When I think of film as ritual, the first thing that comes to my mind is The Lord of the Rings. For three years, Lord of the Rings fans (Ringers, we’re called) waited patiently for each part of the trilogy to be released, each exactly one year after the other. On the day before the official release date of the third film, my friend Anna and I skipped school and went to the theater to watch the first two films (the extended versions), followed by the premiere of The Return of the King. After seeing a movie so many times, it definitely becomes a ritual.
As far as online rituals go: Neopets. I play Neopets every day. I have a list of links that I visit every day to get free items and neopoints. I don’t use my neopoints to buy food for my pets because I get all my food for free. Sometimes there are daily competitions, and I have to complete those by the end of the day so I get a prize. It is very ritualistic for me because I even have a certain order in which I like to complete my “dailies.”
Film, gaming, and religion all have a sense of community. A film is created by a group of people and is watched in a theater by an audience. A film can be watched alone, and it may be because I’m a film student, but it always seems necessary to discuss a movie with someone after it’s been watched, whether the other person has seen it or not. In gaming, I prefer to play single-player games, but I rely on others that have played a game before me to write tips or walk-throughs to help me if I’m stuck on a particular level. Neopets is a communal game, and while I don’t post on the message boards on the website, I’m competing against others for high scores and trophies. I don’t think either film or gaming is more of a ritual than the other. I think a person in more of a passive mood will find sitting back and watching a movie as an adequate ritual, while someone who is more active will be more attuned to playing an interactive game.
I’m also a Catholic, so I have my religious rituals. I’m especially fond of the Catholic Community here at Ithaca College, and besides going to Mass on Sundays, I sing in the choir every week, and on Thursday nights we get together to have dinner, sing hymns for an hour, and then have a weekday mass by the fireplace in the chapel. It’s something I try to never miss. It’s the greatest sense of community I have in my life and it’s going to be the most difficult thing to leave behind when I graduate. Of course, I have my parish at home, but everyone there is old. On a side note, I’m not a fan of Lyden comparing the Eucharist to cannibalism. As a Catholic, this is not what I’m thinking about when I receive the Holy Eucharist. Of course I never feel as though I’m eating Jesus, it’s a reminder of the Last Supper and how Jesus died for my sins. None of them being cannibalism.
As for skipping school to see The Lord of the Rings, one of our teachers saw us on the news, standing in line for the movie. Then she told all our other teachers. I don’t think any of them really minded. No matter what they thought, it was totally worth it. It is wonderful to watch a movie in a theater filled with people that love the movie just as much than you (and crazy enough to spend fourteen hours doing just that).
3 Comments
April 1, 2008 at 11:41 am
“Of course I never feel as though I’m eating Jesus, it’s a reminder of the Last Supper and how Jesus died for my sins.”
Calling it “Cannibalism” is clearly tasteless and mocking… The Catholic teaching on the Eucharist is that it is what Christ said it is – This IS my body, This IS my blood.
This is the true center of our faith.
April 1, 2008 at 9:15 pm
It is wonderful to watch a movie in a theater filled with people that love the movie just as much than you
I totally agree (though I’ve never done that
). The sense of community in these rituals is a huge part of what makes them important.
April 29, 2008 at 12:45 am
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