Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6—August 2, 1973
Pastoral Councils: Shared
(Last of three articles)
BY JERRY FILTEAU
“Shared responsibility” is a new
phrase for most Catholics. It
summarizes one of the basic thrusts of
the Second Vatican Council’s attempt
to revitalize the Church.
Vatican II, in its Decree on the Laity,
stressted that everyone must contribute
his talents to the service of the Church.
Speaking of the gifts given to members
of the Church, the council said:
“From the reception of these
charisms or gifts, including those which
are less dramatic, there arise for each
believer the right and duty to use them
in the Church and in the world for the
good of mankind and for the upbuilding
of the Church.”
According to Father Michael
Sheehan, assistant general secretary of
the U. S. Catholic Conference (USCC),
the diocesan pastoral council is “the
embodiment of the role of the laity in
the church.”
Father Sheehan, who is chief staff
liaison official for pastoral councils for
the USCC and the National Conference
of Catholic Bishops (NCCB), is a
member of the USCC-NCCB Advisory
Council’s steering committee for a
National Pastoral Council.
He pointed out that Vatican II said it
was “highly desirable that in each
diocese a pastoral council be
WAITING FOR FOOD ~ Welfare recipients line up
at St. Charles Borromeo hall in South Philadelphia,
waiting food being given out by the Cardinal s
Commission on Human Relations as a stopgap measure
when welfare checks were delayed because the state
budget had not been passed. The commission
channeled more than 75,000 pounds of food to people
in need (NC Photo)
FILM CLASSIFICATION SUPPLEMENT
A SERVICE OF THE DIVISION FOR FILM AND BROADCASTING U.S.C.C.
405 LEXINGTON AVENUE, NEW YORK, N. Y. 10017 (212) TN 7-8460
Vol. 38 No. 13 July 15, 1973
Filins treated in review or capsule form in the Catholic Film Newsletter are followed by the appropriate reference to volume and issue number.
CLASS A — Section I — Morally Unobjectionable for General Patronage
American Wilderness—Pacific Int’l. 38:3
Autumn Afternoon, An—New Yorker 38:9
Chaplin Revue, The—Columbia 37:22
Charley and the Angel—Walt Disney/B.V. 38:8
Charlotte’s Web—Para. 38:4
Cougar Country—Amer. Natl. 37:18
Country Music—Univ. 37:17
Deadly Fathoms—HMS 38:12
Elvis on Tour—MGM 37:23
Fiddler on the Roof—U.A. 36:22
Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice, The
—New Yorker 38:2
George!—Cap. Prods. 38:2
Godspell—Col. 38:8
Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster—AIP 37:13
Gospel Road, The—Fox 38:4
I Am A Dancer—Cine vision 38:11
Late Spring—New Yorker 37:15
Lost Horizon—Col. 38:7
Love—A jay Films 38:6
Man For All Seasons, A—Col. 37:2
Moonwalk One—F. Thompson 38:3
Napoleon and Samantha—Walt Disney/BV 37:13
Neptune Factor, The—Fox 38:10
North Country—Amer. Natl. 37:19
Now You See Him, Now You Don’t
—Walt Disney/BV 37:13
One Little Indian—Walt Disney/B.V. 38:12
Painters Painting—New Yorker 38:3
Robinson Crusoe and the Tiger—Avco Emb. 38:1
Snoopy Come Home—Natl. Gen. 37:13
Snowball Express—Walt Disney/B.V. 37:23
Sounder—Fox 37:17
Ten From Your Show of Shows
—Walter Reade 38:7
Tom Sawyer—U.A. 38:6
Traffic—Col. 38:1
Treasure Island—Natl. Gen. 37:21
Wilderness Journey, The—Amer. Natl. 37:19
World’s Greatest Athlete—Walt Disney/B.V. 38:3
CLASS A — Section II
Asylum—AIP 37:23
Battle for the Planet of the Apes—
Fox 38:12
Baxter!—Nat. Gen. 38:4
Ben—Cinerama 37:12
Blacula—AIP 37:15
Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb—AIP 37:11
Boot Hill—Film Venture 38:3
Brother Sun, Sister Moon—AIP 38:7 .
