Corpus Christi email rumor is false – but a documentary about the play was released April 2012

Update May 2012

I have not seen this documentary that is “about” the play “Corpus Christi” – it is not a film version of the play though from the trailer it seems scenes from the play may be included. The film premiered in San Francisco in April, according to the website. I do not know if the film will have a theatrical release but I have a call in with the publicist.

Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption trailer

 According to the film’s website Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption is about 

In this feature documentary, anti-gay religious groups meet “the gay Jesus play.” The film follows the troupe, playwright, and audiences across the U.S. and around the world on a 5-year journey of Terrence McNally’s passion play, where voices of protest and support collide on one of the central issues facing the LGBT community – religion based bias.  Challenging issues of civil rights, marriage equality and separation of church and state, this production has become a remarkable vehicle of positive change for a community struggling to find its voice.  Meanwhile, the company of actors finds itself on a journey that would forever change their lives.

From About.com 2011 UPDATE: In mid-2011 a documentary film will be released chronicling a touring production of Terrence McNally’s stage play Corpus Christi. The play does, in fact, depict Jesus Christ as a gay man. However, the film is NOT the play, but a documentary about it. Important distinction.

The documentary film is entitled Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption.

You may want to check out this site that explains Urban Legends, Gay Jesus, Corpus Christi Play, why people react to rumors about subjects that touch their beliefs.

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I posted this on April 23, 2009:

For perhaps the 100th time this year a friend has forwarded to me an email that is completely false. “Corpus Christi”, the play by Terrence Mc Nally, is NOT being made into a movie.

I am posting this here because I don’t have time to respond to all the emails….

A media mindful response is to check the sources and the rumor itself (www.snopes.com) before you spread an email around.  Truth is not served by spreading rumors.

As St. Ignatius recommended: test the spirit. If he were here today, he might say: test the email. Reflect and research before you hit that send button; this is a service to the community; spreading false rumors helps no one.

Here is what I wrote in another posting Sr Rose Looks at Hollywood:

Urban Legends

I have some wonderful Catholic friends who get excited whenever anything worrisome appears in their email boxes. Before checking out the “rumors” or information, they forward emails to all their friends. In the last six months I have received several emails telling me to sign a petition because Terrence McNally’s play “Corpus Christi”, about a gay Jesus and gay apostles, is going to be released soon as a movie. According to www.snopes.com, this rumor has been going around at least since 2000 and it is false. Indeed, there is no mention of it at the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and Google doesn’t turn up anything. I recommend checking out rumors that seek to incite moral panics before passing on misinformation. This is a thoughtful response.

Corpus Christi email rumor is false – but a documentary about it is coming out mid-2011

From About.com

2011 UPDATE: In mid-2011 a documentary film will be released chronicling a touring production of Terrence McNally’s stage play Corpus Christi. The play does, in fact, depict Jesus Christ as a gay man. However, the film is NOT the play, but a documentary about it. Important distinction.

The documentary film is entitled Corpus Christi: Playing with Redemption.

You may want to check out this site that explains Urban Legends, Gay Jesus, Corpus Christi Play, why people react to rumors about subjects that touch their beliefs.

_____

I posted this on April 23, 2009:

For perhaps the 100th time this year a friend has forwarded to me an email that is completely false. “Corpus Christi”, the play by Terrence Mc Nally, is NOT being made into a movie.

I am posting this here because I don’t have time to respond to all the emails….

A media mindful response is to check the sources and the rumor itself (www.snopes.com) before you spread an email around.  Truth is not served by spreading rumors.

 

As St. Ignatius recommended: test the spirit. If he were here today, he might say: test the email. Reflect and research before you hit that send button; this is a service to the community; spreading false rumors helps no one.

Here is what I wrote in another posting Sr Rose Looks at Hollywood:

 

Urban Legends

I have some wonderful Catholic friends who get excited whenever anything worrisome appears in their email boxes. Before checking out the “rumors” or information, they forward emails to all their friends. In the last six months I have received several emails telling me to sign a petition because Terrence McNally’s play “Corpus Christi”, about a gay Jesus and gay apostles, is going to be released soon as a movie. According to www.snopes.com, this rumor has been going around at least since 2000 and it is false. Indeed, there is no mention of it at the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and Google doesn’t turn up anything. I recommend checking out rumors that seek to incite moral panics before passing on misinformation. This is a thoughtful response.

Sr. Rose Looks at Hollywood

Today a colleague asked me if I thought there was an anti-Catholic bias in Hollywood.

It got me thinking.

I looked through my file of published articles and found one I wrote in 2006 at the invitation of US Catholic, a national Catholic magazine published by the Claretians. I re-read it and I am still of the same opinion as I was then: Horray for Hollywood (US Catholic Octoebr, 2006)

 Guide for Catholics on Media Bias

Back in 1999 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops published a helpful guide to Catholics who perceive a bias in the media, presumably the news. I think this leaflet can be very useful when we may perceive there to be a bias in the entertainment industry as well. This guide is available online at

Insights and Answers on Media Bias by the USCCB

USCCB Publishing

A point that seems most significant to me in the leaflet says that concerned Catholics be wary of  making accusations that are generalizations or are inaccurate: “Religious bias is a serious matter, and accusations should not be made lightly or with insufficient evidence….” To me, this means evidence that is based on research, analysis, and quantifying results.

(When I read through the leaflet today it called to mind Bill Maher’s 2008 lazy film Religulous – all the points describing what media bias looks like were in this film! But it also made me think that as believers it behooves us to be able to explain, to articulate, the faith that is within us to cynics. It may not convince, but at least there is an opportunity for conversation.)

Urban Legends

I have some wonderful Catholic friends who get excited whenever anything worrisome appears in their email boxes. Before checking out the “rumors” or information, they forward emails to all their friends. In the last six months I have received several emails telling me to sign a petition because Terrence McNally’s play “Corpus Christi”, about a gay Jesus and gay apostles, is going to be released soon as a movie. According to www.snopes.com, this rumor has been going around at least since 2000 and it is false. Indeed, there is no mention of it at the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com) and Google doesn’t turn up anything. I recommend checking out rumors that seek to incite moral panics before passing on misinformation.

Media Literacy Education & Media Mindfulness

Media literacy education can also serve believers and citizens well because media mindfulness is a set of life skills (critical thinking) for the 21st century. These skills include core concepts and key questions to educate all ages who engage with the media to do so deliberately and critically (not negatively.) See www.medialit.org, www.PaulineCMS.org, and National Association for a Media Literate America. Media literacy/media mindfulness provide a way for thoughtful media consumers to respond to media stories in all forms: respectful, dialogic, informed, and responsive rather than reactive.

I am looking forward to the new document coming soon from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications on the media (see my blog entry below).