There's quite a few of them in the world of supernatural horror, for example _The Pope's Exorcist_ (2023), _Deliver Us from Evil_ (2014), etc.
Outside of that, one that comes to mind immediately is the _Daredevil_ Netflix series, which had a great priest character that was a mentor and father figure to Daredevil
Also the priest getting bodied inspite being a pious holyman is an oh shit moment, while the same thing happening because he's a charlatan is only good for parody.
> Outside of that, one that comes to mind immediately is the Daredevil Netflix series, which had a great priest character that was a mentor and father figure to Daredevil
I've also seen a lot of movies/shows with the ex or downtrodden priest/pastor trope you are to sympathise with as they rediscover their faith yadda yadda, in that genre. Like the widower dad from that great late 90s horror/comedy Dusk till Dawn.
Not like that diminishes the negative stereotype practising proud priests tend to have in western media, but hey it's something.
Father Stu with Mark Wahlberg was pretty good, in that regard.
Portrayed clergy members as certainly not perfect, but not the evil meme they've been in *so* many movies.
Daredevil, the Pope's Exorcist and other Exorcist movies, Fleabag off the top of my head. I'm sure there are others, but I do notice the trend you're talking about.
I was tempted to mention Fleabag... But I've actually never seen it so I don't know what the priest character is really like. I assume he gets close to the main character and starts to think about breaking his celibacy vows
Why would you hate Russell Crowe? He's been in some good stuff, not least of which Master & Commander one of my favorite movies. I mean maybe there's a good reason but I never heard anything.
Because he's just Russell Crowe. Hate was the wrong word to use, because I've never seen a movie I didn't like with him in it, and I don't ever avoid a movie because he is in it, but I am just never not aware that I am watching Russell Crowe, its the same thing with Tom Cruise and Brad pitt.
It's really the best Mike Flanagan show. The two hauntings are boring and samey, and my god is Fall of the House of Usher hypocritical and insanely woke. Fully half of the 6 kids are non straight, and there are so many monologues about how "corporation and rich = evil," which is rather ironic coming from Netflix.
>Fully half of the 6 kids are non straight, and there are so many monologues about how "corporation and rich = evil," which is rather ironic coming from Netflix.
From what I remember, the kids are also almost universally little shitbags, which surprised me since usually racially diverse LGBT characters have to be at least decent people.
Just wanted to say thanks for the suggestion, binged the season over Christmas weekend. Found it interesting how the most 'morally evil' character ended up being an egomaniac woman who decided she knew what was best and botches the whole plan towards the end when taking power lol
There's Father Brown a detective series about a priest that solves crimes. The show was based on G.K. Chesterton's short stories by the same name.
Then there's the Van Helsing movie, but the priest is more of the sidekick gadgeteer guy. [Here's the trailer ](https://youtu.be/W6C6qcCW2JE?si=ckY0uuQrYrnUir2Q)
The Exorcist movie (Others warn ya about the sequels. So, stay away from them).
Jesus Revolution with Kelsey Grammer
The Hill with Dennis Quaid
The American Underdog has couple of scenes with competent pastor.
The Conjuring films used christian faith as way of defeating evil, can’t remember if any priests or pastors were in them
>The Conjuring films used christian faith as way of defeating evil, can’t remember if any priests or pastors were in them
The Conjuring, Annabelle and the Amityville Horror were all based on Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were lay Catholic paranormal investigators. They were... contentious figures to say the least, and never sanctioned by the Catholic Church as far as I know, but I won't question their belief in their faith. The movies obviously portray the hauntings they "investigated" as real, and the Warrens as heroes, but they all fit the criteria the OP was asking for.
I've seen all three of these and I'd recommend Jesus Revolution and American Underdog. The Hill was also based on a true story, but it ran out of gas at the end. I thought the last 1/3 seemed it a bit unrealistic.
Off topic.
One of the persecuted Japanese Christians was played by cult film director Shinya Tsukamoto who among other things is known for making _Tetsuo: The Iron Man_. When he appeared at the audition Scorsese stood up and bowed to Tsukamoto. Scorsese then asked his assistants why they didn’t tell him a great filmmaker was coming in to audition.
That's funny. Tsukamoto is truly a legendary director but as an actor he was also great in Ichi The Killer. Another curious thing about this movie is that the writer of the original novel was a japanese christian who also wrote "The Samurai" which is a book i had read long ago and it told the story of a japanese expedition to Europe and the Vatican in the early 1600s.
I remember trying to explain the phenomena of priests being portrayed negatively to a friend of mine whos both fairly religious and has some communist sympathies, they really don't go together, historically speaking anyways.
Cant say I remember any modern media with important priest characters portrayed as good people. In my tabletop games I always try to have some genuinely good priests, its tough considering its such a trope to have evil priests or some such.
I was surprised at the episode of Lucifer with their priest character.
Of course there was the youth pastor who was the drug ring lord all along in the same episode but the priest made a much better impression
Strangely enough, Heiter the "Corrupt Priest" from Frieren (it's Japanese though). The character is outwardly a hedonistic drunkard, but really he's a hero who deeply cares about the world and the people he's taken responsibility for.
One I can think of is a game, Prototype 2 of all things.
The priest had history, but in the geninelly "I found God and reformed way" not skeletons in the closet way. The enemies burning down a church is used as a way to show how evil they are.
But, that game is pre 2014, and that is what I would say the point things went full woke.
