Fireproof - The Catholic Version

If you have not seen the movie Fireproof, make every effort to do so. My parish rented the DVD and played it one evening for about 20 couples who showed up for the free screening. A low-budget film produced by two evangelical brothers and their Georgia congregation, Fireproof sends a powerful message about the sanctity of marriage and the need to invite God into this bond between man and woman.

The plot hinges on the troubled marriage of Caleb (Kirk Cameron, the only professional actor in the film) and Catherine, a young couple who are wedded more to their own ambitions and interests than to one another. Caleb is a man of strength, a firefighter captain in a small town who does heroic deeds and is respected by everyone except his wife. The source of her rejection of him is his internet porn addiction.

Catherine works as a publicist in a local hospital who takes off her wedding ring one day and becomes increasingly open to the advances of a tall, handsome doctor.

With the guidance of his father, Caleb embarks on a program called "The Love Dare," designed to save failing marriages through prayer and following a day to day routine to win back the spouse and "fireproof" a marriage. As the movie says, "fireproof" doesn't mean the flames won't touch you, just that you'll withstand them.

To learn more about the plot, you can visit the movie's website.

Here I want to make a few comments from a Catholic perspective. After all, the movie has a strong evangelical Christian message that pretty much begins and ends with the need to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Of course, we do need to accept Jesus into our lives in that way. Yet while focusing on this theme, the movie avoids or passes over some very basic issues that are key to the Catholic view of marriage.

My first reaction after watching the movie was: where are the children? Caleb and Catherine are childless after 7 years of marriage, yet there is no suggestion that this could be a source of grief or frustration in their relationship. This is a key issue, especially in our time when so many couples go to great lengths and expense to conceive, and many childless couples are heartbroken. Yet the movie makes not one allusion to children or the desire for them.

The other issue is more basic to a Catholic mind. Have they been trying to conceive, or have they been contracepting to avoid children? Of course, Protestants generally do not view contraception as sinful, but it is totally unrealistic for anyone to think that contraception has no effect on a couple's relationship. As Christian moviemakers, they should have let us know whether Caleb and Catherine are open to new life or not. But, again, not a hint.

Of course, the movie has great strengths. It provides a subtle yet powerful study of temptation and sin, and the weakness of the flesh when the will is deformed. There are wonderful heart-rending and heart-lifting scenes, and talk about love that you'll rarely hear in church, let alone on a movie screen. Love is sacrifice; love is giving even when the other person rejects; love is not emotions; love comes from God.

Guys will love the scene when Catherine, finally won back and repentent over her scornful ways, appears in red-dress beauty at the fire house garage, and tells Caleb, as the wind billows her hair - If I never told you that you are a good man, I do now. It was lump in the throat, hold back the tears time for me -- every guy wants to hear from the woman in his life that he's a good man!

The final scene is sweet but falls short. Caleb and Catherine renew their marriage vows before a preacher as a lifelong "covenant" and not simply as a civil contract. Their friends and family gathered around the idyllic lakeside scene applaud and join in their happiness as they start anew, but something was missing.

How fulfilling the movie would have been if after the ceremony a friend had hugged Catherine and said, "I'm so happy for you and Caleb, and the news about your pregnancy!"

But that would be Fireproof - The Catholic Version.

Comments

[jiminnj]

hello - i feel compelled to respectfully disagree with focus of this article. It may be true that there is a signficant difference between the teachings of the Catholic and Protestant churches on birth control, but i fail to see how by not mentioning children, the movie took any kind of stance on birth control. instead, i think this movie put forth a powerful and unifying message about the need to abondon our self absorption and accept Christ as our personal Lord & Savior - certainly a concept that all Christians could and should agree on. I think we should be encouring our Protestant brothers who had the courage and determination to make this movie, in spite of the secular backlash, rather than focusing on our differences. The fact is that I havent seen a catholic alternative movie and until there is, we have little room to critsize. In sum, I know we are passionate about our catholic identity, but can't we recognize that there is a much larger goal at hand in terms of helping to drive a Christian culture in our growing secular environment?

[NFP works]

Well, done. Your thoughts are far more charitable than my thoughts were. The movie was definitely better than I thought it would be, but my standards were pretty low, to be honest. Artistically it has a long way to go, but the message was good.

I admired that they took the porn issue head on, though not very deeply.

And you hit the nail on the head--the glaring mistake from a Catholic point of view is the complete separation of marriage from children--not even mentioned! I hope to do a little blog entry on this little piece of marital moviemaking that was a good effort, but falls quite short.

[Burnt Marshwiggle]

Thanks for your review and your emphasis on the importance of contraception issue to married happiness.

Does the main FathersForGood website have an article on the pressures to use contraception and the liberation found by using natural fertility regulation?

[John Gonzalez]

I have not seen the movie but I find the plot and your thoughts very intriguing. I generally stay away from Evangelist theology because their absolute focus on individualism and attack against God's gift of free-will is troubling. The idea of seeing marriage from the perspective of sacrifice is noble however. I would suggest a different Catholic dimension. The Catholic faith is not an individual faith. It is a communal faith. When we look at the ten Commandments we do not end with the first three commandment which look at our own relationship with God but we continue with seven others which describe our commitment to our fellow humans. We are a community of faith, so the "personal Jesus" thing does not fly with me because I can only understand my relationship with Jesus in perspective to the Catholic community. I think marriage can also benefit from being seen not only from my own personal relationship to my spouse but also from us as a unit of a larger community (and from this perspective the issue of children also begins to play on this dynamic.)

Thank you for your thoughts, Peace to you and your family Brother Knight.

[Scott Audet]

I understand your positive thoughts on this movie, but as a Catholic that has returned to the Church after being involved with protestant denominations. I feel that we should stay away from any movie that promotes protestant teachings or ideals & focus more on the teachings of the Church. So many Catholics are drawn into the emotional high that many protestant denominations base their worship on and lure the poorly catechized Catholic away from Holy mother Church. I don't mean to be a downer, but I believe that the protestant influence could be bad for some.

[Billy Trout]

I agree - the movie was excellent and people will benefit from seeing it. In my opinion, I'm not sure why the issue of children vs. not having children is so critical. Seems the focus is on the relationship between husband and wife. I think they sold this pretty well - even through some really bad spots of acting! Not sure that the subplot of children/contraception would have brought that point home more.

[Matt McKillip]

Good thoughts. Our parish showed the movie and then during lent we had about 10 couples (including my wife and me) that went through the Love Dare book (the book from the movie). It was a great expereince and easy to read book. I highly recommend the book - it is much better than the movie! Another good book on relationships is a book called "Real Life, Real Love (Seven Paths to a Strong and Lasting Relationship)" by Fr. Albert Cutie. He is often on EWTN and has a weekly radio show in english/spanish. See http://www.amazon.ca/Real-Life-Love-Father-Cutie/dp/0425205428.