I felt the movie subtly -or not so subtly- portrayed the catholic/christian belief as antiquated and out of touch, through the priest character. Then we saw how the Helen hunt character is shown having a long spiritual experience while in the Jewish water tank, something not directly related to the movie subject. I wanted to share this thought with others and see if they saw the same.
shareI actually thought this movie portrayed Judaism pretty negatively. Among other things, I thought it was pretty clear that the Helen Hunt character was not converting primarily because she wanted to but instead because she felt forced into it by her husband's family. On the other hand, Catholicism (as the John Hawkes character experienced it in the person of the priest played by William H. Macy) was just about the only thing that helped him with his issues and eventually enabled him to have a happier and fuller adult life.
share[deleted]
Propaganda? I don't know about that... but biased towards Judaism? Sure.
Yes, the film portrayed Catholicism in a negative light, as being out of touch with our main protagonist; it also highlighted that Cheryl was born a Catholic but disassociated herself from it due to personal reasons.
So the film went out of its way to define the Catholic religion as unfavorable. That's a fact.
Now did it portray Judaism as favorable? I'm not sure. There did not seem to be much hesitance/defiance with Cheryl's character converting to Judaism because her husband and his family wanted her too. Did it actually show Cheryl as having a "spiritual experience" with the Jewish-cleansing-water-tank-thingy-scene? I'm not sure. The cinematography was a bit botch in that scene to determine if she was merely going through the motions or if she was discovering some spirituality.
All that said, I definitely agree there is an argument to be made and you do have a legitimate point.
One can argue that most priests are "antiquated and out of touch", but I can't understand why you would think that about William H. Macy's character -- the one who advises Mark that God will probably "give him a pass" on the Church's proscription against out-of-wedlock sex!
Badgers? We don't need no stinkin' badgers! But if you could show us something in a nice possum...
We saw how giving him a pass turned out. Sex without commitment is a sin for a reason.
shareSo how did you see it turn out? I saw him learn how not only to love and be loved, but how to get that love. He gained the confidence to find a relationship with a beautiful, witty woman who also liked baseball, a favorite pastime of his. The relationship lasted 5 years (until his death). If this is what sin gets you, I'm sinnin' away.....
shareFather Brendan encouraged him to explore his sexuality a surrogate.
The Mikvah scene directly correlated with the scene in which Cheryl shows Mark his body in the mirror. Body self-acceptance is discussed by the characters and depicted throughout the film as a personal journey regardless of religious beliefs.
It's good to see someone else got the relationship between the Mikvah and the mirror scene.
I didn't see anything approaching Jewish propaganda or anything overly critical of the Catholic faith. There's no question that repressive religious attitudes towards sexuality has caused pain and confusion among believers. It was an honest and accurate observation by the Helen Hunt character. I actually think that using a reasonable priest shown a more favorable light on the Catholic church than would be expected.
I absolutely agree. It seems to be a hallmark of recent (last decade) Hollywood films with Catholic characters who find spirituality despite the dogma associated with their faith. Witness "Million Dollar Baby" and, I believe, "Gran Torino" (or one of the similarly themed Eastwood films). The term "Jewish" can be misleading as many self-identified Jews are not religious. I was not sure if Helen Hunt's character was being dishonest when she identified herself as a "housewife" or if her character had abandoned her profession as a result of her relationship with Mark. I do feel it said a lot about Adam Arkin's character that he stayed with Helen Hunt after he discovered the poem and that he supported his wife in her time of grief at Mark's death. I also found Bill Macy's Catholic priest to be one extraordinary person, who used wisdom, not dogma to advise Mark. Thus, I felt "The Sessions" to be a very life-affirming, spiritual film that portrayed both cultures in a very positive light.
shareNo, but I see an anti-Semite in this thread.
shareConservative and Orthodox Judaism are not liberal about sex.
shareI actually thought the treatment of both religions was fair. It showed why many (most) people NEED religion and that on the whole religion is a positive factor.
Did the edge go the Judaism? Probably. If only because (I assume) it's a Jewish production from Hollywood.
However, it was a CATHOLIC priest who gave Mark the green light. So a church which has such a cool, open-minded priest must be doing something right.
If it WAS propaganda...at least it was truthful! Well, concerning the catholic/christian belief system being antiquated and out of touch that is. Not to mention being full of fantasy and man's made up moral code which is used to repress people.
And you can't understand why more and more younger people are abandoning Religion all together?! Is it not OBVIOUS!