At his blog, Articles of Faith, Michael Paulson reflects on the religious characteristics of many of the movies nominated for Oscars this year:
Many of the religion angles illuminate conflicts and tensions. Most prominently, “Slumdog Millionaire,” the likely best picture winner, struck me as unusual because it features a Muslim protagonist without any connection to terror; it also has a brief but clear depiction of tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India, and, most significantly, it explores concepts of fate and destiny. (The New York Times’s web site has an interesting discussion of why Hindu nationalists are objecting to “Slumdog Millionaire” here.)
“Milk,” another best picture nominee, has a memorable and disturbing scene at a Catholic church, and intimates that Dan White’s Catholicism played a role in his discomfort with homosexuality, which led to his killing of Harvey Milk; the film also features unflattering documentary footage of Anita Bryant and the evangelical opposition to gay rights. Off-screen, Milk’s screenwriter, Dustin Lance Black, nominated for an Oscar, is an ex-Mormon whose gayness highlights that faith group’s trouble with its own gay members.
[…]ReligionLink, which is an affiliate of the Religion Newswriters Association, has put out a handy guide to religion themes in this year’s nominees.
Read the full post here.