Thoughts on "The Young Pope"
Feb. 18th, 2017 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kestrellAlexx and I are halfway through watching the twelve episodes of "The Young Pope," and I can only describe it as breathtaking, both in its use of beautiful Renaissance art and architecture and in its portrayal of the absolute mercilessness of the cardinals and pope. It is set in contemporary Italy, but the new pope of the title has decided that the only way for the church to regain its significance (and I use that term in all senses of the word) is to basically roll back everything to before Vatican II and revive the Renaissance.
And, speaking of breathtaking, Jude Law in crimson velvet and gold embroidery is pretty breathtaking himself. I know its wrong, but he makes a very sexy--and menacing-- Pope, and he knows it--oh, he is full of small knowing smiles! But, just as you begin to agree with his critics that he is "diabolical," he steps out of the enigmatic shadows and into the light to give his angel wings a good airing out.
Now film it as if David Lynch had trained as a Jesuit before moving to Hollywood and throw in some rock tunes to balance out the boy choirs. This must be one of the smartest, most beautiful showscurrently out there, even though I suspect it will all end in tears.
And, speaking of breathtaking, Jude Law in crimson velvet and gold embroidery is pretty breathtaking himself. I know its wrong, but he makes a very sexy--and menacing-- Pope, and he knows it--oh, he is full of small knowing smiles! But, just as you begin to agree with his critics that he is "diabolical," he steps out of the enigmatic shadows and into the light to give his angel wings a good airing out.
Now film it as if David Lynch had trained as a Jesuit before moving to Hollywood and throw in some rock tunes to balance out the boy choirs. This must be one of the smartest, most beautiful showscurrently out there, even though I suspect it will all end in tears.
no subject
Date: 2017-02-19 05:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-19 07:24 pm (UTC)My dear, the show does not stoop to grappling with religious ideas; it dresses them in Renporn, crowns them in priceless gold and jewels, and parades them through the streets of Vatican City in gold-encrusted sedan chairs (I know there is a fancier name for those things.) on the shoulders of livery-clad minions.
Seriously, the other characters in the show react as if what the new pope is saying is unheard of heresy, but it is the real stuff written down and frequently reiterated by each pope: sex for anything other than procreation is a sin, birth control is a sin, homosexuality is a sin, the idea of women in authority is never going to happen, and any priest who says otherwise, or who does any amount of handwaving, is in violation of his vows to teach and support those dictates as they come from the Pope, who speaks as God's authority on earth.
I'm not saying I subscribe to these ideas, but, as someone interested in language and meaning, I have to ask: how can you claim to be a faithful and member in good standing of a group whose ideas you don't follow, even if middle management is pretending not to notice? It comes back to the word "significant" that I used in my post: if you don't walk the walk, then the talk you talk is not only cheap, it is meaningless.
As for whether this pope is an angel, the question that gets bandied about in the show is the claim others make that he is a saint, and the show does a really wonderful job of being ambiguous about the question.
My own suspicion is that the pope is, in part, pushing to become a martyr. We'll see.
From: jesse_the_k - DW Comment [mailto:dw_null@dreamwidth.org] Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2017 12:34 PM To: kestrell@panix.com Subject: Reply to your entry. [ kestrell - 262496 ]
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Jesse the K (jesse_the_k http://jesse-the-k.dreamwidth.org/profile ) replied to your Dreamwidth entry http://kestrell.dreamwidth.org/262496.html "Thoughts on "The Young Pope"" in which you said:
Alexx and I are halfway through watching the twelve episodes of "The Young Pope," and I can only describe it as breathtaking, both in its use of beautiful Renaissance art and architecture and in its portrayal of the absolute mercilessness of the cardinals and pope. It is set in contemporary Italy, but the new pope of the title has decided that the only way for the church to regain its significance (and I use that term in all senses of the word) is to basically roll back everything to before Vatican II and revive the Renaissance.
And, speaking of breathtaking, Jude Law in crimson velvet and gold embroidery is pretty breathtaking himself. I know its wrong, but he makes a very sexy--and menacing-- Pope, and he knows it--oh, he is full of small knowing smiles! But, just as you begin to agree with his critics that he is "diabolical," he steps out of the enigmatic shadows and into the light to give his angel wings a good airing out.
Now film it as if David Lynch had trained as a Jesuit before moving to Hollywood and throw in some rock tunes to balance out the boy choirs. This must be one of the smartest, most beautiful showscurrently out there, even though I suspect it will all end in tears.
The reply was:
This was completely off my radar, and sounds delicious. Are his angel wings genuine? Does the show grapple with religious ideas?
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