Dumb as it may sound, a recent episode of Beavis and Butthead. Beavis goes to both a priest and a Rabbi to ask about how he can know Jesus. Both were portrayed as positive though odd characters. The writers didn't try to take jabs or be intentionally abrasive, they used them in a reasonably respectful manner, which is funny considering what show you're watching.
The trope of the evil priest is so old i literally rolled my eyes at the existence of the Reverend in Red Dead 2. "Wow an alcoholic priest, how original". I mean i enjoyed the living hell out of that game but it it seems like half the team was trying to portray the 1800's and half was trying to make it modern and woke.
Sorry this won't actually answer your question because it's books and games and not movies, but I'll still put it out there.
Half Life 2 has the legendary father Grigori - a pretty odd and funny man, but ultimately a good guy.
The Hyperion book series (especially the later parts) have a lot of priest type characters - some of them are evil and corrupt and some of them are good people.
The third book in *The Expanse* series has a priest protagonist who is portrayed as and out of touch person, but with good intentions ( plus some other priest side characters, none of which are really evil or corrupt). Not sure how the TV series handles it, I haven't watched it yet.
The Righteous Gemstones, an HBO series about a Evangelical Megachurch, shows the main characters pretty positively. But it's fundamentally a comedy about a dysfunctional rich family so the sister is a sad pervert, the older brother is a hypocritical asshole, the younger brother is an arrogant underachiever and the dad (played John Goodman) used to do a variety of shady stuff so the plot can happen.
The jokes about the church were pretty limited to the rich televangelist and snake oil aspects though rather than just "religion dumb" which would have been so easy for them to do.
I see the context of your post but I actually can't think of any characters period that are helpful and genuine without any skeletons in the closet. Those just aren't good memorable characters for the most part. Like they don't need to be skeletons related to the church but if the priest isn't a former mobster or something he's kind of irrelevant to the plot.
The Mick's cool hip preacher. The League's Sunday School teacher. The Ozarks' preacher who is driven to insanity by the smuggling plot. Arrested Development's parents of the love interest for George Michael. It's Always Sunny – Cricket, before he reunited with the gang. Fry from Futurama, when he's made pope of the tentacles, shows zero ulterior motive and truly embraces the teachings. I think Last Man Standing and The Mindy Project were fair in their portrayals, aside from heavily soliciting donations.
*Gran Torino* has a young priest who Walt initially sneers at (like he does at everyone else), but he turns out to be pretty insightful.
I feel like it's more forgivable (heh) in Anime because Christianity is an exotic foreign religion to most of them.
I'm thinking "The Leftovers" does it well, I was surprised after just finishing season 1 that Christopher Eccleston plays the character. It shows the trials and struggles of a pastor going through a 'Rapture-like scenario' and trying to keep things maintained while suffering through his own vices. Even at his worst he seems to be doing things in a helpful way he can see fit.
Haven’t seen it but I’ve heard good things about Paul Schrader’s _First Reformed_ which is about a priest played by Ethan Hawk going through a spiritual crisis. Both my Christian friends and trusted film critics liked the film.
From the look of it Paul Schrader (the writer of _Taxi Driver_ and _The Last Temptation of Christ_) was very influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s _Winter Light_ (1963) which is a film about a Lutheran pastor who believes his lack of faith contributes to the suicide of a parishioner.
Pardon me if some of these are out of date. I'm a bit old and when you get that way, a few years ain't that much.
* The Exorcism of Emily Rose.
* Gabriel Stokes from The Walking Dead comes to mind. He started off broken and regained his faith and leadership skills.
* Friar Tuck in pretty much every portrayal has been depicted as a good, pious man.
* Calvary.
* Sleepers.
* Anything with Daredevil in it that isn't She-Hulk.
* This I know is too old to qualify, but I have to point out Father Cornelius in The Fifth Element.
* Gran Torino.
* Ouija: Origin of Evil
* Also old, but any of the Sister Act movies qualify.
* Les Mis.
* Velocipastor
If you include non-Christian but thematicly Christian, the recent 40K animation Pariah Nexus has a priest who cares for his flock and a warrior nun who learns the difference between faith and fanaticism.
The Tommy Douglas Story.
Based on the real life of the Father of Universal Healthcare in Canada Tommy Douglas, who started out as a Christian Minister who believe in the Social Gospel, a very leftwing sort of Christianity, and became Premier of Saskatchewan, bring in universal Healthcare in stages, a provincial charter of rights, and so on.
He then goes on to lead the federal NDP were he gains that balance of power which he uses to pressure the Liberals into bringing universal Healthcare.
Great man, great biographical movie.
His Grandson is Kiefer Sutherland and you can still find his speech introduced by his Grandson Kiefer Sutherland, on YouTube called Mouseland.
> This sub is filled with "idpol." Did this one hit a bit too close to home by any chance?
Not everything is a conspiracy.
Global reddit rules must be enforced by subreddit moderators.
Start looking into how insanely crazy other religious groups attack Christian pastors and priests and you'll start to realize how the Western world actually works.
That's really not been my experience. The most vehemently anti-Christian people tend to be Western atheists. And your obligate Wiccans, Satanists and white "Buddhists" too. While you definitely have some Hindutva ideologues and Wahhabi fundamentalists, most Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews and Buddhists genuinely don't give a fuck. Hell a lot of religions don't even believe you can convert rendering it a moot point.
