A Neglected Gold Mine

A colleague on an email list for writers was contacted by a Hollywood type. They wanted to know what other stories they could film to tap into the same Catholic market—and signal success--as The Passion of the Christ, and The Chronicles of Narnia. They were naively hopeful that The Da Vinci Code, then in production, might be such a vehicle.

Shows what a vast gulf there is between the average Hollywood producer and the average Catholic. They apparently have no idea. Catholic flocking to see The Da Vinci Code?

It seems to me the answer is obvious. What are the classic Catholic stories? The lives of the saints. That’s what saints are for. Some have been burnished, cherished, refined and retold for generations, becoming perfect and gemlike as folk traditions do. Some are charming and childlike—the animal tales surrounding St. Kieran, for example. Some are as grisly as anything in the Passion, if that formed a part of its appeal. Many are stunningly beautiful; all are instructive. Some have already been very successful as movies: Song of Bernadette, A Man for All Seasons, Joan of Arc, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Molokai. If the Hollywood producers had any sense, they would be rushing more into production.

How many saints’ stories are available? There are, on average, about a dozen saints commemorated on every day of the Catholic church calendar. Imagine the gold mine lying there generally ignored. Isn’t it remarkable in itself that nobody has yet made a big budget movie of the life of Mother Theresa? Isn’t this a movie that, if well done, millions would want to see?

I’ll go further: it is amazing that writers and artists of all kinds are so neglectful of this vast, wonderful, and supremely socially valuable body of material. These are the stories all art should be concentrating on. There are, of course, also worthy Protestant equivalents: John Bunyan, John Wesley, William Booth, George Fox, “Wild Goose” Jack Miner, Johnny Appleseed, and on and on.

Much has been made of Norman Bethune; there are hundreds and thousands of better stories involving Christian missionaries.

Indeed, these are the stories we all, as humans, should be concentrating on.