Daredevil and Catholicism

[ivyfic]

I finally watched Daredevil. I find it interesting that the producers said they wanted to do a gritty, darker show, but without "gratuitous violence," cause, um, holy shit? Does the existence of Game of Thrones suddenly mean that everything that is less violent than Game of Thrones is suddenly not gratuitous? I really liked episode 10, but other than that... I'm also finding it funny that Daredevil is *gritty* show, but if you look at season one of Arrow, Oliver Queen kills/maims way more people. Just not with graphic and extended sound design. I think Arrow qualifies as darker.

I spent a lot of it thinking about the intersection of Catholicism and crime/detective shows. Cause it seems to me that whenever a character's Christianity is a major plot point, they're always Catholic. Fraser in due South, Scully in X-Files, Murdock in Daredevil. I can't off the top of my head think of a show where a Protestant character (any flavor of Protestant) has had their faith be foregrounded. I have a few theories as to why:
- Cop shows have main characters that are often of the ethnic groups that have made up police departments for much of the twentieth century, that is Irish and Italian immigrants, who are Catholic.
- The influence of the Godfather movies on crime stories, since the pageantry of Catholicism is forefront in that film.
- The association of Catholicism with white urban decay. Even in shows without a Catholic main character, we'll often meet a Catholic priest in a run down church in the worst (white) neighborhood of the city, who is doing his best to help that community.
- Writers just like confessionals a lot, and Protestantism doesn't have as defined ritual as Catholicism, making it a harder thing to write about.

What do you guys think?

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

It's an interesting question. I think you touched on the main reason in your suggestions, which is that Catholic rituals are more theatric and visual (including the buildings) than many in Protestant faiths which were often stripped down deliberately. The very fact that Protestants referred to Catholics as idolators seems to me to be part of the reply -- I think it's much more symbolic with various rituals that can be represented. It's also a much older religion than the many fractured Protestant sects and so more mythic, and it still has a lot of secrecy to it. After all, part of the reason for the Protestant break is the belief that people could be responsible for their own reading an interpretation of scripture, whereas Catholics resisted using the language of the very people attending the services. Secrecy makes for mystery and crime.

However, I'd say that revivalist Protestant gatherings are often used in film and TV (see SPN's Faith), especially when corruption is being represented. And again, I'd say it's because it's theatrical in nature. Representing, say, a Quaker meeting doesn't have the same visual oomph.