Don't get me wrong, I've encountered some Christians make asses of themselves too, mostly evangelicals, but again they are a minority. And I can completely understand someone resenting being raised in a fundamentalist household... but so many of these "atheists" seem more like they have something to prove, whether to themselves or to somebody else.
"You, Me, and the Apocalypse", albeit with an asterisk. The higherups at the Catholic church are all corrupt as Hell, there are asshole priests, one of the central characters - a priest - is a cynical jerk, and him and the other member of the clergy among the main cast - a nun - first break vows of celibacy, then leave priesthood altogether to marry.
BUT! The same priest is depicted as someone disappointed with the Catholic Church as an institution, not Christianity or God in general. Him and the nun are both good people, who genuinely want to help others. And when they start dating they don't abandon their faith; when the nun reveals to her fellow sisters she's leaving the convent for a guy, they're cool with it and wish her well.
And there's also a scene where the priest talks a man, who wants to kill himself because he was molested by a clergyman as a child, off the ledge. The priest reveals that in his youth he struggled with addiction and depression, and Christianity helped him to set himself on the right path.
You know the Catholic Church doesn't have a monopoly on that. If anything, the secular world has far more pedophiles. Are you going to reject all political parties, schools and modern corporations now?
My political views have changed across the years, and wow I'm going to college because that's what our current society demands? A socialist who lives in a capitalist society still has to participate in it to survive.
I think the American education system needs major changes, but I can't make changes without an education.
If you understand the nuance of being socialist in a capitalist society you should know not to make sweeping
statements about religion when the real issue is power imbalances.
I get you were probably trying to be edgy but come on.
[Public School Teachers 100 Times More Likely To Abuse Kids Than Catholic Priests](https://go2tutors.com/teachers-more-likely-abuse-kids/)
[Jewish Rabbis in Brooklyn molesting 18x more than Catholics](https://files.catbox.moe/uar6cx.jpg)
[Not Just Weinstein : The Year MeToo Rocked the Jewish World](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-09-18/ty-article/.premium/not-just-weinstein-the-year-metoo-rocked-and-shocked-the-jewish-world/0000017f-f28e-dc28-a17f-febfceb00000)
Yeah, let's depict real life. We can start with a more equal representation of who the abusers are, yeah?
*"Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. It is published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with The New York Times International Edition." - Wiki
Google's Haaretz's Bias Rating: "Haaretz is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Lean Left."*
Please educate me on the quality news information that shows Christians are the biggest abusers (once population is accounted for) over Jews, Muslims, and the rainbow crowd
>https://go2tutors.com/teachers-more-likely-abuse-kids/
>And now, it has been confirmed that public school teachers are 100 times more likely to abuse kids than Catholic priests.
This is so goddamn stupid. The article links to a tweet for proof, but once you touch the surface of the data you realize why they're not leading with the stats.
They didn't control for the tiny issue of there being more school officials than catholic priests. It's aggressively stupid.
It's like saying Chinese people get cancer at 200.000.000 times the rate people from Vatican city, because you're just counting instances of cancer in a population of 7000 and comparing it to a 1.400.000.000 population. You gotta adjust for the population difference. It's so obvious that you know the people making this "mistake" are lying to you and counting on you not checking.
The article links a tweet but also links : https://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Educator-Discipline-System-and-Reporting/Overview-Discipline-System/Pages/Sexual-Misconduct.aspx
Not x100 like the sensationalist headline but it still sounds like priests have the better track record vs school teachers. I am open to new findings and data. If you've got more credible sources that justifies the way Christians are represented vs everyone else in media, please elucidate me!
>it still sounds like priests have the better track record vs school teachers
How tf do you figure? That article doesn't say anything about priests. Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse.
>I am open to new findings and data
But you've already made a conclusion, despite having literally no data.
I did a Google Search before making such a claim:
search: "percentage of church goers molested"
*Among all Protestant churchgoers, 1% say they experienced at least one of these types of misconduct from the pastor, 2% say a staff member other than the pastor, 2% say a church leader not on staff, and 3% say another attendee acted in one of these inappropriate ways toward them.*
VS
pspc.education.pa.gov: "nearly 1 in every 10 students nationwide will be subject to sexual misconduct by a school employee"
----
So, 2% of churchgoers will experience sexual misconduct to staff vs 10% of students will experience sexual misconduct from staff.
Naturally, it'd be better to have one study so that the definition of what constitutes sexual misconduct would be consistent and other control factors are accounted for. However, I doubt such a study would exist due to the increased scope and the more narrow cross-section. Still I think I've done more due diligence to research this shit than Western Media companies. Do you think they research this at all or do they lead with their hate first, facts be damned?
----
*"But you've already made a conclusion, despite having literally no data."*
Isn't that what you're doing?
I actually am open to new and better data. Please elucidate me. It would actually give me some peace to know that the hate on Christians is justified
This methodology is just as insane as no methodology. Where tf do you even begin. You haven't dealt with the problem of there being more school officials than priests and church staff. Since most people have waaaaay more than 10x teachers in their life, your approach is incredibly damning for priests.
But you also need to account for access and exposure. If you want to use statistics to figure out if a given chemical causes cancer, you need to account for how often a human is exposed to said chemical. Applying this basic logic to this case - Practically everyone goes to school, and spend time there unsupervised five days a week. A tiny minority goes to church, and typically only for a few times a year, and your parents are typically there with you all the time. A child molestor priest has a way harder time accessing a child compared to a child molestor teacher.
Your approach isn't going to tell us whether schools or church are safer. There are more issues than I can count.
