Movies include Conclave, Babygirl
The DeBartolo Performing Arts Center’s (DPAC) Browning Cinema at Notre Dame has recently screened a number of films containing sexually explicit and anti-Catholic content, including controversial films such as Conclave, Babygirl, and The Apprentice.
The films were ticketed and open to the public, with discounted prices for students.
Conclave, a 2024 film directed by Edward Berger, tells the story of the fictional Cardinal Lawrence, who is tasked with leading a conclave to select a new pope. After navigating the conspiracies, corruption, and scandals of many of the cardinals, the conclave finally selects an intersex pope who “identifies as male” but is ultimately revealed to have female chromosomes.
The film’s portrayal of the Catholic Church and its controversial ending have caused many Catholics to condemn it. Bishop Robert Barron of the Winona-Rochester diocese advised Catholics to “run away from it as fast as you can,” saying, “If you are interested in a film about the Catholic Church that could have been written by the editorial board of the New York Times, this is your movie.”
Bp. Barron continued in his description of Conclave: “The hierarchy of the Church is [portrayed as] a hotbed of ambition, corruption and desperate egotism. Conservatives are xenophobic extremists and the liberals are self-important schemers. None can escape this irredeemable situation. The only way forward is the embrace of the progressive buzz words of diversity, inclusion, indifference to doctrine, and the ultimate solution is a virtue signaling cardinal who takes the papal name of Innocent and who is a biological female.”
Notre Dame Provost John McGreevy, who attended DPAC’s screening of Conclave, told the Rover, “I have an interest in the history of Catholicism, so that drew me here to see Conclave. It was an entertaining movie with great acting—even if the plot is rather implausible—and it had great atmospherics. I enjoyed it.”
Another film in the Browning Cinema’s season was Babygirl, screened from February 6–8 in partnership with the Gender Studies Program. DPAC’s description of the film states that it intends to embody “the spirit of 1980s and 1990s erotic thrillers.”
Babygirl tells the story of a high-level CEO, Romy Mathis, who risks her family and career for an affair with a much younger intern. The film contains, according to reviews, “extremely long, graphic sexual scenes,” “consensually unclear moments,” extensive nudity, homosexual relationships, and instances of masturbation and pornography.
Following the Friday night showing of Babygirl, the Gender Studies Program sponsored a panel discussion led by Anna Wald, a Gender Studies Program Postdoctoral Fellow, and Bettina Spencer, St. Mary’s College Professor of Psychology and Gender and Women’s Studies.
When asked in the discussion about the film’s choice to include graphic and violent sexual scenes, Spencer said, “I think this movie is about, in many ways, sexual anxiety, and I think in that sense, we do need to see the sex scenes in this film, honestly. So this is about [Romy] not being honest with herself, not being honest with her partner, of a really long time figuring out what she likes, and we’re kind of with her on that journey.”
Spencer continued, “So for me, it doesn’t feel so much like I’m peeping through a window at them, it feels more like we’re with Romy, discovering something alongside of her.”
After the panel, graduate student Laura Brady shared her opinion on the screening with the Rover, saying, “Art shouldn’t be censored, and I don’t think just because of the kind of university it is, we shouldn’t show this type of film. I get that it’s outside of Catholic values, but how are you ever supposed to explore your religion, your personal beliefs, your values, if you don’t see anything outside of them?”
Brady went on to say, “If you see someone acting outside of your values, that can reinforce them even further. So if you watch this film and you say, ‘I think that’s disgusting, I never want to see that again,’ amazing. You’ve learned something about yourself. But if it opens up something in your mind, I don’t think that’s a bad thing either.”
Other students expressed grave concerns with the screening, however. A student from Walsh Hall told the Rover, “DPAC’s current film season is insulting to our university’s Catholic identity. These films should not be shown on our campus as they clearly do not align with the beliefs we ought to hold as Our Lady’s University.”
She continued, “The misinformation and lies in these films are warping students’ perception of truth and reality. The creators of the DPAC season should have the courage to select films that uphold the university’s values and align with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”
A sophomore from Cavanaugh Hall echoed these sentiments, saying, “It seems like a question of human dignity, including in a special way the dignity of women.”
She explained, “Sexually explicit films often fail to treat the whole human person with the respect and authentic love they deserve, reducing them to an object to be used. It’s not only a question of faith but of human dignity in the broader sense.”
The DPAC film season includes other sexually explicit films such as The Apprentice—a movie about Donald Trump—American Psycho, and Anora, which follows the romance story of a New York sex worker and also contains graphic sexual scenes.
Executive director of DPAC Ted Barron explained the process of film selection to the Rover, saying, “For our cinema program, we select a mix of recent critically acclaimed films (right now, we now are focused on films that are in contention for the Academy Awards) and classic films that we package in our Learning Beyond the Classics series.”
This is not the first time DPAC has drawn criticism. Last November, DPAC drew criticism from many when it brought a drag show to campus, in partnership with the Gender Studies Program, the Film, Television, and Theater Department, the Department of Music, the Department of American Studies, the Initiative on Race and Resilience, and the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts.
While some of DPAC’s presentations have caused concern, the performing arts center is still viewed with pride by many. McGreevy continued, “I love coming to the Browning Cinema and the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center—I just wish I could do it more often. We’ve seen many wonderful films and performances here over the years and often brought our children when they were growing up.”
More information about the 2024–2025 season of performances and films can be found on the DPAC website.
Abby Strelow is a freshman who spends her time studying theology and trying to smuggle baking ingredients from the dining hall so she can make banana bread. Send her recipes or stealth tips at astrelow@nd.edu.
Photo Credit: performingarts.nd.edu
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