catholic Church is an evergreen for pop culture clashes. There’s something about Catholicism that seems to lend itself so well to film and television and capture the popular imagination with a kind of passion that, say, Presbyterianism or Lutheranism don’t.
“Well, for one thing it’s colorful — literally. All those cassocks and albs and miters and vestments makes for visually arresting television,” said the Rev. James Martin, a Catholic priest and prolific author of titles such as A Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.
“It’s the combination of power, money, religion, sex and sin. That’s almost unbeatable television, even if it’s not altogether historically accurate.”
Catholicism has that certain something that makes it well suited to vivid (and sometimes controversial) media depictions, said Tom Beaudoin, associate professor of theology at Fordham University.
“Catholicism offers an unusually compelling mix of qualities that is well-suited for media culture: its taste for the ritually spectacular, its evident culture of secrecy, its elicitation and denial of erotic and homoerotic experience, its historic enmeshment with secular power,” Beaudoin said.
“As everyone now knows, this is a tradition both beautiful and dangerous and that makes for compelling media today.”
Beyond all the high church hedonism, there seems to be something else that keeps viewers tuning in to a can’t-look-away car crash like The Borgias. Maybe it’s really all about us, and not them.
“There’s a fascination with the sins of the powerful, whether it’s Henry VIII or the Borgias,” Martin said. “It may make viewers feel that our sins aren’t so bad: we sin from time to time, but at least we’re not poisoning our relatives.”
I don't disagree with that statement, but I don't see why you brought them up.
b) It's a basic misconception on the nature of man. It's a continuation of 19th century Liberalism but goes back to the fall of man. It's those who have power believing they know what's best for individuals and they believe they should engineer who lives and who don't and the actions of those lucky enough to live.
I think the disease is pure selfish hedonism, not control. People getting abortions aren't doing it because they are doing what's best for an individual they have power over. They are doing it for convenience and because it seemingly makes their lives easier.
c) I'm writing about it now, besides other things.
I won't criticize you for what you do or do not do, but I also wouldn't recommend others questioning people who do more than what they do.
d)No, but if you don't understand the causes behind why someone would kill their own baby then you will probably not be successful in curing the disease.
You can fight against both the disease and its symptoms at the same time. Each and every child saved is a success, even if thousands more are still murdered.
You don't like demonstrations?
I have no idea how you thought this post was a good response to vladimir998.
I took it as being sincere. Sorry if what I wrote made you think otherwise.
Obviously, they cannot produce a drama they claim is based on reality and then make up everything. What I am finding a touch humorous reading on this thread is all the ways in which the "adherents" minimize the debauchery done by those in the highest echelons of their institution. It is also surprising how all the claims of motivations of hate for critical posts during Lent are still being tossed even when the season is passed. I guess there never is a good time to read criticism of our sacred cows yet I see that even Jesus never let an opportunity pass to bring down idols of men's souls.
But when that symptom is as catastrophic as the death of 50 million unborn since Roe the symptoms cannot be ignored.
No need to apologize.
I understood that you did.
Sorry I gave you any other impression.
May you and your family walk ever closer to God as these END TIMES challenge all of us.
May our focus be on CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED, ARISEN, COMING AGAIN.
Thank you.
May we look in joyful hope for the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Well, we are anything but boring.
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
A great Biblical Exhortation.
Thanks.
This holocaust of our time will NEVER be stopped until hearts are changed person by person. In working at a ministry for crisis pregnancies and post-abortion, I know that the root of it all is how an individual "sees" their worth, their value. Women who consider abortion are not all the demonic, selfish whores the "Christian" society self-righteously views them as. There are many, many reasons a woman makes this choice and, in my experience, the prime one is fear - not convenience.
The front lines in this battle are scattered but we must remember that every woman - and her baby's father - are in their own battle as well. Only through the love of God and the grace and mercy of his love can each and every person involved in this decision - mother, father, parents, teachers, friends, society, etc. - have a heart change that turns around the decision of death for the innocent into a welcoming attitude of gratitude for the miraculous gift of new life.
Support your local Pregnancy Help Centers - they are in the trenches every day!