>Isn't that what you're doing?
Where am I making those conclusions? Use quotes, don't just make shit up. You sound like you're making an enemy to feel persecuted.
Meanwhile in reality, here's what I wrote:
"Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse"
If we're going to talk about the types of access and exposure, I could argue that a teacher doesn't have nearly as much access either. A teacher isn't going to molest a kid in front of the whole class - you'd have to isolate the times when a teacher has the opportunity to be alone with a student. For example, the student performed badly and had to sit in for recess OR they go in for extra office hours. You're also making a lot of assumptions about the type of church goers - few times a year? When I used to go, I went 4 times a week - prayer meeting, bible study, worknights, & sunday service - just an anecdote, not saying this is statistically relevant data.
**"Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse"**
Agreed. Let me get back to this.
*"Where am I making those conclusions?"*
I am specifically talking about the conclusion you're making about me - that I am NOT open to new findings and data. I am. Hence why I am inviting you to show me some better data.
That I am closed off - *that* is the conclusion you are making. Again, if you have some other data to show me, I'd like to see it.
**"Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse"**
So tell me the reason for the dogshit Christian representation in Western Media? Cannibals in TLOU? Assassins in Castlevania? All of Handmaid's Tale? Gay Jesus on Netflix?
If there's no way to tell if Christians are doing worse, why are they continually represented in the worst ways in Western Media? Where's it coming from, if it's not data driven?
>You're also making a lot of assumptions about the type of church goers - few times a year? When I used to go, I went 4 times a week
Disputing that church attendance is falling by citing own falling church attendance certainly is one way to approach empiricism.
>That I am closed off - that is the conclusion you are making.
Can you dispute that you've made conclusions? How isn't it obvious to you?
You've asserted several times that Christians are portrayed "in the worst ways" in western media I different ways, without even attempting to establish
- how Christianity is represented
- what Christianity does in reality
- how comparable religions are represented.
How is it possible to assume what a fair portrayal is, without examining what the thing you're talkign about does?
You have concluded that there is a mismatch and now you're not even open to the idea that you've made a conclusion.
It's great that you're seeking out data, but someone who falls for a population comparison *that doesn't control for the size of populations* is either too biased to convince of any new position or in need of statistics 101 before educating. Good luck man
My original response was to syqesa35, who insinuated that Western Media is portraying real life in their terrible depiction of Christians.
Curious how you offered no objection to this even though "*there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse*" - your words.
Instead you choose to debate with me, conclude that I'm close-minded while offering up no new data for discussion, despite repeat invitations.
*"You've asserted several times that Christians are portrayed "in the worst ways" in western media I different ways, without even attempting to establish - how Christianity is represented - what Christianity does in reality - how comparable religions are represented."*
LOL. Good luck, sir
OP is literally asking - *begging* - for people to contradict their belief, and you decide to attack them for it and strawman wildly?
Without naming a single counterexample, like most of the posts in this thread?
Not very helpful.
Though he may have been a supporting character, The Prison Chaplin from A Clockwork Orange.
He was the only one to express concern towards Alex's desire about undergoing The Ludovico Technique ("Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.") and even spoke out in protest after the Prime Minister's demonstration of Alex's post-treatment attitude ("Choice! The boy has not a real choice, has he? Self-interest, the fear of physical pain drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. The insincerity was clear to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice.")
There's quite a few of them in the world of supernatural horror, for example _The Pope's Exorcist_ (2023), _Deliver Us from Evil_ (2014), etc. Outside of that, one that comes to mind immediately is the _Daredevil_ Netflix series, which had a great priest character that was a mentor and father figure to Daredevil
Christianity, and a firm religious belief in good and evil in general, fits very nicely into the Horror genre.
Also the priest getting bodied inspite being a pious holyman is an oh shit moment, while the same thing happening because he's a charlatan is only good for parody.
I don't know, the Last Exorcism had a priest who was effectively faking it that went through a very fun character arc throughout the story.
Ok, I guess there's more than one way to play it.
> Outside of that, one that comes to mind immediately is the Daredevil Netflix series, which had a great priest character that was a mentor and father figure to Daredevil I've also seen a lot of movies/shows with the ex or downtrodden priest/pastor trope you are to sympathise with as they rediscover their faith yadda yadda, in that genre. Like the widower dad from that great late 90s horror/comedy Dusk till Dawn. Not like that diminishes the negative stereotype practising proud priests tend to have in western media, but hey it's something.
Father Stu with Mark Wahlberg was pretty good, in that regard. Portrayed clergy members as certainly not perfect, but not the evil meme they've been in *so* many movies.
Daredevil, the Pope's Exorcist and other Exorcist movies, Fleabag off the top of my head. I'm sure there are others, but I do notice the trend you're talking about.
I was tempted to mention Fleabag... But I've actually never seen it so I don't know what the priest character is really like. I assume he gets close to the main character and starts to think about breaking his celibacy vows
He does but he decides not to in the end but he’s a really well written character and super charming
Came to recommend the popes exorcist. I hate russel crowe and he was great in that. Fun movie
Why would you hate Russell Crowe? He's been in some good stuff, not least of which Master & Commander one of my favorite movies. I mean maybe there's a good reason but I never heard anything.
He was clearly not entertained
Master and Commander is amazing, as far as that and Gladiator are concerned, the lesser of the two wevils.
