What could the film director Frank Capra and the saint Elizabeth Ann Seton possibly have in common? A great deal, in fact. They were both thoroughly American, but more important, the storylines of Elizabeth\u2019s life and Capra\u2019s films each illustrated the key themes of the Christian drama: the Cross, Christ\u2019s Resurrection, trust in God\u2019s Providence, and the theme I\u2019ll explore here\u2014the blessedness of the poor and meek.<\/p>\n
Several of Capra\u2019s films focus on the plight of the “little guy”\u2014 and often the evils of the powerful rich. Think of his most famous film, Qu\u00e9 bello es vivir<\/em> (1946), donde el mal\u00e9volo bar\u00f3n ladr\u00f3n Henry Potter es burlado por el relativamente pobre pero generoso George Bailey. Incluso una de las primeras pel\u00edculas sonoras de Capra, Rubio platino<\/em> (1931), presenta a un tipo corriente, el reportero Stewart Smith, que se ve atra\u00eddo por el mundo de la clase alta (que aqu\u00ed no es malvada, s\u00f3lo ostentosa), pero que luego lo rechaza disgustado por su esnobismo y su ego\u00edsmo inherente.<\/p>\n Pero quiero centrarme primero en una de las pel\u00edculas de Capra de la \u00e9poca de la Depresi\u00f3n: El Sr. Deeds va a la ciudad<\/em> (1936). Longfellow Deeds es un hombre corriente de veintiocho a\u00f1os del pueblo ficticio de Mandrake Falls, Vermont, donde es muy querido. Sus placeres: tocar la tuba y escribir poes\u00eda por encargo de una empresa de postales navide\u00f1as. De la nada, aparece el s\u00f3rdido abogado John Cedar con la noticia de que Deeds es el \u00fanico heredero de una fortuna de 20 millones de d\u00f3lares que le ha dejado un t\u00edo al que apenas conoce. Deeds le contesta, despreocupado: \"Me pregunto por qu\u00e9 dej\u00f3 me<\/em> todo ese dinero. No lo necesito\". Luego coge su tuba y toca unas notas. Cedar, tratando de conseguir un poder notarial sobre la herencia (y llevarse una gran comisi\u00f3n para \u00e9l), dice a Deeds que debe acompa\u00f1arle a Nueva York. En el tren, en lugar de pensar en todo lo que puede hacer con el dinero, Deeds se preocupa por d\u00f3nde encontrar\u00e1 la banda del pueblo otro tubista.<\/p>\n En Nueva York, a la periodista Louise Bennett se le ocurre la idea de hacerse pasar por una pobre forastera que intenta conseguir trabajo; haci\u00e9ndose llamar Mary, interpreta este papel con Deeds para ganarse su confianza, salir con \u00e9l y luego escribir art\u00edculos burl\u00e1ndose de \u00e9l como si fuera un paleto. A su editor le encanta lo que hace porque sus art\u00edculos venden muchos peri\u00f3dicos. Por supuesto, Deeds no tiene ni idea de qui\u00e9n est\u00e1 escribiendo estas humillantes historias, y poco a poco se va enamorando de ella, y ella de \u00e9l.<\/p>\n Though “as naive as a child” (as Cedar puts it to his colleagues), Deeds is sharp enough to catch on to all the New York rich folks who are trying to get hold of a chunk of his inheritance. (Of Cedar, he says after they’ve shaken hands, “Even his hands are oily.”) He just wants to go back to Mandrake Falls\u2014so he can think about what good he could do with the money\u2014especially after he discovers that it’s “Mary” who has been writing the demeaning newspaper stories.<\/p>\n But just then, at his lowest ebb, a poor man barges into the garish mansion where Deeds is living and berates him for wasting his money: “I want a chance to feed my wife and kids. I’m a farmer but I lost my farm. You never gave a thought to all those starving people waiting in bread lines\u2014not knowing where their next meal is coming from.” (Remember, the film is set during the Great Depression.)<\/p>\n La pel\u00edcula cambia inmediatamente a los titulares de los peri\u00f3dicos: \"Longfellow Deeds regalar\u00e1 su fortuna\"; \"Enorme distrito agr\u00edcola se dividir\u00e1 en granjas de 10 acres totalmente equipadas a un coste de $18.000.000\"; \"Miles de parados asaltan la casa de Deeds\".<\/p>\n A continuaci\u00f3n vemos a Deeds, sin afeitar y en mangas de camisa, examinando a la multitud de aspirantes a sus granjas. Pero de repente, durante esto, es arrestado por locura (una estratagema urdida por Cedar). El tribunal accede a celebrar una vista; al fin y al cabo, nadie que regale $18.000.000 a personas sumidas en la pobreza puede estar cuerdo.