Father derek dazzle jennings11/24/2023 Not unlike the young people who are drawn to “weird” Catholic aesthetics today, the Catholic Church at the time was seen as a home for figures like Wilde and Huysmans, who felt rejected by “respectable society” for their unusual temperaments or emotional proclivities. Huysmans were drawn to the “decadent style” in literature and art, which was particularly captured in what Hanson called “the textual bizarrerie of Catholicism” and the “the sheer excess of the Church - its archaic splendor, the weight of its history, the elaborate embroidery of its robes, the labyrinthine mysteries of its symbolism, the elephantine exquisiteness by which it performs its daily miracles” - these factors “ always made it an aesthetic … object of wonder.” Late-19th century figures like the Irish poet and playwright Oscar Wilde and the French novelist and art critic J.K. Literary scholar Ellis Hanson has documented the many modern European artists and writers who turned to the Church as an antidote to the “sickness of the century” in his 1998 book Decadence and Catholicism. Others, like Britney Spears and Kourtney Kardashian, have made waves for their interest in traditional Catholic aesthetics, if not beliefs.īecause motives are mixed, it can be tempting to dismiss this growing attraction to Catholicism’s “decadent” or extravagant elements as something disconnected from the actual Catholic faith - or worse, a sacrilegious appropriation of it.Īre people into Catholic art and ritual for the supernatural, or just the spectacle?īut a glance back at the Church’s legacy since the “disenchanting” waves of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution proves that this kind of interest is nothing new and, despite being somewhat bemusing, is something we would be foolish to dismiss wholesale. Another recent article in Vox highlighted a similar trend, claiming that Catholic culture’s “alt” and “campy” sensibility “pairs well with this precise moment,” when young people are disillusioned with the drab cultural imaginary of secular humanism.įor some celebrities (take podcaster Dasha Nekrasova, provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, former Vine sensation Anthony Quintal and, most recently, Shia LeBeouf), an interest in traditional Catholic liturgy, art and moral doctrines has brought them down a path that may result in a formal conversion. A recent New York Times article documents the growing interest in traditional Catholic aesthetics, ritual and practice among hip, young New Yorkers - some of whom might not even believe.īorrowing a phrase from Bill Hader’s popular Saturday Night Live character Stefon, the piece argues that “New York’s hottest club” these days is the Catholic Church, attractive due to the “transgressive glamour” of its status quo defying traditionalism. She had called in Dazzle, who had since become a Catholic priest, to find them and see if they were still alive.ĭazzle was reluctant to get involved, but he was still devoted to Margaret as a friend and agreed to help her.Latin Mass attendees aren’t the only ones clamoring over the traditional elements of Catholicism. When visiting a therapist, she found out she had cousins with severe learning disabilities, who had been hidden from the world. So, you have got this kind of, who’s who of British actors, really, and that feels so joyful."ĭazzle was introduced in The Crown during a period when Princess Margaret was going through a rough time, and she was keen to discover more about herself and her family. "On top of that you have the actors who come in for an episode, like Tom Burke, there’s so many, Jane Lapotaire last year, all these extraordinary actors, Jason Watkins, did half the season last year.
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