Mentioning the book "Shoes of the Fisherman" in another thread got me thinking - can you think of some other examples of "pop culture" dealing with Eastern Catholic/Orthodoxy?

Besides "Fisherman" (whose main character is a Ukrainian Catholic who is elected Pope), the only other one I can think of off the top of my head is the Seinfeld episode in which George becomes a Latvian Orthodox (for purely selfish reasons, of course!).

Can anyone think of any other books, movies, TV shows?

Dear Theist Gal,

The 'Big Fat Greek Wedding' ofcourse!


Alice

Dear Theist Gal,

Also, 'Nicholas and Alexandra' and 'Katherine the Great'....(anything about Russian history ofcourse!)

Alice

Oh yeah, I forgot about the wedding!! (and the Tsar!)

So what else?

The people in the film The Deer Hunter were Orthodox.

Latka and Simka from Taxi were Orthodox, and half the characters in Doctor Zhivago

WHo could forget the scene of the Orthodox wedding in the Deer Hunter (which was filmed at St Theodosius Cathedral in Cleveland)??

Also, ' Captain Corelli's Mandolin' with Nicholas Cage and Penelope Cruz...filmed on the Greek island of Cephallonia. There was a religious scene of the feast of of St. Gerasimos, the patron saint of that island.

Alice

Alice,

That is one of my favorite movies, though my dear departed Mother scoffed at it, I guess it was due to her Sicilian bloodlines.


james

Andy Warhol was Byzantine.How about My Big Fat Greek Wedding.The monks of New Skete put out a dog training book.

I realize they are high above pop culture, but how about the novels of Fyodor Dostoyevsky? Dostoyevsky's "Brothers Karamazov" is a very Orthodox oriented novel.

In Christ,
Anthony

Francis Ford Coppola's film, Bram Stoker's Dracula, has Drac as an Orthodox nobleman marching off to defend Constantinople and fight the Turks. Upon his return he discovers his beloved had committed suicide, and the bishop tells the count her soul has been condemned.

In NYPD Blue, their is one episode that has a scene that deals with Sipkowitz' (sp?) infant son's being "churched" in the Orthodox Church. The mother was an Orthodox Christian (she was the DA or PD character). I happened to catch it while channel surfing. The complete rite of Churching was shown with the priest intoning the prayers in English.

Kojak was an Orthodox New York City police detective. There were a number of episodes in which Orthodox clergymen were highlighted and Orthodox Churches featured prominently.

Steve

In "Babylon 5", the 2nd in Command in "Babylon 5" (I think her name was Ivanovna). Apparently, she even had an icon (on or desk or in her room)!

Also the wedding scene in Coppala's Dracula which is set in the chapel of a Romanian monastery. Frequently I have seen Eastern Europeans depicted as being Roman Catholic, most writers probably don't know the difference.

Any examples of a depiction of a married Eastern Rite or Orthodox priest in popular culture? A few years ago one of the soaps (I think it was One Life to Live) had a recurring charecter who was a married Episcopal priest and called "father" by the charecters; the network recieved so many complaints from Roman Catholic viewers who were offended at the idea of a married man being a priest the scripts were altered to identify the character as an Episcopal "minister".

UGH! Don't those soap viewers know about Anglo-Catholicism????

I saw a 2 hour documentary about Warhol a few months ago in which his brother is interviewed wearing a "Byzantine" sweatshirt!

I just remembered, there was a James Bond movie, (I don't remember the name, but Richard Moore was Bond) with lots of filming at the ancient Greek Orthodox monastic community high atop of Meteora in Greece. There was lots of fighing in a church, (judging from the damage going on, it must have been a set) and well, as one can understand, I remember reading that this filming was MUCH to the monks' dismay....

Dear All:

Wasn't there an Orthodox wedding in an Orthodox church in NYPD Blue some years ago?

Also, I believe that the mini-series The Thorn Birds had Father Ralph going to Greece with his Archbishop-mentor (I forget his name) for ecumenical discussions with the Orthodox.

The crowning ceremony in the movie "My Life" was shot at St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathederal.

Finally, there is an independent movie out called "The Secret" that is set in Chicago's Ukrainian Village wherein the parish church of Sts. Volodymyr and Olha was used.

Yours,

kl

Also, there was one episode in the series "Adderly", wherein was showed a coffin set before the iconostas at the beautiful Greek Orthodox Church (St. Georges'???) in downtown Toronto.

This is stretching it, but "Chandler & Monica" were almost married by a Greek Orthodox "priest" in FRIENDS. Except that they got the vestments all wrong - they had the "priest" wear a soft high back phelon & his klobuk looked like a hat worn by French mediaeval noblewomen. (Plus he only had a moustache, and if he were wearing a klobuk, he would have been a monastic, therefore bearded... (not to be picky)

Dear Herb,

FYI - my office was once used for an episode of "Adderly."

Just thought you might like to know . . .

Alex

Speaking of James Bond;

In the movie "From Russia With Love" there is a 5-minute or more scene inside Hagia Sophia in Istanbul about an hour into the movie. And there was some people chasing each other inside so you can see how small the people are in comparison to the huge pillars. And there is a tour group in the background and the leader pronounces "Hagia Sophia" differently than I do. (And prior to this scene, there are at lease 2-3 outdoor scenes of the city with Hagia Sophia in the background.)

:p

Oh - I must watch it again tonight - it's on Brit TV and I haven't seen it for simply ages - I'll watch with renewed interest.

Anhelyna

Way Cool!

Alex, You're the Man! (err, or rather "Mensch")

ps:

This is REALLY stretching it, but Worf's foster parents are the Rozhenkos, ergo....

Wow, we even have fellow "Trekkies (Trekkers as some prefer) on this Forum! Live long and prosper is the "Star Trek" version of Mnohaja L'ita!

"V"
Ung-Certez