A Symbol of Christianity: Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy

In class Professor Harris asked us to think about Christians on TV, and which characters were good examples of this. One of my favourite Christians on TV is Father Mulcahy (played by William Christopher) in the television series of M*A*S*H.

He is perfectly imperfect. Mulcahy remains the constant moral compass of the show, but is so kind and gentle to those who frequently test the boundaries of decency (particularly in the first three seasons where drunkenness and woman-chasing was the recurrent activity of most of the both married and unmarried gentlemen on camp). But beyond his role as the interfaith Chaplain on camp (he himself is a Catholic, but proudly offers services to all denominations), his character is full of imperfections that make him real and accessible to the viewers – he struggles with wanting to be promoted to Captain and expresses frustration about being passed over by the promotion board, he has moments where he feels dissatisfaction that his contribution to the wounded is praying and that he does not feel more “useful” next to the doctors and nurses, he plays cash games of poker to raise money to support an orphanage, and is known for having the best left hook on camp!

Father Mulcahy seems to, at moments, struggle with his faith in the world of turmoil where he lives, but also expresses quiet resolve to the men and women around him. He is the trusted listener, his patience is beyond measure, and you feel both his deep love and gratitude to those who work at the M*A*S*H. He seems to understand the “Hell” the men and women of the M*A*S*H live, and therefore is not judgemental of their actions, but helps them to regain their footing when the doctors and nurses have lost their way.

It is for these reasons I find him a very compelling and honest portal of a Christian on TV – he is not perfect, but the way he is a work in progress can make us all strive to be a little more patient and a little more honest in our own lives.

Father Mulcahy: What an ordeal. 72 hours straight. I'm prayed out — absolutely prayed out.
Hawkeye: Don't forget, Father, God was on six days straight.
Father Mulcahy: He was a lot younger then.
- The Smell of Music (Season 6, Episode 15)

The Desire to Over-Read...

One of the dangers of study in university is we are constantly challenged to write something our professor has never read before – and for some professors who have been teaching for years, that can be quite the challenge. In a desire, then, to really think outside the box, I think this has lead many students to read something into a work (whether it is books, movies, paintings, etc.) that isn’t actually there. I am not saying that thinking outside the box is a bad thing, nor am I saying that being challenged is a bad thing, but I do think we as students need to temper the desire to be brilliant with being authentic to the work presented to us.

And with that, I get into reading Christ figures into movies. I do believe that some directors very deliberately use Christ figure motifs as part of a movie, but, as suggested by Deacy in the article we read this week, I think there is also sometimes the desire to read a Christ figure into characters where that might not have been the actual intention. Although I would assert that in some cases an artist (or in the case of movies a writer or director) creates their work and then releases it to the world to be interpreted entirely by the viewer, I do think that in watching and reflecting on most works, you do want to be somewhat cognisant of what the artist intention was, and what their history is.

The example that Deacy suggested that really stuck with me was the example of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. There is a bit of fallacy in reading E.T. as a Christ figure because Spielberg is Jewish – he would clearly not have a Christian agenda within the film. When asked if he intended the movie to be a religious parable in an interview:

Spielberg answered that he did not intend the film to be a religious parable, joking, "If I ever went to my mother and said, 'Mom, I've made this movie that's a Christian parable,' what do you think she'd say? She has a kosher restaurant on Pico and Doheny in Los Angeles." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T.#Themes)

Reading a Christ figure into the film would clearly not be letting the film stand on its own merits or being true to the artist intention. I think doing this also ignores the features associated with the Christ figure that also exist elsewhere in ancient mythology and other religions (which could serve as an inspiration). The features of resurrection, willing sacrifice and miracles are not exclusive to Christianity, and some legends with this as key features to the protagonist pre-date Christianity.

For this reason, I do think it is important to go into reading a work with an open mind (and not a clear desire to see certain elements represented), but also to be familiar with the artist, writer, or director involved to gain a deeper understanding of what they hoped to represent, and how those thoughts informed the creation of a hero character.

Do I Define the Labels, or Do the Labels Define Me?

Who am I, if I am not the things I buy? I think this is a question we started to address in class on Tuesday. Blackberry or iPhone, Windows or Mac, Playstation or Xbox. And we saw some very deep brand loyalty (particularly around Apple).

After class I was recounting the discussion from class to my partner, and we started talking about the effectiveness of marketing, and how it seems to have changed brand loyalty. We were both born in the early 1980s, and we are basically the tail end of the so-called “Gen X’ers”, or the generation too savvy for advertising. Advertising when we were growing up was a lot more straight forward (as we discussed in class) – here is a product, here are the features, now buy! This type of advertising worked with our parents, but as we (the children) became more saturated with a constant bombardment of advertising, we became the sceptics.

I think this is when brand loyalty of lower cost products began to decline. Not many people under the age of 50 are really brand loyal to things like bathroom tissue, fabric wash, or even body soap. Most go to the grocery store or pharmacy and buy what is on sale and available.

With that said, I think consumers have become more brand loyal to those things that are trendy, and the almost cult like loyalty begins to become part of their personal definition. As discussed in class, if you are a Mac person, you are REALLY a Mac person. The kind of loyalty that is shown to companies like Apple and RIM often mean if you own an iPhone or Blackberry, you’re unlikely to switch to something else, even if something else comes out that might meet your needs better. It becomes part of how you define yourself to other people.

And if your advertisement doesn’t represent who I think I am, you’ve lost me from the outset. I want to be entertained – and if you entertain me, I might buy.

Cheers,
Leah