Too often they are scared children themselves or victims of other tragic crimes. We need to treat them as such and work to remove abortion as an available option.
God bless you for your works.
I brought them up because I assumed it took at least a Bishop to approve discipline of someone wayward in your Church. I'm not an expert in your Church's laws so maybe I'm wrong. What does it take to discipline someone in your Church?
I think the disease is pure selfish hedonism, not control. People getting abortions aren't doing it because they are doing what's best for an individual they have power over. They are doing it for convenience and because it seemingly makes their lives easier.
Maybe we can agree it is both/and? If the elites can create a culture in which people are so selfish that they are willing to kill their children then they can achieve their goals without the appearance of coercion. I believe I heard recently that amongst single black women the abortion rate is somewhere near 80%? This doesn't occur unless their is a strong cultural influence promoted by the ruling elites. It's pure racism. The ruling elites want to keep these people dependent on the government so they can control them and offering free government funded abortions keeps them under their control and their population.
I applaud those who work to save every baby they can. But God gives different people different responsibilities and I resent those who attack others for not engaging in the same activities as what God may have placed them.
Well said... and a big Amen!
No it can't. But in a democratic republic you're limited to either working to vote in candidates who support life or start a revolution. If you go for the former route then one cannot expect to change culture overnight.
I love demonstrations...if I’m buying a vacuum cleaner. There are better places to spend the time and effort.
You are correct. And imagine this scared child being hounded at all sides to "get rid of it". Granted, some misguided girls see a baby like they would a toy. Attention, unconditional love - or so they think. Yet rarely do they ever hear of what is really best for that baby. Rarely do they ever get the message that that baby is a real person, too. Teens seldom think very far ahead and most do not have a good understanding of consequences. The best tact would, of course, be to reach them BEFORE they start being sexually active. Begin in homes, schools, churches, parents, books, movies - whatever it takes - and undo the false message they have been getting for decades now about "free love" or uninhibited gratification. Teach them to respect themselves and their bodies and the wonderful miracle of procreation. That they each have worth and value and each child deserves to be loved and cared for. Parenting is not easy.
They see women all around them having sex with boyfriends or strangers even and they want to emulate them. How often when we were kids did we say we couldn't wait to be a grown-up? The idea of freedom to do whatever we want when we want? Since birth control and abortion on demand, sex with no unwanted consequences is the message society has been screaming for. And that false promise and its real consequences have come home to roost. We have STDs today that weren't even heard of when our parents were kids. Skyrocketing divorce rates, unwed mothers, abortions, welfare, poverty, HIV/AIDS, with no end in sight on taking back those awful results of "free love". In ain't so free after all!
God's word and His commandments are meant for us because he loves us and not to keep us from having fun. They are the "instruction manual" for a happy and healthy life. We, as Christians, have the responsibility to get that message out there to the world. Like I said, change will come one heart at a time. Keep up the good work, too! If we don't do it, the "world" sure won't.
Neither does he most likely.
I'm no expert either, so I don't know.
Maybe we can agree it is both/and? If the elites can create a culture in which people are so selfish that they are willing to kill their children then they can achieve their goals without the appearance of coercion. I believe I heard recently that amongst single black women the abortion rate is somewhere near 80%? This doesn't occur unless their is a strong cultural influence promoted by the ruling elites. It's pure racism. The ruling elites want to keep these people dependent on the government so they can control them and offering free government funded abortions keeps them under their control and their population.
It looks like we mostly agree with each other. I do see this component of liberal elites poisoning culture for their goals, but on the whole, I think our culture's problems are mainly due to a large loss of faith (which the elites contribute to) and to our unprecedented prosperity that weakens the will to resist evil.
I applaud those who work to save every baby they can. But God gives different people different responsibilities and I resent those who attack others for not engaging in the same activities as what God may have placed them.
I can see your point. Maybe this can be due to the Catholic vs Calvinist mindset. (You're a Calvinist, right?) A Catholic may believe you can choose to save the unborn and think it wrong when you do not, but a Calvinist may think that saving the unborn is just not in God's plan for them.
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