O God of Movies -- Kelly Baker
O God Of Movies
Kelly Baker
My dear colleague and one of our contributing editors, Art Remillard, alerted me to this story today. For those of you who believed that American religious historians produced monographs of topics that might not be the most interesting to the general public, think again. Julie Byrne’s O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs is being turned into a movie. Bryne’s work traced the lives of the Immaculata Macs, basketball players, at Immaculata College, a Catholic women’s college located outside of Philadelphia. The Macs won the first national championship that they attended, and this is a great sports story that is ripe for film.
Mark Herrman writes for Newsday.com:
It is sort of a women's version of "Hoosiers," captured neatly by Byrne in her 2003 work, "O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs." The book, published by Columbia University Press, was a scholar's tale of how some people live their faith and Catholic culture in daily lives - a view of religion from the ground up.
Producer/Director Tim Chambers contacted Byrne, who became a consultant for “Our Lady of Victory.” The film stars Ellen Burstyn, David Boreanaz, and Carla Gugino. The film centers on Carla Gugino, who plays Cathy Rush, the Protestant basketball coach. In "Hoop Dreams" , Kathy Matheson talked with Rush. Matheson writes:
Rush, now 60 and semiretired, describes the film as part “Sister Act,” part “Hoosiers” and part “A League of Their Own.” Maybe toss in “Rocky,” the movie of the fictional boxer who was perhaps Philadelphia’s most famous underdog since, well, the Mighty Macs.
Now, my word of caution for the day would be for most of us not to give up our day jobs as academics to enter into the world of film. As I daydream about my dissertation on the 1920s Klan being turned into a feature-length film, I also realize that I am not as lucky as Byrne to have found a fantastic story (no sports, for me!) that works both as a monograph and in celluloid. My work might be a harder sell! And really, how many other historians of American religion have films? What a unique way for our field to gain recognition by popular audiences, so maybe it won’t be so tedious for me to explain what I do.
Kelly Baker
My dear colleague and one of our contributing editors, Art Remillard, alerted me to this story today. For those of you who believed that American religious historians produced monographs of topics that might not be the most interesting to the general public, think again. Julie Byrne’s O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs is being turned into a movie. Bryne’s work traced the lives of the Immaculata Macs, basketball players, at Immaculata College, a Catholic women’s college located outside of Philadelphia. The Macs won the first national championship that they attended, and this is a great sports story that is ripe for film.
Mark Herrman writes for Newsday.com:
It is sort of a women's version of "Hoosiers," captured neatly by Byrne in her 2003 work, "O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs." The book, published by Columbia University Press, was a scholar's tale of how some people live their faith and Catholic culture in daily lives - a view of religion from the ground up.
Producer/Director Tim Chambers contacted Byrne, who became a consultant for “Our Lady of Victory.” The film stars Ellen Burstyn, David Boreanaz, and Carla Gugino. The film centers on Carla Gugino, who plays Cathy Rush, the Protestant basketball coach. In "Hoop Dreams" , Kathy Matheson talked with Rush. Matheson writes:
Rush, now 60 and semiretired, describes the film as part “Sister Act,” part “Hoosiers” and part “A League of Their Own.” Maybe toss in “Rocky,” the movie of the fictional boxer who was perhaps Philadelphia’s most famous underdog since, well, the Mighty Macs.
Now, my word of caution for the day would be for most of us not to give up our day jobs as academics to enter into the world of film. As I daydream about my dissertation on the 1920s Klan being turned into a feature-length film, I also realize that I am not as lucky as Byrne to have found a fantastic story (no sports, for me!) that works both as a monograph and in celluloid. My work might be a harder sell! And really, how many other historians of American religion have films? What a unique way for our field to gain recognition by popular audiences, so maybe it won’t be so tedious for me to explain what I do.
Comments
Religion and Modern Sport_ (Harvard UP, 2007).
In light of work mentioned in this post, and as a former college golfer who once had aspirations of playing professionally, I've often wondered what a project dealing with religion and golf might entail. Golfers I talk to often describe their practice time in devotional terms, and how humiliating the game can be....
BTW, did you play golf at U of Houston? If I remember correctly both Jim Nantz and Fred Couples played there.
I did play golf at the University of Houston (after two years I transferred and finished my golf career at Sam Houston State U), though many years after the Couples-Nantz era. I heard some great stories about their time in Houston.
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Interesting.