Cancel My Reservation—W.B. 37:18
Castle of Fu Manchu, The—Int’l Cinema 38:10
Darwin Adventure, The—Fox 37:19
Days and Nights in the Forest
—Pathe Cont. 38:6
Deadly Trap, The—Natl. Gen. 37:21
Doll’s House, A—Para. 38:11
- Morally Unobjectionable for
Dr. Phibes Rises Again—AIP 37:15
Emigrants, The—W.B. 37:19
Emitai—N.Y. 37:23
Fear is the Key-—Para. 38:5
First Position—Roninfilm 38:11
Godson, The—Artists Inti. 37:18
Great Waltz, The—MGM 37:22
Hero, The—Avco Emb. 37:18
Hitler: The Last Ten Days—Para. 38:10
Horror of Blackwood Castle—Bromberg 38:2
Infinite Tenderness, An—U.A. 38:5
Jeremiah Johnson—Warners 37:24
Jory—Avco Emb. 37:23
Let The Good Times Roll—Col. 38:11
Limelight—Col. 37:17
alts and Adolescents
Man, The—Para. 37:14
Money Talks—U.A. 37:15
Night of the Lepus—MGM 37:16
Our Latin Thing—A&R Films 37:16
Phedre—Altura 38:7
1776—Col. 37:22
Sense of Loss, A—Cinema 5 37:20
Separate Peace—Para. 37:18
Showdown—Univ. 38:8
Skyjacked—MGM 37:11
Son of Blob—Jack H. Harris 37:21
Thing With Two Heads, The—AIP 37:16
Train Robbers—Warner Bros. 38:4
Trinity is Still My Name—Avco Emb. 37:18
Twelve Chairs, The—Artkino 38:3
Young Winston—Col. 37:19
CLASS A — Section III — Morally Unobjectionable for Adults
Adieu Philipine—New Yorker 38:12
Alf n’ Family—Sherpix 37:17
And Now The Screaming Starts—
Cinerama 38:10
And Hope To Die—Fox 37:24
Assassination of Trotsky, The—Cinerama 37 :19
Bad Man’s River—-Scotia Inti. 38:6
Baron Blood—AIP 37:20
Belated Flowers—Artkino 37:23
Black Girl—Cinerama 37:22
Blind Dead, The—Hallmark 38:6
Book of Numbers—Avco Emb. 38:6
Bronco Bullfrog—N.Y. 37:15
Butterflies Are Free—Col. 37:14
Cabaret—A.A. 37:4
Carry On, Doctor—AIP 37:23
Case of the Naves Brothers—Europix Inti. 37:18
Challenges, The—Dean Selmier 38:8
Charley One-Eye—Para. 38:9
Class of ’44—W.B. 38:8
Child’s Play—Para. 37:24
Chloe in the Afternoon—Col. 37:19
Companeros—GSF/Cinerama 37:22
Confession of Tom Harris—Gateway 37:24
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
—Fox 37:13
Corpse Grinders, The—Geneni 37:18
Crazies, The—Cambist 38:8
Creeping Flesh, The—Col. 38:5
Crescendo—W.B. 37:21
Day of the Jackal, The—Univ. 38:10
Death of a Jew—Cine Globe 38:3
Deathmaster—AIP 37:15
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoise, The
—Fox 37:21
Doberman Gang, The—Dimension 37:19
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde—AIP 37:9
Dracula A.D. 1972—W.B'. 37:21
Duck, Ycui_Sucker!—U.A. 37:13
Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon
Marigolds, The—Fox 37:23
Embalmer, The—Geneni 37:18
Escape to the Sun—Cinevision 37:22
5 Fingers of Death—-W.B. 38:6
Family Honor—-Cinerama 38:11
F.T.A.—AIP 37:14
Find a Place To Die—G.G.P. 38:3
Four Nights of a Dreamer—N.Y. 37:24
Frogs—AIP 37:9
Godfather, The—Para. 37:6
Green Wall, The—Altura 37:18
Happiness—New Yorker 38:12
Happiness Cage, The—Cinerama 37:16
Harder They Come, The—New World 38:4
Hatchet for the Honeymoon—GGP 38:12
Heartbreak Kid, The—Fox 38:1
Hireling, The—Col. 38:11