<\/p>\n At the hearing, Deeds refuses counsel and refuses to speak at all when addressed by the judge. So the prosecution (Cedar) holds all the cards, even using Louise to testify unwillingly against Deeds. But just when the judge is about to declare that Deeds is indeed insane and must be committed to a mental hospital, Louise stands up shouting “No! No! No!” Re-taking the stand, she confesses her part in falsely portraying him as a crazy fool. She also admits her love for him. Hearing this, Deeds begins to speak eloquently in his own defense and even gives Cedar a punch in the face for good measure. The farmers filling the courtroom cheer Deeds, and the judge declares “In the opinion of the Court, you are not only sane\u2014you are the sanest man who ever walked into this courtroom. Case dismissed.” The movie closes with Deeds sweeping Louise into his arms with a kiss.<\/p>\n Cinco a\u00f1os m\u00e1s tarde, Capra rod\u00f3 una pel\u00edcula en la que su preocupaci\u00f3n por los pobres adquiere una dimensi\u00f3n cristiana: Conozca a John Doe <\/em>(1941). Newspaper columnist Ann Mitchell invents a “John Doe”: an ordinary man who’s going to commit suicide by jumping off the City Hall roof on Christmas Eve in disgust at society’s disregard for people in need. Ann’s fake story captures the popular imagination, so her boss decides to keep it going by finding a “real” John Doe. They choose ragged, beaten-down John Willoughby. Ann writes for him a national radio speech which includes: “You’re probably thinking: ‘I’m just a little punk. I don’t count.’ But you’re dead wrong: \u2026 the character of a country is the sum total of the character of its little punks. So look out for your neighbor: if he’s hungry, feed him. The meek can only inherit the earth when the John Does start loving their neighbors.”<\/p>\n Tras esta primera alusi\u00f3n evang\u00e9lica, hay m\u00e1s. Inspirados por el discurso radiof\u00f3nico de John, surgen \"Clubes de John Doe\" por todo el pa\u00eds. En su primera convenci\u00f3n nacional, John apenas ha empezado a hablar cuando el villano de la pel\u00edcula (por supuesto, un hombre rico y corrupto) hace que unos repartidores de peri\u00f3dicos repartan un peri\u00f3dico que dice \"John Doe es un farsante\". La gente empieza a abuchear a John y a tirarle cosas, mientras Ann grita: \"Le est\u00e1n crucificando\".<\/p>\n Then in the film’s finale, John, thoroughly disillusioned about any good he can do, is indeed on the City Hall roof on Christmas Eve. Ann, by now in love with him, dashes to the roof to stop his suicide. Throwing herself in his arms, she cries: “You don’t have to die to keep the John Doe idea alive. Someone already died for that once. The first John Doe. And he’s kept that idea alive for nearly 2,000 years\u2026 and he’ll go on keeping it alive forever and always.” John silently lifts her in his arms and walks away from the edge of the roof.<\/p>\n Estoy bastante seguro de que Elizabeth Ann Seton habr\u00eda encontrado en la visi\u00f3n de Capra de los pobres y necesitados un reflejo de la suya propia.<\/p>\n While still a Protestant in her early twenties, Elizabeth showed her compassion for people in need by joining the newly formed Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children\u2014one of the nation’s first female-run groups devoted to charitable works. The Society raised funds for families in need and helped them to find housing and educate their children. As Mother Seton, Elizabeth led the community she founded, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph’s, in educating the poor, caring for the sick, and feeding and clothing orphans. As news of the good work of her Sisters spread, Elizabeth received a request to run a Philadelphia orphanage. She sent three Sisters on this mission, and the orphanage thrived. Because of the Sisters’ success in Philadelphia, Seton received a similar request to set up an orphanage in New York City, and she responded by sending three Sisters.<\/p>\n I love that a mid-twentieth century immigrant film director and an early-nineteenth century saint born into Manhattan’s elite have something so important in common. But maybe that\u2019s not surprising since their concern for society\u2019s poor and outcasts was grounded in their Catholic faith.<\/p>\n