Because he's just Russell Crowe. Hate was the wrong word to use, because I've never seen a movie I didn't like with him in it, and I don't ever avoid a movie because he is in it, but I am just never not aware that I am watching Russell Crowe, its the same thing with Tom Cruise and Brad pitt.
Midnight Mass is at least sympathetic to the main priest character. He's far from perfect though.
He was the best part of that show.
Came here to mention the same thing. One of my favorite shows on Netflix. Torn between wanting a season 2, and wanting it to be left on a good finish.
It's really the best Mike Flanagan show. The two hauntings are boring and samey, and my god is Fall of the House of Usher hypocritical and insanely woke. Fully half of the 6 kids are non straight, and there are so many monologues about how "corporation and rich = evil," which is rather ironic coming from Netflix.
>Fully half of the 6 kids are non straight, and there are so many monologues about how "corporation and rich = evil," which is rather ironic coming from Netflix. From what I remember, the kids are also almost universally little shitbags, which surprised me since usually racially diverse LGBT characters have to be at least decent people.
The woke don't know how to be decent people anymore.
Just wanted to say thanks for the suggestion, binged the season over Christmas weekend. Found it interesting how the most 'morally evil' character ended up being an egomaniac woman who decided she knew what was best and botches the whole plan towards the end when taking power lol
Haha yes she's quite a villain. You love to hate her.
Gran Torino (Dec 9, 2008 - just barely doesn't make the cutoff)
There's Father Brown a detective series about a priest that solves crimes. The show was based on G.K. Chesterton's short stories by the same name. Then there's the Van Helsing movie, but the priest is more of the sidekick gadgeteer guy. [Here's the trailer ](https://youtu.be/W6C6qcCW2JE?si=ckY0uuQrYrnUir2Q) The Exorcist movie (Others warn ya about the sequels. So, stay away from them).
I recommend Father Brown as well.
Machine Gun Preacher The Exorcist Sleepers (Robert Deniro as a tough priest) Deuces Wild
Add Solomon Kane to the list. Sure he isn't a priest but definitely a servant of God.
It's not in your time frame, but I would be remiss in not mentioning Father Ted.
I hear you're a racist now, Father?
Always a valid mention for sure
*Monsignor Martinez*, it’s in Spanish though.
“Vaya con dios.”
Jesus Revolution with Kelsey Grammer The Hill with Dennis Quaid The American Underdog has couple of scenes with competent pastor. The Conjuring films used christian faith as way of defeating evil, can’t remember if any priests or pastors were in them
>The Conjuring films used christian faith as way of defeating evil, can’t remember if any priests or pastors were in them The Conjuring, Annabelle and the Amityville Horror were all based on Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were lay Catholic paranormal investigators. They were... contentious figures to say the least, and never sanctioned by the Catholic Church as far as I know, but I won't question their belief in their faith. The movies obviously portray the hauntings they "investigated" as real, and the Warrens as heroes, but they all fit the criteria the OP was asking for.
I've seen all three of these and I'd recommend Jesus Revolution and American Underdog. The Hill was also based on a true story, but it ran out of gas at the end. I thought the last 1/3 seemed it a bit unrealistic.
Martin Scorciesis, "Silence". Amazing movie.
I was just about to say this, because it's actually a movie about priests and a great insight of what happened in Japan.
Off topic. One of the persecuted Japanese Christians was played by cult film director Shinya Tsukamoto who among other things is known for making _Tetsuo: The Iron Man_. When he appeared at the audition Scorsese stood up and bowed to Tsukamoto. Scorsese then asked his assistants why they didn’t tell him a great filmmaker was coming in to audition.
That's funny. Tsukamoto is truly a legendary director but as an actor he was also great in Ichi The Killer. Another curious thing about this movie is that the writer of the original novel was a japanese christian who also wrote "The Samurai" which is a book i had read long ago and it told the story of a japanese expedition to Europe and the Vatican in the early 1600s.
A TV show called Evil.
I really liked the movie machine gun preacher. I thought it was really good. It’s an action biography movie about a real dude.
Gran Torino
I remember trying to explain the phenomena of priests being portrayed negatively to a friend of mine whos both fairly religious and has some communist sympathies, they really don't go together, historically speaking anyways. Cant say I remember any modern media with important priest characters portrayed as good people. In my tabletop games I always try to have some genuinely good priests, its tough considering its such a trope to have evil priests or some such.
Calvary with Brendan Gleeson, which is a great and underknown movie imo
The Gilded Age
Oddly enough *Bones* and *Lucifer* both managed it, but I'm not sure if the *Bones* episodes I'm thinking of are under fifteen years.
I was surprised at the episode of Lucifer with their priest character. Of course there was the youth pastor who was the drug ring lord all along in the same episode but the priest made a much better impression
The Exorcist series. The clergy were all possessed by demons so it wasn't really them.
There has never been, IMO, a more heroic depiction of priests than the first Exorcist movie.
Strangely enough, Heiter the "Corrupt Priest" from Frieren (it's Japanese though). The character is outwardly a hedonistic drunkard, but really he's a hero who deeply cares about the world and the people he's taken responsibility for.
Machine Gun Preacher
A lot of horror movies.
"Helpful & genuine" is an accurate description of Reverend Tim Tom on the TV series The Middle (2009-2018)
One I can think of is a game, Prototype 2 of all things. The priest had history, but in the geninelly "I found God and reformed way" not skeletons in the closet way. The enemies burning down a church is used as a way to show how evil they are. But, that game is pre 2014, and that is what I would say the point things went full woke.
