Jason Plautz
Why Did The Vatican Review Harry Potter?
by Jason Plautz - July 21, 2009 - 11:15 AM

harry_potter_and_the_half_blood_prince_potter-_poster2
Like millions this weekend, I eagerly saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I’m ready to give it rave reviews and apparently I’m not the only one. The Vatican also gave the movie two thumbs up, as it were. The Pope has been down on the boy wizard in the past, saying that the series has the power to “corrupt the Christian faith in souls even before it could properly grow.” But a review in the Vatican’s official newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, praised the new movie for showing the lines of good and evil and the message that the fight for good requires sacrifice. This begs an important question, though: since when does the Vatican’s newspaper run movie reviews?

As it turns out, the Catholic Church has been weighing in on Hollywood for decades. There’s even a special office for films and broadcasting in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. They review movies to help parents and adults trying to find morally acceptable films and have created their own rating scale, which ranges from A-I (general audience) to O (morally offensive). Like any critic worth their keep, the film office publishes an annual top 10 list, though it’s a little more reliant on inspiration and deep messages than it is on entertainment. Last year’s list featured forgettable titles like “The Express,” “Flash of Genius” and “Henry Poole is Here”

But the Vatican itself does publish full-length reviews, usually for movies with notable religious or morally-questionable content. So, you’re probably not going to find anything on the new Transformers movie. But recently, L’Osservatore Romano has chimed in on titles like “The Da Vinci Code,” sequel “Angels and Demons,” The Golden Compass” and, of course, “The Passion of the Christ.” It hits out at films that could criticize the church (“The Da Vinci Code” predictably didn’t do too well). They even criticized “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” for rewriting history and making 16th Century England seem more secular.

But the Pope has actually declared his praise for some films without a stake in religion. In 1995, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of cinema, the Vatican released their list of the 45 best movies, grouped by whether they advanced religion, values or art. The list contains predictably morally-laden titles like “It’s A Wonderful Life,” “Ben Hur” and “Schindler’s List,” but the art category really goes out on a limb. That list includes “Nosferatu,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Stagecoach” and “Fantasia.” Even “2001: A Space Odyssey” makes the cut, showing just how good the Pope’s taste can be.

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Comments (13)

  1. I’m surprised with your last paragraph. So many times, the top 10 lists by the Vatican focus on movies with a specific religious mention without regards to how good the movie actually is. A good example is last Sunday at church (yup, I’m Catholic) they advertised a showing of the movie Fireproof, which would be followed by discussion. I’m glad my church is trying to do movie discussions, but I think there’s plenty of non-religious movies with more moral depth to them (I admittedly say this without having seen Fireproof) that make for better group discussions. Sadly, I’m afraid Dark City will probably never be shown at my church . . .

    I’m glad to see the Pope at least will acknowledge other movies as good. The trickle-down effect dictates it will hit individual parishes in 20 years.

    reCaptcha: readying Step-Up
    Yeah, we’ll step-up, when we’re good and ready!

    posted by nutmeag on 7-21-2009 at 12:33 pm

  2. Newsflash: Fireproof is religious.

    posted by nikki on 7-21-2009 at 1:10 pm

  3. @nikki:
    I know, that’s why I want my parish to find something a little less overtly religious to spark more discussion. I even sent them an email naming my concerns.

    posted by nutmeag on 7-21-2009 at 1:17 pm

  4. The Wizard of Oz “classification is A-II — adults and adolescents”.

    Really? That’s a little off a key demographic, isn’t it? The movie was a super important part of my childhood. Anyone else?

    posted by OkieMelissa on 7-21-2009 at 1:28 pm

  5. @OkieMelissa:
    I think it’s because of the scary witch. They have to make sure all kiddos can watch it without the possibility of nightmares (oh who am I kidding, the witch still scares ME, but I do love the story).

    posted by nutmeag on 7-21-2009 at 1:43 pm

  6. A pet peeve of mine if improper use of the phrase “begs the question.” On a website dedicated to nerds, I feel ok to call out the author for his improper use of the phrase. What he meant to write was, “This RAISES an important question, though: since when does the Vatican’s newspaper run movie reviews?”

    New Potter movie rocked imo.

    posted by JT on 7-21-2009 at 1:50 pm

  7. I am surprised that the Vactican even watched the new Harry Potter film but I get why they did it. Vactican aside I will maybe watch the new film. I like to see how the movie differ from the book.

    posted by Kari on 7-21-2009 at 2:38 pm

  8. I am surprised that the Vatican reviewed the new Harry Potter movie but I will watch anyway to see how it differ from the book.

    posted by Kari on 7-21-2009 at 2:42 pm

  9. i like to imagine the pope curled up with a bag of popcorn on his fancy pope throne, having traded in his pope hat for a wizard cap. oh pope, you’re adorable.

    posted by tiffany on 7-21-2009 at 6:32 pm

  10. JT I agree that on a site such as this that may be important, though the comments section is rarely the best place to do so. Hence the contact us link at the bottom of the page.

    Otherwise it just comes across as a holier than thou post from some random person.

    posted by Jerad on 7-21-2009 at 8:19 pm

  11. David Yates (director) did a superb job just magnificent to watch, may be Alfonso Cuarón would have made them ROCK. I am a great fan of Harry Potter series. My favorite still remains HP3: Prisoner of Azkaban. But Half Blood was simply outstanding on levels.
    Being a great fan I have collected a list of good sites and articles (may be around 200) related to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (movie information, movie schedule, movie reviews, books, games, news, wallpapers and many more). If you are interested take a look at the below link

    http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/07/all-you-want-to-know-about-harry-potter.html

    posted by sri on 7-22-2009 at 12:24 am

  12. I’m so excited to see Harry Potter 6!!! I’ve been waiting for over a week now, because, for some reason, unbeknown to the peons, the cinemas in Jamaica (Caribbean) did not bring the movie last week Wednesday. It just opened today!!
    I’m not surprised the Pope/ Vatican watched the movie. They do have to let the Christian community know what is of ‘good moral fibre’ to be watched. lol.

    posted by ariaDne on 7-22-2009 at 12:20 pm

  13. If you happened to miss Luke Wilson in Henry Poole the first time around, I encourage you to check out the recently released family version of the film. I absolutely loved this movie! It was such a great story about a real life guy who was struggling with his faith and accepting it. This is something that I’ve been struggling with myself for the past couple of years. It was such an encouragement to see this played out. And it’s really cool that I’ve found a site, http://www.henrypoolebelieves.com. Right now it looks like they are giving away 10 copies of the movie for free. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, or even if you have, you could always give it to a friend, but it’s definitely worth checking out! A PERFECT film for a FAMILY movie night!

    posted by Michele on 10-12-2009 at 12:43 am

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