Monday, January 12, 2009

First time I thought of it that way...

http://www.cranstonherald.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7338&Itemid=32

Oh man. When I have a baby, she's totally getting a shirt saying that she's part of the local foods movement. AWESOME!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Doubt

I recently saw the film Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. This movie was really well done, the acting was fantastic, it exceeded my expectations. As implied in the trailer, Sr. Aloysius, played by Streep, is the principal of a Catholic school in 1964 and develops suspicions that Fr. Flynn, played by Hoffman, is developing an “inappropriate relationship” with a young male student. Throughout the film we never see anything conclusive, we don't know for certain who is guilty of which sin. The priest argues that the principal hates him because he is trying to bring new ideas into the church,to develop more personal and friendly relationships with parishioners and students. During one scene Fr. Flynn is at a table surrounded by 13 and 14 year old boys who are expressing their concerns about dating. What if a girl turns me down? What if all the girls turn me down? the priest explains that while a boy has the right to ask any girl out, the girls have the right to say no. the trick is not to take it to heart.


This scene is one that endeared the character to me. I think that young men do need role models beyond their fathers, men who can take an interest in them, take their concerns seriously and pass on whatever wisdom they can. This piece of wisdom particularly warmed me up, since I've noticed more and more young people struggle with this idea of "they have the right to say no". for more on this subject, see my next post. At any rate, it was easy for me to look at Fr. Flynn and say, yeah-this guy is trying to bring some humanity into the church, good for him! At the same time, I came of age during the recent sex abuse scandals in the catholic church, I went through the new trainings for volunteers and had a deep sense of paranoia instilled in me. Although the agency I work for has no policies on the issue, I am still very cautious about being alone with students or putting myself in any situation where I could be accused of something that would destroy my career. Many tools used by sex offenders are also tools I use to gain the trust of the young people I work with. The main difference is intent, and that I never try to break the relationships students have with other adults. But it is still enough to keep me nervous.

Having those concerns so much a part of myself, I also sympathized with Sr. Aloysius, who I gradually warmed to throughout the film. Streep did a fantastic job, of course, letting her character's little humanities peek through the cold exterior. This is a woman who cares for the people in her charge and takes her role as protector very seriously. She will not let the nuns in her care come to any harm and is determined that the students at her school develop the strength and discipline they need to survive as adults...we could use a little more of this attitude in our schools today.

In the end, I have my suspicions, but I do not know if Fr. Flynn was a pedophile, if Sr. Aloysius was a change-fearing schemer or if both were true. What I do know is that even we we are acting on the side of justice, when we take those big actions in order to do good, we never know for sure if it was the right choice. Those are the decisions that can haunt us forever.