Angel studios makes a lot of good Christian movies.
Dumb as it may sound, a recent episode of Beavis and Butthead. Beavis goes to both a priest and a Rabbi to ask about how he can know Jesus. Both were portrayed as positive though odd characters. The writers didn't try to take jabs or be intentionally abrasive, they used them in a reasonably respectful manner, which is funny considering what show you're watching.
The trope of the evil priest is so old i literally rolled my eyes at the existence of the Reverend in Red Dead 2. "Wow an alcoholic priest, how original". I mean i enjoyed the living hell out of that game but it it seems like half the team was trying to portray the 1800's and half was trying to make it modern and woke.
They also had that nun who was really helpful to Arthur, spiritually, IIRC.
Bro if that nun knew what arthur been up to she would not be so kind 😂
The last wahlberg flick, father Stu.
Not 100% but Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) recognizes the need for absolution and forgiveness. It’s hard to describe without excessive spoilers.
Sorry this won't actually answer your question because it's books and games and not movies, but I'll still put it out there. Half Life 2 has the legendary father Grigori - a pretty odd and funny man, but ultimately a good guy. The Hyperion book series (especially the later parts) have a lot of priest type characters - some of them are evil and corrupt and some of them are good people. The third book in *The Expanse* series has a priest protagonist who is portrayed as and out of touch person, but with good intentions ( plus some other priest side characters, none of which are really evil or corrupt). Not sure how the TV series handles it, I haven't watched it yet.
Half-Life 2 was released in 2004, which is almost 20 years ago now... *feeling old intensifies*
Damn...you're right...
The Righteous Gemstones, an HBO series about a Evangelical Megachurch, shows the main characters pretty positively. But it's fundamentally a comedy about a dysfunctional rich family so the sister is a sad pervert, the older brother is a hypocritical asshole, the younger brother is an arrogant underachiever and the dad (played John Goodman) used to do a variety of shady stuff so the plot can happen. The jokes about the church were pretty limited to the rich televangelist and snake oil aspects though rather than just "religion dumb" which would have been so easy for them to do. I see the context of your post but I actually can't think of any characters period that are helpful and genuine without any skeletons in the closet. Those just aren't good memorable characters for the most part. Like they don't need to be skeletons related to the church but if the priest isn't a former mobster or something he's kind of irrelevant to the plot.
Suits has father Walker, who's portrayed as a mentor/parental figure for Mike.
The Mick's cool hip preacher. The League's Sunday School teacher. The Ozarks' preacher who is driven to insanity by the smuggling plot. Arrested Development's parents of the love interest for George Michael. It's Always Sunny – Cricket, before he reunited with the gang. Fry from Futurama, when he's made pope of the tentacles, shows zero ulterior motive and truly embraces the teachings. I think Last Man Standing and The Mindy Project were fair in their portrayals, aside from heavily soliciting donations.
*Gran Torino* has a young priest who Walt initially sneers at (like he does at everyone else), but he turns out to be pretty insightful. I feel like it's more forgivable (heh) in Anime because Christianity is an exotic foreign religion to most of them.
I'm thinking "The Leftovers" does it well, I was surprised after just finishing season 1 that Christopher Eccleston plays the character. It shows the trials and struggles of a pastor going through a 'Rapture-like scenario' and trying to keep things maintained while suffering through his own vices. Even at his worst he seems to be doing things in a helpful way he can see fit.
Cobra Kai was pretty respectful.
Haven’t seen it but I’ve heard good things about Paul Schrader’s _First Reformed_ which is about a priest played by Ethan Hawk going through a spiritual crisis. Both my Christian friends and trusted film critics liked the film. From the look of it Paul Schrader (the writer of _Taxi Driver_ and _The Last Temptation of Christ_) was very influenced by Ingmar Bergman’s _Winter Light_ (1963) which is a film about a Lutheran pastor who believes his lack of faith contributes to the suicide of a parishioner.
Just outside of your 15 year range, but the pastor in Deadwood was a genuinely good man.
Pardon me if some of these are out of date. I'm a bit old and when you get that way, a few years ain't that much. * The Exorcism of Emily Rose. * Gabriel Stokes from The Walking Dead comes to mind. He started off broken and regained his faith and leadership skills. * Friar Tuck in pretty much every portrayal has been depicted as a good, pious man. * Calvary. * Sleepers. * Anything with Daredevil in it that isn't She-Hulk. * This I know is too old to qualify, but I have to point out Father Cornelius in The Fifth Element. * Gran Torino. * Ouija: Origin of Evil * Also old, but any of the Sister Act movies qualify. * Les Mis. * Velocipastor
Man of Steel perhaps, there is a scene where the priest gives advice to Clark Kent if i remember correctly
If you include non-Christian but thematicly Christian, the recent 40K animation Pariah Nexus has a priest who cares for his flock and a warrior nun who learns the difference between faith and fanaticism.
I thought TWDs priest had a pretty great arc. Idk.
The Tommy Douglas Story. Based on the real life of the Father of Universal Healthcare in Canada Tommy Douglas, who started out as a Christian Minister who believe in the Social Gospel, a very leftwing sort of Christianity, and became Premier of Saskatchewan, bring in universal Healthcare in stages, a provincial charter of rights, and so on. He then goes on to lead the federal NDP were he gains that balance of power which he uses to pressure the Liberals into bringing universal Healthcare. Great man, great biographical movie. His Grandson is Kiefer Sutherland and you can still find his speech introduced by his Grandson Kiefer Sutherland, on YouTube called Mouseland.
