Paul Verhoeven 's "Benedetta " tells the story of the forbidden sexual relationship between two nuns.Catholic nun Sister Helena Burns told Insider she "wouldn't waste her time" watching the film.
Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven's latest film "Benedetta" debuted to a five-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival in July. When the film opened in the United States, however, it was met with protest.
Various organizations such as the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property have condemned the film as "blasphemous" and "pornographic filth." Members of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property — an organization of lay Catholic Americans — have even turned out in small groups outside of early screenings of the film with banners and placards.
Much of the anger surrounding the film has been fueled by its central plot — which is based on writer Judith C. Brown's 1986 book "Immodest Acts: The Life of a
Sister Helena Burns, who is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, an international convent often referred to as "Media Nuns" due to their frequent appearances across social media, told Insider that she would never "waste her time" watching Verhoeven's film. She added that Hollywood's frequent inclusion of same-sex relationships and nudity in films about nuns is one of her "big beefs about really bad nun movies."
"So I can tell you right now 'Benedetta' is a really bad nun movie because they want to put what they consider two polar opposites together," Burns told Insider.
"Nuns, ooo, virgins, whatever, like sex, sex, sex, sex, sex. And it's like we're not obsessed with sex. You guys are obsessed with sex," she added.
The director 'wants to provoke. And sometimes that helps for ticket sales'
Burns, however, is skeptical about how effective it is to protest films particularly when they are made by a filmmaker like Verhoeven who she says has a "track record" of making controversial films.
Verhoeven is often referred to as one of Europe's most provocative filmmakers. He's best known for his cult classics such as 1987's "RoboCop," 1990's "Total Recall," and 1992's "Basic Instinct," which famously included a shot of actor Sharon Stone crossing her legs with no underwear on.
Last year, in her bestselling memoir, Stone said she had been misled about the direction of the scene by Verhoeven who she said had assured her that her crotch would not be visible on-screen. Verhoeven later disputed Stone's recollection of the events and described her account as "nonsense" in an interview with Deadline.
"He wants to provoke and sometimes that helps for ticket sales. It stirs up the controversy. So I think if the boycotters ask themselves, 'What is your objective?' If your objective is for nobody to go see that film, then don't boycott it, don't make a public boycott 'cause then everybody's curious who may not have even heard of the film," Burns told Insider.
"Like, for example, say a movie is attacking the mother of God. Well, you have just crossed the line there, right? Because she's so sacred to us. She's not God, but she's so wonderful and holy and amazing. And she's our loving, compassionate mother. So we're going to defend our mother. Oh yeah, you take her on we're going to come after you with words."
Members of the Church are 'being watched' after the pedophilia scandal
Burns told Insider that the biggest issue with films about nuns is that they are often made by filmmakers who are not Catholics, and therefore, the filmmakers struggle to "understand the Catholic faith and what that's all about." Instead, the films fall into familiar tropes and sensationalist ideas about nuns that are "all about transgressing."
Burns later added that she believes another contributing factor to the poor representation of nuns on screen is that God,
"Look at the scandals. Look at the sex scandals. Look at what just happened in France; all of that was uncovered. We're being watched. We're being observed." Burns told Insider.
In October, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported the findings of an independent commission investigating child sexual abuse in the French Catholic church that uncovered between 2,900 and 3,200 pedophiles operated inside the institution as priests and other church members since 1950. Shortly after the findings were published, the French Catholic church announced plans to sell parts of the church's real estate holdings to compensate victims of child sex abuse at the hands of clergy, France24 reported.
Sister Burns praised the depiction of nuns in 'Call the Midwife'
For Burns, the best depictions of nuns on-screen don't appear in films or TV shows that make grand, sweeping statements, but rather from the productions that accurately and comprehensively depict the spirit of religious life.
Burns's small but comprehensive list of accurate nuns on-screen includes the clergymen and women in Greta Gerwig's 2016's film "Lady Bird" — although she has "big problems" with the film — and the Anglican nuns in the BBC period drama "Call the Midwife," which Burns considers to be the best on-screen representation of nuns.
"They hit so many notes right in that: the prayer life, the community life, the commitment. It's loving our neighbor as ourselves. The dignity of the human person, like we're all about the dignity of the human being, or we should be," Burns said of "Call the Midwife."
"That's what religious life is, very simple. Love God, love your neighbor."
"Benedetta" is in US theaters now. The film will be released in UK theaters in April 2022.