Hunger For Love—Pathe 38:5
If I Had a Gun—Ajay Film 38:2
Images—Col. 37:23
Jesus Christ Superstar—Univ. 38:12
Kansas City Bomber—MGM 37:15
Kid Blue—Fox 38:9
Lady Caroline Lamb—U.A. 38:4
Last of Sheila, The : —Warners 38:12
Late Liz, The—Gateway 38:12
Legend of Hell House, The—Fox 38:12
Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, The
—Natl. Gen. 37:23
Limbo—Univ. 37:21
Limit. The—Cannon 37:23
Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing
—Col. 38:3
Magnificent Seven Ride!, The—U.A. 37:15
Man of La Mancha—U.A. 37:24
Man With the Glass Eye, Tbe—Bromberg 38:2
Marjoe—Cinema 5 ?" la-
Mattei Affair, TE„- ara. 38:11
Mechanic, The— U.;. 37:22
Memories of Underdevelopment—
Tricontinental 38:12
Money, Money, Money—Cinerama 38:8
Necromancy—Cinerama 37:20
Nelson Affair, The—Univ. 38:6
Night of the Blood Monster—AIP 37:14
Offence, The—U.A. 38:10
Pancho Villa—Scotia Inti. 38:6 '
Parades—Cinerama 37:16
Pickup on 101—AIP 37:14
Poseidon Adventure, The—Fox 37:24
Priest and the Girl, The—New Yorker 38:5
Pulp—U.A.—37:20
Rage—Warners 37:23
Reefer Madness—New Line 37:23
Reflection of Fear, A—Col. 38:2
Return of Sabata—U.A. 37:17
Richard—Aurora City Group 37:17
Salzburg Connection, The—Fox 37:17
Save -the Tiger—Para. 38:2
Scorpio—U.A. 38:7
Shamus—Col. 38:3
Sleuth—Fox 37:24
Slither—MGM 38:6
Soul of Nigger Charley, The—Para. 38:11
Soylent Green—MGM 38:9
Spider’s Stratagem, The— New Yorker 38:2
Steelyard Blues—Warner Bros. 38:3
Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me—Col. 38:4
Superbeast—U.A. 37:17
Super Fly T.N.T.—Nat’l Gen. 38:13
Theatre of Blood—U.A. 38:7
They Only Kill Their Masters—MGM 37:23
Thief Who Came to Dinner, The—W.B. 38:6
Three Bullets for a Long Gun—Maron 37:22
Touch of Class—Avco Emb. 37:13
Tout Va Bien—New Yorker 38:4
Trouble Man—Fox 37:22
Twilight People—Dimension 37:19
Vampire Circus—Fox 37:2’1
Vault of Horror—Cinerama 38:7
War Devils, The—Goldstone 38:3
Wattstax—Col. 38:5
Wednesday’s Child—Cinema 5 37:20
When the Legends Die—Fox 37:18
White Sister—Col. 38:6
Why—Hallmark 37:23
Wicked, Wicked—MGM 38:12
You’ll Like My Mother—Univ. 37:19
CLASS A — Section IY — Morally Unobjectionable for Adults, with Reservations
(An A-IV Classification is given to
as a protection to the uninformed
Bad Company-—Para. 37:19
Cesar and Rosalie—Cinema 5 38:1
Come Have Coffee With Us—Altura
Cries and Whispers—-New World 37
Deliverance—W.B. 37:15
Dillinger—AIP 38:12
Dirty Little Billy—Col. 38:1
Emperor of the North Pole—Fox 38
Fellini’s Roma—U.A. 37:20
First Circle, The—Para. 38:2
Getaway, The—Natl. Gen. 38:1
Honeycomb—Cine Globe 37:24
certain films which, while not morally offensive in themselves, require caution and some analysis and explanation
against wrong interpretations and false conclusions.)
How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman
—N.Y. 38:6
I Love You Rosa—Leisure Media 38:7
King of Marvin Gardens, The—Col. 37:20
Lady Sings the Blues—Para. 37:21
Life Study—Nebbco Prod. 38:3
Long Goodbye, The—U.A.