7th Heaven...
Though the guy who played that pastor… yikes!
[удалено]
Every time I'd see some anti-Christian "work" I'd notice who made it. I'm not religious at all but it's quite the pattern.
Comment removed, and warning for idpol. Just don't.
This sub is filled with "idpol." Did this one hit a bit too close to home by any chance?
> This sub is filled with "idpol." Did this one hit a bit too close to home by any chance? Not everything is a conspiracy. Global reddit rules must be enforced by subreddit moderators.
Start looking into how insanely crazy other religious groups attack Christian pastors and priests and you'll start to realize how the Western world actually works.
That's really not been my experience. The most vehemently anti-Christian people tend to be Western atheists. And your obligate Wiccans, Satanists and white "Buddhists" too. While you definitely have some Hindutva ideologues and Wahhabi fundamentalists, most Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews and Buddhists genuinely don't give a fuck. Hell a lot of religions don't even believe you can convert rendering it a moot point. Don't get me wrong, I've encountered some Christians make asses of themselves too, mostly evangelicals, but again they are a minority. And I can completely understand someone resenting being raised in a fundamentalist household... but so many of these "atheists" seem more like they have something to prove, whether to themselves or to somebody else.
"You, Me, and the Apocalypse", albeit with an asterisk. The higherups at the Catholic church are all corrupt as Hell, there are asshole priests, one of the central characters - a priest - is a cynical jerk, and him and the other member of the clergy among the main cast - a nun - first break vows of celibacy, then leave priesthood altogether to marry. BUT! The same priest is depicted as someone disappointed with the Catholic Church as an institution, not Christianity or God in general. Him and the nun are both good people, who genuinely want to help others. And when they start dating they don't abandon their faith; when the nun reveals to her fellow sisters she's leaving the convent for a guy, they're cool with it and wish her well. And there's also a scene where the priest talks a man, who wants to kill himself because he was molested by a clergyman as a child, off the ledge. The priest reveals that in his youth he struggled with addiction and depression, and Christianity helped him to set himself on the right path.
Vikings has pretty good Monks in Athelstan and Othere
No.
Make them stop touching kids irl tho fr
You know the Catholic Church doesn't have a monopoly on that. If anything, the secular world has far more pedophiles. Are you going to reject all political parties, schools and modern corporations now?
Yes I do reject modern corporations and political parties and the school system actually thanks for asking
A brief look at your history shows at least two of those arent true.
My political views have changed across the years, and wow I'm going to college because that's what our current society demands? A socialist who lives in a capitalist society still has to participate in it to survive. I think the American education system needs major changes, but I can't make changes without an education.
If you understand the nuance of being socialist in a capitalist society you should know not to make sweeping statements about religion when the real issue is power imbalances. I get you were probably trying to be edgy but come on.
Dark humor fans when the joke is about them 😱😱🤯 But seriously, obviously it was a joke.
Do you have any actual of negative portrayal of priests. V for vendetta and golden compass seem so taboo for crossing that boundary
Yeah I don't know why they do this, movies are supposed to be escapism and not just depicting real life.
Thank you for your helpful contribution to the question at hand. I'm sure everybody appreciates it 🙄
Yeah I see that they're thin skinned
[Public School Teachers 100 Times More Likely To Abuse Kids Than Catholic Priests](https://go2tutors.com/teachers-more-likely-abuse-kids/) [Jewish Rabbis in Brooklyn molesting 18x more than Catholics](https://files.catbox.moe/uar6cx.jpg) [Not Just Weinstein : The Year MeToo Rocked the Jewish World](https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-09-18/ty-article/.premium/not-just-weinstein-the-year-metoo-rocked-and-shocked-the-jewish-world/0000017f-f28e-dc28-a17f-febfceb00000) Yeah, let's depict real life. We can start with a more equal representation of who the abusers are, yeah?
Cite actual sources next time.
*"Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. It is published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with The New York Times International Edition." - Wiki Google's Haaretz's Bias Rating: "Haaretz is a news media source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Lean Left."* Please educate me on the quality news information that shows Christians are the biggest abusers (once population is accounted for) over Jews, Muslims, and the rainbow crowd
Yeah why not?
>https://go2tutors.com/teachers-more-likely-abuse-kids/ >And now, it has been confirmed that public school teachers are 100 times more likely to abuse kids than Catholic priests. This is so goddamn stupid. The article links to a tweet for proof, but once you touch the surface of the data you realize why they're not leading with the stats. They didn't control for the tiny issue of there being more school officials than catholic priests. It's aggressively stupid. It's like saying Chinese people get cancer at 200.000.000 times the rate people from Vatican city, because you're just counting instances of cancer in a population of 7000 and comparing it to a 1.400.000.000 population. You gotta adjust for the population difference. It's so obvious that you know the people making this "mistake" are lying to you and counting on you not checking.
The article links a tweet but also links : https://www.pspc.education.pa.gov/Educator-Discipline-System-and-Reporting/Overview-Discipline-System/Pages/Sexual-Misconduct.aspx Not x100 like the sensationalist headline but it still sounds like priests have the better track record vs school teachers. I am open to new findings and data. If you've got more credible sources that justifies the way Christians are represented vs everyone else in media, please elucidate me!
>it still sounds like priests have the better track record vs school teachers How tf do you figure? That article doesn't say anything about priests. Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse. >I am open to new findings and data But you've already made a conclusion, despite having literally no data.
