The Harrowing of Hollywood

For much of the twentieth century, films about faith were either earnest epics such as The Greatest Story Ever Told and The Robe or syrupy depictions of self-effacing clergy as in The Bells of St. Mary’s and Boys Town. The end of the old production code in the late ’60s provided new opportunities not only for more challenging depictions of “religion” but even for outright mockery. Religious characters were often rendered as fanatics and lunatics: think Carrie’s mom or the deranged fan in Misery. Even the basis for religion was called into question, from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to Bill Maher’s Religulous.