"God or the Girl" - My Impressions
Last night, I got to watch the first 4 episodes of the A&E series "God or the Girl", which follows the decision-making process of 4 20-something young men discerning a calling to the Catholic priesthood. My impressions of the show are mixed.I started out REALLY liking the show. It is one of the most positive and sympathetic portrayals of the Catholic Church coming out of the mainstream media/entertainment world that I have ever seen. But as I got into the 2nd and 3rd episodes of the show, I began to realize that the fact that Catholicism is put in a very good light was about the ONLY reason I liked it (well, there's also Steve, but I'll get to him in a moment). The positive portrayal of the Church is a good reason to like the show, but insufficient for me to give "God or the Girl" an unqualified thumbs up.
My main problem with "God or the Girl" is that Father David Nuss's criticisms of the show are exactly on point. It is a rather shallow portrayal of the discernment process, a process that is ill-suited for reality TV. With one exception, the subjects of "God or the Girl" are focused almost exclusively on "what must be given up" in order to be a priest. And there was little, if any, focus on the sacramental nature of the priesthood. Sure, we saw various candidates go on pilgrimage, pray the Rosary in front of abortion clinics, go on a mission trip, carry an 80-pound cross for 22 miles, attend World Youth Day in Cologne, which was all great. And again, the Catholic imagery that America will see because of this program is amazing. But something seemed to be missing. There was a superficiality to the whole thing that troubled me.
However, the one young man who seems to have gotten it right is my fellow University of Virgina grad, Steve. A young man who came out of college with what he thought was his "dream job", a starting salary of $75,000, and a half-a-million dollar condo, Steve decided to chuck it all to become a missionary. Eventually, he felt called to the priesthood. He is also the only one who doesn't seem to be all tied up in knots over the "girl" issue - for Steve, the biggest obstacle to the priesthood is his fear of where God's calling will take him, not the fact that he can't get married. Beyond its positive portrayal of the Faith, "God or the Girl" is worth watching, if, for no other reason, because of Steve. If you're not touched to the point of tears by his mission trip to Guatemala, you might want to check to make sure you still have a pulse.There were a few cringe-worthy moments in "God or the Girl", but there was one that made me just want to crawl under the bed and hide. At one point, Dan (who, in my opinion, is probably the 2nd most serious candidate for the priesthood - which isn't saying much) goes around the Ohio State University campus before a football game to invite students to a Bible study. One evangelical student notices that the Bible study is a "Catholic" Bible study and declines the invitation. When pressed by Dan why he wouldn't want to study the Bible with Catholics, the evangelical student gives him a real-world example.
The evangelical quotes scripture like a preacher man, throwing out all the canards about the Church leading people into error and praying to Our Lady, etc., and providing scripture references to allegedly back up his claims. All Dan can manage between his pregnant pauses - "Uh ... I ... uh ... don't ... uh ..." - is a fairly lame "I think you're misinterpreting scripture" or something along those lines. It's pretty clear from the exchange that the Catholic would get more out of Bible study than the evangelical would. It was embarassing to see on national TV a devout Catholic, who has obviously been serious about his faith for quite a while and is discerning a call to the priesthood, get completely schooled in scripture by an evangelical peer and not be able to defend against the most rudimentary challenge to the Faith. Confirming, in the minds of all who watched, the old saw that Catholics don't know their Bible. Yech!
All that being said, Catholics desperate for positive media portrayal of the Catholic Church will be happy to know that A&E has produced a very sensitive program and did an excellent job in that regard. While I can't give it my unqualified approval, I do recommend that you watch "God or the Girl". A&E will be showing all of the first 4 episodes back-to-back this Friday night, with the 5th and final episode on Sunday.
UPDATE:
Other reviews of "God or the Girl":
Carolina Cannonball at The Crescat
Fumare
LAMLand
More from LAMLand
Maior autem his est caritas
You Duped Me Lord
Father David Nuss at the vocations blog for the Toledo Diocese, Follow Me
Also be sure to read the comments to Amy Welborn's post at Open Book
Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Speaking of Vocations
posted by Pro Ecclesia 6:50 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
I understand your frustration, Jay.
In fairness to Dan, however, keep in mind that he may be a cradle Catholic.
Now, that doesn't mean cradle Catholics don't know their scripture. It does mean that they have different ways of referring to them, especially the Gospel.
For example, I couldn't tell you what verses account for the parable of the Prodigal Son. But just mention the parable by name, and I know it immediately--and can recite it almost to the word! Likewise for the miracle of the loaves and Fish, the calling of Peter and the ressurection of Lazarus.
I couldn't stand toe-to-toe in a scripture-quoting contest with an evangelical Christian, either. While I'm confident I could defend the Church and instruct said EC on his misinterpretation of scripture, I couldn't do so by quoting scripture and verse verbatim!
Besides, do we really want candidates to the Priesthood to possibly "get ugly" with fellow Christians on account of the Church? Phyrric defenses of the Mystical Body do not evangelize as well as a Christ-like example, at least in my experience.
Thanks for your thoughts on the show. I may check it out!
"... do we really want candidates to the Priesthood to possibly "get ugly" with fellow Christians on account of the Church? Phyrric defenses of the Mystical Body do not evangelize as well as a Christ-like example, at least in my experience."
It was a very cordial, respectful, and friendly conversation between the 2 young men, so Dan wouldn't have had to become confrontational. But the guy should have offered more of a defense of Our Blessed Lady than "Uhhhh ... errrr ... I think you're misinterpreting that." He didn't need to offer chapter and verse.
The problem was that all this occurred on national TV, and it was clear to the viewer that the evangelical layman was learned in scripture while the future priest was not. It only confirmed the ugly misperceptions that Catholics are scriptural illiterates.