Ludwig—MGM 38:6
New Centurions, The—Col. 37:16
O Lucky Man! Warners 38:12
Payday—Cinerama 38:4
Pete ‘n’ Tillie—Univ. 37:24
Play It as It Lays—Uhiv. 37:19
— Morally Objectionable in Part for All
38:8
:24
:11
Pope Joan—Col. 37:14
Ruling Class, The—Avco Emb. 37:18
State of Siege—Cinema 5 38:8
Travels With My Aunt—MGM 37:24
Trick Baby—Univ. 37:21
Two English Girls—Janus Films 37:19
Two People—Univ. 38:4
Ulzana’s Raid—-Univ. 37:17
Under Milk Wood — Altura Films 38:2
Up the Sandbox—Natl. Gen. 38.2
Valachi Papers, The—Col. 37:22
Wedding in White—Avco Emb. 38:7
CLASS B -
Avanti!—U.A. 37:23
Beware My Brethren—Cinerama 37:21
Billy Jack—Warners 36:10
Black Gunn—Col. 38:1
Cactus in the Snow—Gen. Film 37:22
Carry on Camping—AIP 37:2
Carry On, Henry—AIP 37:8
Chinese Connection, The—Nat’l. Gen. 38:12
Countess Dracula—Fox 37:21
Ganja and Hess—Kelly Jordan 38:9
High Plains Drifter—Univ. 38:4
Hurry Up or I’ll Soon Be Thirty—
Avco Emb. 38:12
Innocent Bystanders—Para. 38:1
Little Cigars—AIP 38:12
Lolly-Madonna XXX—MGM 38:5
Mack, The—Cinerama 38:8
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid—(MGM) 38:11
Savage Messiah—MGM 37:20
Scarecrow—W.B. 38:8
Shaft’s Big Score—MGM 37:13
Sisters—AIP 38:3
Stand Up and Be Counted—Col. 37:15
Teenage Mother—Cinemation 38:1
Toys are Not for Children—Maron 37:21
Undertaker and His Pals, The—Geneni 37:18
Viva La Muerte—Max L. Raab 38:5
What Became of Jack and Jill?—Fox 37:12
Wild Pack, The—AIP 37:19
You’re Lying (Grove) 38:9
CLASS C — Condemned
Across 110th Street—U.A. 37:23
Big Bird Cage, The—New World 37:24
Black Caesar—AIP 38:5
Black Mama, White Mama—AIP 38:2
Bonnie’s Kids—Gen. Film 37:20
Born Black (to White Parents)
—Hallmark 37:20
Boxcar Bertha—AIP 37:12
Cannibal Girls—AIP 38:9
Childhood II—Posttape 38:6
Ciao Manhattan!—Maron 38:9
Class of ’74—Gen. Film 38:6
Clockwork Orange, A—Warners 37:1
Coffy—AIP 38:11
Daughters of Satan—U.A. 37:17
Deep Throat—Gerard Damiano Film 37:15
Deep Thrust—The Hand of Death—
Hallmark/AIP 38:11
Devil in Miss Jones. The—Gerard 38:8
Dirt Gang. The—AIP 37:22
Everything You Always Wanted to Know
About Sex* But Were Afraid to Ask
—U.A. 37:16
Extreme Close-up—Nat’l. Gen. 38:11
Farewell Uncle Tom—Euro Inti. 37:21
Female Response, The—Trans-Amer./AIP 37:22
Fists of Fury—Nat’l. Gen. 38:10
Four Times That Night—Cinevision 37:19
Fritz the Cat—Cinemation 37:3
Funeral Parade of Roses—Grove 38:11
Girls Are For Loving—Continental 38:11
Hammer—U.A. 37:19
Hammer of God. The—
Enchanted Filmarts 38:12
Harrad Experiment. The—Cinerama 38:11
Heat—Levitt-Pickman 37:19
Here Comes Every Body—ALP 38:11
Hit Man—MGM 38:1
Hitchhikers. The—E.V. 38:3 :<0
House of Missing Girls—Jack H. Harris 37:22
Last House on the Left, The—Hallmark 37:23
Last Tango in Paris—U.A. 38:4
Little Mother—Audubon Films 38:2
Love Under 17—United Int’l. 38:2
Man of the Year—Univ. 38:7
Mark of the Devil—Hallmark 37:8
Melinda—MGM 37:16
Night Call Nurses—New World 37:24
Oh! Calcutta—Cinemation 37:14
Portnoy’s Complaint—W.B. 37:13
Private Parts—MGM 38:5
Rivals—Avco Emb. 37:17
Roommates—Gen. Film 38:6
Savage!-—New orld 38:12
Schoolgirls Growing Up—Maron 37:24
Secretary, The—United Films 37:20
Sensuous Teenager, The—United Inti. 37:24
Sin of Adam and Eve—Dimension 38:3
Slaughter—AIP 37:16
Slaughter Hotel—Hallmark 38:5
Suburban W ives—Scotia Inti. 37:21
Super Fly—W.B. 37:15
Sweet Jesus, Preacher Man—MGM 38:11
Sweet Sugar—Dimension 38:3
Swingin’ Pussycats, The—Hemisphere 37:23