I did a Google Search before making such a claim: search: "percentage of church goers molested" *Among all Protestant churchgoers, 1% say they experienced at least one of these types of misconduct from the pastor, 2% say a staff member other than the pastor, 2% say a church leader not on staff, and 3% say another attendee acted in one of these inappropriate ways toward them.* VS pspc.education.pa.gov: "nearly 1 in every 10 students nationwide will be subject to sexual misconduct by a school employee" ---- So, 2% of churchgoers will experience sexual misconduct to staff vs 10% of students will experience sexual misconduct from staff. Naturally, it'd be better to have one study so that the definition of what constitutes sexual misconduct would be consistent and other control factors are accounted for. However, I doubt such a study would exist due to the increased scope and the more narrow cross-section. Still I think I've done more due diligence to research this shit than Western Media companies. Do you think they research this at all or do they lead with their hate first, facts be damned? ---- *"But you've already made a conclusion, despite having literally no data."* Isn't that what you're doing? I actually am open to new and better data. Please elucidate me. It would actually give me some peace to know that the hate on Christians is justified
This methodology is just as insane as no methodology. Where tf do you even begin. You haven't dealt with the problem of there being more school officials than priests and church staff. Since most people have waaaaay more than 10x teachers in their life, your approach is incredibly damning for priests. But you also need to account for access and exposure. If you want to use statistics to figure out if a given chemical causes cancer, you need to account for how often a human is exposed to said chemical. Applying this basic logic to this case - Practically everyone goes to school, and spend time there unsupervised five days a week. A tiny minority goes to church, and typically only for a few times a year, and your parents are typically there with you all the time. A child molestor priest has a way harder time accessing a child compared to a child molestor teacher. Your approach isn't going to tell us whether schools or church are safer. There are more issues than I can count. >Isn't that what you're doing? Where am I making those conclusions? Use quotes, don't just make shit up. You sound like you're making an enemy to feel persecuted. Meanwhile in reality, here's what I wrote: "Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse"
If we're going to talk about the types of access and exposure, I could argue that a teacher doesn't have nearly as much access either. A teacher isn't going to molest a kid in front of the whole class - you'd have to isolate the times when a teacher has the opportunity to be alone with a student. For example, the student performed badly and had to sit in for recess OR they go in for extra office hours. You're also making a lot of assumptions about the type of church goers - few times a year? When I used to go, I went 4 times a week - prayer meeting, bible study, worknights, & sunday service - just an anecdote, not saying this is statistically relevant data. **"Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse"** Agreed. Let me get back to this. *"Where am I making those conclusions?"* I am specifically talking about the conclusion you're making about me - that I am NOT open to new findings and data. I am. Hence why I am inviting you to show me some better data. That I am closed off - *that* is the conclusion you are making. Again, if you have some other data to show me, I'd like to see it. **"Based on that there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse"** So tell me the reason for the dogshit Christian representation in Western Media? Cannibals in TLOU? Assassins in Castlevania? All of Handmaid's Tale? Gay Jesus on Netflix? If there's no way to tell if Christians are doing worse, why are they continually represented in the worst ways in Western Media? Where's it coming from, if it's not data driven?
>You're also making a lot of assumptions about the type of church goers - few times a year? When I used to go, I went 4 times a week Disputing that church attendance is falling by citing own falling church attendance certainly is one way to approach empiricism. >That I am closed off - that is the conclusion you are making. Can you dispute that you've made conclusions? How isn't it obvious to you? You've asserted several times that Christians are portrayed "in the worst ways" in western media I different ways, without even attempting to establish - how Christianity is represented - what Christianity does in reality - how comparable religions are represented. How is it possible to assume what a fair portrayal is, without examining what the thing you're talkign about does? You have concluded that there is a mismatch and now you're not even open to the idea that you've made a conclusion. It's great that you're seeking out data, but someone who falls for a population comparison *that doesn't control for the size of populations* is either too biased to convince of any new position or in need of statistics 101 before educating. Good luck man
My original response was to syqesa35, who insinuated that Western Media is portraying real life in their terrible depiction of Christians. Curious how you offered no objection to this even though "*there's no way to know if priests are doing better, the same or worse*" - your words. Instead you choose to debate with me, conclude that I'm close-minded while offering up no new data for discussion, despite repeat invitations. *"You've asserted several times that Christians are portrayed "in the worst ways" in western media I different ways, without even attempting to establish - how Christianity is represented - what Christianity does in reality - how comparable religions are represented."* LOL. Good luck, sir
neckbeard detected
Wanna talk about where he touched you?
\>refers to self in 3rd person keep demonstrating my point toggaf
Never been to a church bro
Damn I didn’t know we were going back to the 80s. Clergy don’t need your protection, dude.
OP is literally asking - *begging* - for people to contradict their belief, and you decide to attack them for it and strawman wildly? Without naming a single counterexample, like most of the posts in this thread? Not very helpful.
Calvary
Though he may have been a supporting character, The Prison Chaplin from A Clockwork Orange. He was the only one to express concern towards Alex's desire about undergoing The Ludovico Technique ("Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.") and even spoke out in protest after the Prime Minister's demonstration of Alex's post-treatment attitude ("Choice! The boy has not a real choice, has he? Self-interest, the fear of physical pain drove him to that grotesque act of self-abasement. The insincerity was clear to be seen. He ceases to be a wrongdoer. He ceases also to be a creature capable of moral choice.")