By Albert Vuoso, Jr. | Arts and Entertainment Editor –
In some ways, Salve Regina University is like most Catholic colleges. Church bells infuse the morning routine as students walk to class along Ochre Point Avenue, crucifixes adorn the classroom walls, and occasionally a nun may take the role of a professor in the classroom. But don’t think Salve Regina is your standard, conservative school. For starters, the University boosts an extensive collection of films in their library. A bountiful assortment of movies, ranging from Hollywood blockbusters to PBS documentaries. A closer look, though, will reveal something else. A provocative selection of film that would make any Sister of Mercy stir with disturbance.
“If it’s not the best collection in Rhode Island”, says Dr. Matt Ramsey, the English Chair and Film Minor coordinator at Salve Regina University, “I’d be surprised.”
There are films, however, Ramsey says, “you wouldn’t think a catholic school would necessarily have.”
In particular, films like Pink Flamingos, In the Realm of the Senses, and Salo, or the 120 days of Sodom, are products of directors who deliberately set out to create indigestible, perverse films in an attempt to display an overarching idea. Products that can be checked out by students at Salve Regina University.
Salo, or the 120 days of Sodom was directed by Pier Pasolini, an Italian director of the 60s and 70s. Pasolini is noted for his creative and intelligent insight but also for his disapproval of Fascism in Italy. Despite the countries loss in World War II, the political belief remained to be Italy’s predominant view. Pasolini creates Salo to deliberately upset the authorities and shock audiences. He connects the idea of sexual perversion to the State in order to promote anti-fascist beliefs.
For Ramsey though, “That doesn’t make the film fun to watch.”
Beatings, sadomasochism, and coprophagia are elements woven into the film, creating moments of un-comfort and disgust for the audience.
Films like Pink Flamingos also feature similar elements. A highly regarded American cult film, Pink Flamingos is the product of a counter-culture movement that swept through the U.S in the 1970s.
The film acquired a cult following due to the theaters in which it was released. At the time, a concept known as “Midnight Movies” was established in which low-budget films became late night programming. Audiences respected the film for it’s rejection of Hollywood style and found appreciation for the director’s ideas despite the difficult content. The movie proved to be a huge hit with college students nation-wide and showed to Hollywood that the market for films was changing.
An idea still relevant today as audiences seek challenges and obscurity, even those at a Catholic university.
“It’s challenging and that’s the kind of cinema I think more than any other place a college should have”, says Ramsey. “We’re an institution of higher learning and you should be challenged in your thoughts and beliefs”.
A belief that Salve Regina librarian, Kiki Butler agrees with.
“My place is to be providing access to what’s important for people to see and what they want to see.” says Butler, a buyer of DVDs for the university’s collection. A collection that has grown in size and content due to the University’s involvement with The Criterion Collection, a video distribution company that sells classic and contemporary films.
Due to the film minor at Salve Regina University, money is allocated toward acquiring films useful for the curriculum. Specifically, via The Criterion Collection. Through this distributer foreign films, older films, and domestic films are restored and packaged for viewing. Films found on the The Criterion Collection, however, tend to be the more challenging films.
Despite the explicit content in many of the films available in Salve Regina’s library and the University’s catholic dogma, neither Butler or Ramsey have been told what they can or cannot feature.
“Let’s face it, were a catholic school”, says Butler. Yet, despite this, she says, “I’ve never heard of anyone questioning anyone’s purchase of a book or movie in this building.”
Butler notes the trust the library and the University holds within the students and the idea that, “As undergraduate students, one of the things that has to get taught to everyone is how take something and evaluate it.”