Whew, the dude with the long permed hair needs to reconsider. Last thing we need is another "dandy" in the ranks of the priesthood.
That's Dan. He's actually not really a "dandy", and is probably the 2nd "best" candidate for the priesthood among the 4.
It's the 2 on the righthand side of the photo that probably need to stay away from the priesthood.
Jay, good post on the show.
I watched the first two episodes and like the rest of us, I am so starved for a possitive depection of the Chuch on TV that this show seemed pretty darn good. Not perfect, but in comparission to anything this side of EWTN...
The fella from VA was easily my favorite, your right, he has given up a lot, and yet his inner conflicts were not based on what he would be missing out on. I think he will make a very good priest.
The guy who went to World Youth Day was so darn indecisive it was anoying.
The guy I think in PA seemed awfuly girly.
The guy with the perm anoyed me quite a bit. While I admired some of the things he did like praying in front of the abortion clinc, he seemed all-in-all way to naaive.
I didn't see his confrontation with the Protestant but judging from what I did see he very much acts like the hardcore evangelical protestant type, in terms of his tactics and actions and is probably very vunerable to accepting that theology as well.
As for the minor charcters, it was good to see Pope Bennidict! Also when "Dan" was debating the two girls in front of the abortion clinc, it was odd that one of them had a shirt on that said "Gesu" (french for Jesus?)
This debate was pretty typical with the girls more or less aknowledging that abortion is killing but they don't want that right taken away from them. I guess the silver lining in the complete lack of ideological diversity on college campuses is that left-wing secularists are so inexperienced with actaully have to debate their position that their rhetorical skills are like those of selfish and spoiled little kids. On campus usually the only sort of people they will have to debate is some fundementalist who only quotes scripture. In arguments these people are really floored when a learned Catholic stands up to them (thus the Dan character was none-to bright.)
I did like the Priest who was working with Dan, the big bald guy, reminded me of a pro-wrestler. He didn't bother with any crap about feelings, he just told the guy to carry a huge cross, then later would tell him to do things for the sake of "obedience," thats a nice change from the limp wristed 70's type priests with the ranbow vessements.
also interesting to note that despite the flaws of these 4 guys they are all loyal to church teachings.
You don't see any of them saying they are conflicted because of the Church views on stem-cell research, abortion, etc. This trend is prevlent among most churchgoing Catholics in their 20's. If they didn't belive this stuff, they wouldn't go.
I, too, was annoyed by Dan's inability to even remember the simplest scriptural defense of the saints intercessory status--"the prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Although, in his defense, these kinds of sequences are usually heavily edited by the producers of the show.
Perhaps he should start reading--not just collecting--those theological books on his bookshelf.
A positive sign is that Dan seems to have improved his apologetic skills since the show ended. He was on "Larry King Live" several days ago, and he stood toe-to-toe with the fundamentalist "Reverend" John McArthur on the issue of priestly celibacy. He was ready with memorized scripture and aquitted himself (and the faith) well.
I think Steve and Dan will both make good priests. I'm glad that Mike decided against the priesthood, and I hope Joe does the same. Joe seems so superficial, narcissistic, and noncommital. Get over yourself, dude, and make a choice! A 10-year discernment process? Good grief!
I don't think Joe would make a good priest. But, in his defense, how troubled should we be by the length of his discernment process?
How many years did God call St. Augustine before Augustine finally answered the call?
Touche, Jay. Of course, it would be wonderful if Joe experienced an Augustinian conversion en route to the priesthood. I just don't see it coming. He strikes me as one of those immature modern kids who wishes he could forever delay starting his adult life. There doesn't seem to be much "discernment" in his discernment process.
Joe seems to see the priesthood as a way to stand out from his brothers, be someone whom people admire, and help people--where's God in that picture?
On another point, at one of the links you referenced, I was reminded of 2 wonderful moments in the 4th episode:
Steve (with tears in eyes): "If I'm fortunate, God will make me a priest."
Amber (Dan's gal): "I just want to be with you in heaven."
Those two moments make the shows worth watching to me. Thanks for covering this.
I agree. I don't think Joe is in it for the right reasons. And he is clearly indecisive about a lot of things beyond just the priesthood. The scene at the restaurant where he can't decide what to order off the menu is priceless.
I don't see a future Augustine there. But then, outside of St. Monica, did anyone see a future St. Augustine in Augustine?
Thanks, Michelle.
On dicussion/argument with evangelicals: Newman makes the point somewhere that swapping Scripture verses with a Protestant in defence of Catholicism can't work (not 'often doesn't work' or 'works if one knows the Bible, but actually can't work in the sense of converting the guy) because he has chosen the ground of battle and the weapons - and, of course, the fight in the first place. As Catholics, while we most certainly believe that all doctrine is implicitly in Scripture, there's no way that it's all explicitly there - try defending the Assumption of our blessed Lady just from there.
The point is that the Protestant believes his authority is the Bible, whereas it's actually himself - his own (or his pastor's) interpretation of Scripture. You can't defend prayer to our Lady by quoting scripture - just try that verse about 'the prayer of a righteous man availeth much', and all you'll get is a verse about the wickedness of necromancy (Evangelicals really believe that saints are dead); then if you quote Revelation, and the saints and angels hearing prayers, you'll get another verse, and so on and so on. Ultimately, the only way one can really tackle this is to go for the root, and show that our Lord endowed His Church with authority: thus we are not left on our own with a Bible, nor do we need EXPLICIT justification from Scripture for every doctrine.
Unfortunately, this sort of argument doesn't lend itself to sound-bites on TV, and must normally be continued over time! Tthis was certainly my experience as an ex-Evangelical.
Post a Comment
<< Home