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POPULAR CULTURE

Initiations echo confirmation challenge

BY PETER FEUERHERD
CONTRIBUTOR Ask Dr. Jeffrey Marlett, associate professor of religious studies at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, about movies that reflect an understanding about the sacrament of confirmation, and his first response is "Animal House."

"Animal House," the 1978 film starring the late John Belushi, tells the story of fraternity pranksters gone wild on a fictional college campus. For some, the film is hilarious; for others, it is just an excuse to highlight crude behavior.

Dr. Marlett - who writes frequently on Catholics and American culture, including critiques of such films as Sidney Poitier's "Lilies of the Field" and studies of the Catholic influences on sports figures such as Vince Lombardi and Leo Durocher - is one film critic who sees religious symbolism even when it is not overt.

He sees the Belushi film as a comedic look at initiation rituals, albeit with a jaundiced, heavily satirical view. "Animal House," he said, was the first of a series of Hollywood films that focused on group initiation. Another was the Vietnam War epic "Full Metal Jacket" (1987), directed by the late Stanley Kubrick.

According to Dr. Marlett, these films tell those who want to be initiated that "to be part of the group, you have to go through something." He sees it as akin to Dante's "Divine Comedy," where it is necessary to go through the depths of hell to come out in a better place.

"Good things come with difficulty," Dr. Marlett said about the plots of these films. "That is something that the Catholic tradition grasps clearly. Initiation is preparatory. The new life is not going to be easy. It will be rigorous and requires training."

The roots of confirmation point to the same concept, he said: Those who wanted to join with the early Christians were being brought into a community under siege. There was risk involved.

The early Christian initiation rites included careful preparation, offering a precise message: "You are welcome to join us, but beware. This is not something to be taken lightly," said Dr. Marlett. That remains the case. 

The Catechism explains that the sacrament "gives us a special strength of the Holy Spirit to spread and defend the faith by word and action." We all know what happened to many of those saintly defenders. Being Catholic requires courage.

(10/08/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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