World Over Bits

I enjoyed World Over's interview with Michael Medved, available here:
http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/SeriesSearchprog.asp?SeriesID=-6892288&NewList=&T1=world~over

I'd meant to listen to it last Friday when it aired (the TV show is simulcast on radio and you can listen online), but I forgot and had to wait until it was archived. It was still enjoyable a week late. I don't actually care about the Oscars or other entertainment industry awards shows, but it was interesting to hear what he had to say about this year's Oscars picks. And his annoyance with the way Million Dollar Baby was marketed mirrors my annoyance with the early reviews I read. From the reviews, I thought it was a boxing film. And the first reviews I saw were so good, I wanted to see it--and that's even though I don't often go for sports movies. When I later found out what it's really about, I felt really annoyed that not one of those early reviews I read had even mentioned it was a euthanasia film. Imagine how angry I would have been if I had made it to the theater before I saw the later reports and had spent my money on what I thought was going to be an inspiring, "underdog succeeds against great odds" film, only to find out it is a "kill the underdog" film.

Anyway, since I happened to have listened to the Medved interview shortly before this week's program aired, I decided to go ahead and listen to the new one while I prepared supper. It has short interviews with Mel Gibson and with Francis Cardinal Arinze, who seems like a delightful man. I liked his response to the question about whether Catholic politicians who support abortion should receive Communion or not: he said, basically, that if you have a public figure saying he supports killing unborn babies, that he supported it yesterday, and that he will continue to support it tomorrow, but he still wants to take communion, it only takes a little elementary school child to know what the answer should be.

Given that a lot of self-proclaimed Catholic politicians have the attitude of the one out in California (I forget her name) who recently said, in essence, "how dare the bishops presume to tell the parishioners how to practice the faith," I won't hold my breath waiting for them to develop the wisdom of these hypothetical schoolchildren.