Doubt -- a Brief Review
The movie Doubt starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams, is out on DVD, and worth seeing. It's a dark and disturbing story set in the context of a changing 1960s religious landscape. Although set in 1964, even as Vatican II was in session, it was a time when traditional Catholicism still held sway, a time when nuns still provided the educators for Catholic schools, the primary issue is quite contemporary.
Hoffman plays a seemingly liberal priest, Father Flynn, one who notes the reality of doubt and its value to faith. He befriends the children and seeks to bring the church into the modern world. He's warm and funny, and yet he has a dark side.
Meryl Streep plays a seemingly rigid nun, Sister Aloysius who seems more concerned about proper behavior than in learning. She's old school, to be sure. And yet, despite the seeming coldness of her demeanor -- the children are frightened of her -- as the movie progresses you see something else present, a deep concern for the welfare of the children placed into her hands.
The third major character is Sister James (Amy Adams), a young nun placed in charge of the eighth grade class, a class that includes the school's first Black student. She is a person of innocence, wanting to introduce her students to the wonders of history and the modern world, but she becomes the witness to darkness within the church -- the fact that Father Flynn is paying too much attention to Donald Miller, the young black student interested in the priesthood and needing a protector. It causes her great emotional distress, but she wants to believe the best about the priest. And so she's torn between what she wants to believe and what she knows is likely the truth.
For Sister Aloysius, however, the truth is quite stark. She's seen this before, and she means to stop what is going on -- not in a moralistic way, but out of concern for the children.
But, as we learn this is a different time, a time when priests have great power and are likely to be believed, even when the accuser is a nun. An abusive priest is simply transferred, maybe even promoted. For who will you believe? Times truly have changed. And doubts have crept into the church.
I'm not Catholic, and so my own response is colored by my own practices and beliefs. I find imposed celibacy for church leaders unwise and unfortunate. I believe that the Catholic Church will be better served if it opens itself up to both women and married clergy. I think on the latter there is openness on the part of the majority of Catholics, especially in the light of a dearth of qualified priests to serve the myriad of Congregations around the world, including in this nation. I realize that one can remain celibate, and yet for so many this is too much to ask. The movie doesn't go into detail as to why this happens, only that it does, and that the church is the weaker because of it. One could see this as an attack on the Catholic Church, but perhaps it is rather a reminder of our frailty as humans, the heroism of some, the darkness of others, and the fact that even the church can face corruption and hurt the very ones it seeks to help.
It is an excellent film, one that will prove challenging to faith, no matter what one's tradition might be. May we hear in it a call to abandon our innocence, so that we can protect the innocence of others. It is also a reminder that doubt is present in us all.
Hoffman plays a seemingly liberal priest, Father Flynn, one who notes the reality of doubt and its value to faith. He befriends the children and seeks to bring the church into the modern world. He's warm and funny, and yet he has a dark side.
Meryl Streep plays a seemingly rigid nun, Sister Aloysius who seems more concerned about proper behavior than in learning. She's old school, to be sure. And yet, despite the seeming coldness of her demeanor -- the children are frightened of her -- as the movie progresses you see something else present, a deep concern for the welfare of the children placed into her hands.
The third major character is Sister James (Amy Adams), a young nun placed in charge of the eighth grade class, a class that includes the school's first Black student. She is a person of innocence, wanting to introduce her students to the wonders of history and the modern world, but she becomes the witness to darkness within the church -- the fact that Father Flynn is paying too much attention to Donald Miller, the young black student interested in the priesthood and needing a protector. It causes her great emotional distress, but she wants to believe the best about the priest. And so she's torn between what she wants to believe and what she knows is likely the truth.
For Sister Aloysius, however, the truth is quite stark. She's seen this before, and she means to stop what is going on -- not in a moralistic way, but out of concern for the children.
But, as we learn this is a different time, a time when priests have great power and are likely to be believed, even when the accuser is a nun. An abusive priest is simply transferred, maybe even promoted. For who will you believe? Times truly have changed. And doubts have crept into the church.
I'm not Catholic, and so my own response is colored by my own practices and beliefs. I find imposed celibacy for church leaders unwise and unfortunate. I believe that the Catholic Church will be better served if it opens itself up to both women and married clergy. I think on the latter there is openness on the part of the majority of Catholics, especially in the light of a dearth of qualified priests to serve the myriad of Congregations around the world, including in this nation. I realize that one can remain celibate, and yet for so many this is too much to ask. The movie doesn't go into detail as to why this happens, only that it does, and that the church is the weaker because of it. One could see this as an attack on the Catholic Church, but perhaps it is rather a reminder of our frailty as humans, the heroism of some, the darkness of others, and the fact that even the church can face corruption and hurt the very ones it seeks to help.
It is an excellent film, one that will prove challenging to faith, no matter what one's tradition might be. May we hear in it a call to abandon our innocence, so that we can protect the innocence of others. It is also a reminder that doubt is present in us all.
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