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This Shouldn't
Have Happened
Pretty soon after Mary left, the debate between Gregory and Eutychius began. The whole movie seemed to be leading up to this point, and yet the debate was over in a matter of minutes. Gregory could not read the texts Eutychius was citing in the case, briefly prayed to God for guidance, and then remembered a passage from the Gospel of Luke that unraveled Eutychius’s case. In fact, the following scene where copies of Eutychius’s now disproven text were gathered and burned lasted almost twice as long. Eventually, Whitney realized that this was because the movie wasn’t about a politician proving the future pope correct in a debate. This was a movie about weeding heterodox views out of the Catholic church.
After the debate, Gregory’s gang, The Servants of the Servant, went through the city threatening the allies of Eutychius and removing hidden copies of the Patriarch’s work from monasteries and libraries. Then, as the true climax of the film, the servants poison and kill Eutychius. As Eutychius’s dead body was carried from the room, Patrick leaned over and said, “You know, all the official sources say that he really just died of an illness. So…”
“So…what?” Whitney responded.
Patrick only shrugged.
The film ended with Gregory being crowned pope. The Vatican of the film was clearly just Creighton University’s campus. But after two hours spent in this ancient Omaha, Whitney hardly noticed the familiar setting.
After the book burning and the murder, Whitney was waiting for some character to object to Gregory becoming pope. None did. In fact, once his coronation started, the score and the crowd were both jubilant. The small band of weirdos in the audience cheered along to the recorded trumpets as the papal crown was placed on his head. As the new pope met his servants outside the church, multiple people in the audience said Gregory’s final line along with him, as if Whitney were at a rowdy screening for Twilight or Cats.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make true disciples of all people, teaching them to obey everything we command.”
Whitney sat, stunned. Her mind returned to Dillon. In therapy, after the breakup, she had spent a lot of time thinking about obedience. She had enjoyed having someone tell her what to do; relished the pride in doing something right and found comfort in having someone to blame for any plans that went wrong. Though she was mad at Dillon, she had also come to understand that the patterns they built were built together. She was as much a part of it as them.
In the first month of the breakup, she felt lost without someone to obey. She didn’t do much other than go to work and then text friends about how depressed she was. In fact, things didn’t get better until she found a replacement: a book called How to Get Over Your Break-Up in 10 Easy Steps. Beyond just giving explicit instructions on what to do, the book had a scoring system to determine how well the reader was getting over their ex. Whitney would repeat steps over and over again until she got a perfect score.
But as much as Whitney loved her highly structured recovery plan, she didn’t really get over the break-up until she started doing things she knew Dillon would disapprove of. She remembered a specific instance of going into a box store she was boycotting for their use of forced prison labor to buy a specific novelty flavor of ice cream. Halfway to the freezer section, she heard Dillon’s voice calling her weak and asking what their friends would think if they saw Whitney walking out of the store. Realizing that she would not actually have to have this conversation with Dillon, Whitney rushed down a deserted aisle to cry. Whitney resumed her boycott after this purchase, but it felt wonderful to know that this decision was hers. She could decide when to break it and when to keep it. And she chose to keep it.
Before Whitney could follow this train of thought to its final terminus, Patrick stood up and signaled for Whitney to follow.
Should Whitney:
After the debate, Gregory’s gang, The Servants of the Servant, went through the city threatening the allies of Eutychius and removing hidden copies of the Patriarch’s work from monasteries and libraries. Then, as the true climax of the film, the servants poison and kill Eutychius. As Eutychius’s dead body was carried from the room, Patrick leaned over and said, “You know, all the official sources say that he really just died of an illness. So…”
“So…what?” Whitney responded.
Patrick only shrugged.
The film ended with Gregory being crowned pope. The Vatican of the film was clearly just Creighton University’s campus. But after two hours spent in this ancient Omaha, Whitney hardly noticed the familiar setting.
After the book burning and the murder, Whitney was waiting for some character to object to Gregory becoming pope. None did. In fact, once his coronation started, the score and the crowd were both jubilant. The small band of weirdos in the audience cheered along to the recorded trumpets as the papal crown was placed on his head. As the new pope met his servants outside the church, multiple people in the audience said Gregory’s final line along with him, as if Whitney were at a rowdy screening for Twilight or Cats.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make true disciples of all people, teaching them to obey everything we command.”
Whitney sat, stunned. Her mind returned to Dillon. In therapy, after the breakup, she had spent a lot of time thinking about obedience. She had enjoyed having someone tell her what to do; relished the pride in doing something right and found comfort in having someone to blame for any plans that went wrong. Though she was mad at Dillon, she had also come to understand that the patterns they built were built together. She was as much a part of it as them.
In the first month of the breakup, she felt lost without someone to obey. She didn’t do much other than go to work and then text friends about how depressed she was. In fact, things didn’t get better until she found a replacement: a book called How to Get Over Your Break-Up in 10 Easy Steps. Beyond just giving explicit instructions on what to do, the book had a scoring system to determine how well the reader was getting over their ex. Whitney would repeat steps over and over again until she got a perfect score.
But as much as Whitney loved her highly structured recovery plan, she didn’t really get over the break-up until she started doing things she knew Dillon would disapprove of. She remembered a specific instance of going into a box store she was boycotting for their use of forced prison labor to buy a specific novelty flavor of ice cream. Halfway to the freezer section, she heard Dillon’s voice calling her weak and asking what their friends would think if they saw Whitney walking out of the store. Realizing that she would not actually have to have this conversation with Dillon, Whitney rushed down a deserted aisle to cry. Whitney resumed her boycott after this purchase, but it felt wonderful to know that this decision was hers. She could decide when to break it and when to keep it. And she chose to keep it.
Before Whitney could follow this train of thought to its final terminus, Patrick stood up and signaled for Whitney to follow.
Should Whitney:
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