Devout Catholic
More evidence that whenever the media uses the term devout to describe somebody they usually forget to add the words "anything but" as a prefix.
The sub-headline on a story about Mia Farrow says:
Although a devout Catholic, Mia Farrow is happy to face evil in her latest film, she tells Gill Pringle
.."At home I expose my children to all faiths. I put a different book on the stairs leading up to our bedrooms - books on Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and so on. I want them to get a taste of different religions and see how different people approach things and what their motivation is. But, for me, The Omen is not about religion. It's just another role and it's been a lot of fun. Besides, my mother never told me not to do roles that involved evil or Satan," says Farrow, laughing.
So I guess the definition of devout includes syncretism. By this definition a devout atheist can also believe in God. You do have to wonder about her choice of roles and the affinity for devil children in first Rosemary's Baby and now The Omen remake. It is amazing how many plot lines seem to want to mock or copy the Incarnation of Christ applying the same thing to the Devil. There has always been a lot of dualism in Hollywood horror by putting the devil on a par with God. There have been many movies and TV shows like that have virgin births of anti-Christ's like last year travesty "Revelations" mini seriesand even a form of the same thing with Star Wars which had a virgin birth that leads to Darth Vader. Manichaeism is alive and well in the minds of scriptwriters.
Known as 
Jeff, that's great: "...they usually forget to add the words 'anything but'..." :)
Reminds me of Ronald Knox's *excellent* (tongue-in-cheek)essay, "Reunion All Round," in which he glibly explains how the Anglican Church could take in the entire world -- not only believers in Mumbo-Jumbo, but even (gasp!) Papists.
Ah, but Darth Vader rejected evil and found redemption in the end.
I think her syncretism might end if one of her children converted to Islam and signed up to be a "martyr".
Many people in the media think "devoutCatholic" is one word, like "damnyankee" was (still is?)among some southerners. I've seen comments about this phenomenon from back in the forties and fifies, and it probably goes back before then.
"Reunion All Around" is on the web at http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2004/0402clas.asp
The original was reprinted in Knox's book, Essays in Satire, where it had the correct typography, with the letter s looking almost like an f.
Jeff,
I'm very disappointed in the amount of anger you are showing Ms. Farrow during her faith journey. She is, after all, encountering God according to her unique and affirming outlook of spirituality. Honestly, if you would just expand past dated outmoded concepts of binary moral obligations, you would fully actualize the inner spiritual plane that Ms. Farrow experiences.
Speaking of "dated", were Woody and Sun-Yi available for comment?
"Many people in the media think "devoutCatholic" is one word, like "damnyankee" was."
Because of my grandfather's politics (an unreconstructed Republican still fighting the Civil War) I was ten years old before I learned "damndemocratic" is also two words. I was about fourteen when I understood the party of Franklin Roosevelt no longer actively supported slavery and treason and was on to favoring equally repulsive ideals.
After seeing the Omen trailer, I would like to see it just because it looks like the Catholic priests are the good guys for once.
I put various types of food-groups on the stairs so my kids could learn what foods they liked best. Unfortunately, two of them died of gross obesity and malnutrition and the others were taken away by the state. Oh well. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
Yeah I have to argue against lumping vader in there too. Granted the dualism in that case is central to the story line, but in the end he did restore balance it just took annihilating(sp?) most of the forces on both sides to do it.
There was no virgin birth in Rosemary's baby, that devil's child was begotten the old-fashioned way. Don't you remember her hsuband sold her for a successful career and the coven got her drunk at a party before it happened.
As do I have to disagree lumping Vader in there as well.
We must realize that these stories are fiction, a fantasy, and to say the very least there is the redemption at the end. I dare say it's not Vader that should be considered the redeeming one but his son. Curious, isn't it?
nice and very true...