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Article by Dr Pravin Thevathasan

Ugly as a bear

"Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful." Frankenstein


I wonder why so many people refer to Harvey Weinstein as a "monster"? Is it simply because of his behavior? But Polanski did something worse: was he called a monster? Is it because of his appearance? Or perhaps the Mary Shelleyesqe connotation of the name "Weinstein"?

In any case, now that Mr and Mrs Obama have joined in on the general condemnation of their famous donor, I feel it is my turn. Mr Weinstein is guilty of having produced a whole series of the most anti-Catholic films on offer. Let us start with "Philomena". This is about an Irish woman who got pregnant at eighteen years. Her father, whose wife had died, asked some nuns to look after the baby. So the baby was not stolen from her. Nor was he sold to the highest bidder. Philomena did not visit the United States and she did not try and make contact with her son. What about Sister Hildegarde, that cruel Irish nun with her cruel Irish eyes? We all gasped in horror when she told Martin Sixsmith Steve Coogan that "the girls have nobody to blame except themselves". Only one problem: she was dead at the time. In fact, it turns out that Sr Hildergarde did a great deal in real life to reconcile babies with their mothers.

But "Philomena" is positively Sound of Music compared to "The Magdalene Sisters". Here we have a monstrous array of cruel Irish nuns and cruel Irish priests. Think of all your most Maria Monkish fantasies and you have it here. When we watch a film which claims to have a serious purpose, we have a right to ask questions. If certain members of a religious order were cruel, we need to reflect on why this happened.The real question we want to ask is why were such institutions started in the first place in the nineteenth century? Why were so many Irish so incredibly lacking in basic resources? Has it something to do with centuries of persecution? (Now I am not suggesting bringing down statues of Queen Victoria.) Should not the state take some responsibility? The official McAleese report did not find physical or sexual abuse in such institutions. But the report came too late: our imaginations are now filled with an array of grotesque, sadistic nuns.

What about real life? I had the enormous privilege of meeting many Irish priests and nuns while living in Wales. They were the kindest people I have encountered. I also met people who had lived in orphanages run by nuns and they had nothing but praise for them. Surely, that is worth a film? But that does not make a good story.

I have not mentioned some of Weinstein's other films: "Priest", "The Butcher Boy", "40 Days and 40 Nights", etc. All worryingly anti-Catholic.

Now that Mr Weinstein has discovered the virtue of not being a hypocrite, perhaps he will consider condemning the virulent anti-Catholicism to be found in his films. That should not be too onerous as he has rightly condemned anti-semitism many times in the past.




Copyright ©; Dr Pravin Thevathasan 2017

Version: 11th October 2017



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