Swingin’ Stewardesses, The—Hemisphere 37:19
Teenage Sex Report—Cinemation 38:1
To Be Free—Magarac 38:9
Top of the Heap—Fanfare 37:10
Twitch of the Death Nerve—Hallmark 38:6
Unholy Rollers, The—AIP 37:21
Virgin W itch, The—Jos. Brenner 37:22
Walking Tall—Cinerama 38:6
Where Does It Hurt?—Cinerama 37:16
Responsibility in Church
established,” with priests, Religious and
laity participating.
“The function of this council,” said
Vatican II’s Decree on the Bishop’s
Pastoral Office, “will be to investigate
and to weigh matters which bear on
pastoral activity and to formulate
practical conclusions regarding them.”
The 1971 World Synod of Bishops
repeated the call for diocesan pastoral
councils. In its document, The
Ministerial Priesthood, the synod said:
“The pastoral council, in which
specially chosen clergy, Religious and
lay people take part, furnishes by its
study and reflection elements necessary
for enabling the diocesan community to
arrange its pastoral program organically
and to fulfill it effectively.
“In proportion as the
co-responsibility of bishops and priests
daily increases (especially through
priests’ councils), the more desirable it
becomes that Pastoral councils be
established in each diocese.”
Father Robert G. Howes, coordinator
of the department of church
management and organization at the
Center for applied Research in the
Apostoltate (CARA), summed up the
need for pastoral councils if shared
responsibility is to be a reality in the
Church.
In his keynote address opening a
CARA-sponsored workshop on pastoral
councils this June at the Catholic
University of America in Washington, D.
C., Father Howes cited the unique
position of pastoral councils as official,
permanent organizations in the Church
with a comprehensive scope of pastoral
concerns and full representation of all
segments of the Church.
“From this it must clearly emerge
that diocese or a parish which does not
have or is not working toward an
effective pastoral council may achieve
shared responsibility, but, in the long
run, that shared responsibility cannot be
as real, as durable, or as potentially
successful as dioceses and parishes with
good parish councils,” said Father
Howes. “It is, on the other hand, quite
conceivable that in council-less dioceses
and parishes, shared responsibility could
degenerate into a spasmodic or
innocuous series of events from which
any real substance is lacking.”
Father Howes stressed that
establishing pastoral councils is riot
enough, that existing councils have
many problems ranging from resistance
by pastors and bishops to apathy among
the laity, from an “absence of
meaningful agendas” to uncertainty
about their role or position in the
church.
“We have by no means turned the
corner of success,” said Father Howes.
He said it will take time to persuade
Catholics that “the best way regularly
to be Church is through pastoral
councils.”
But, he added, “we can do it. In
places we are beginning to do it.”
A year ago only 11 of 137/ U. S.
dioceses responding to a survey
indicated that they had no plans for a
diocesan pastoral council. Another 69
dioceses said they were at various stages
of planning a council, and 57 said they
already have councils. Only 29 dioceses
did not respond to the survey, which
was conducted by the steering
committee of the NCCB-USCC Advisory
Council.
Since then several dioceses have
moved ahead with their plans. For
example, the Baltimore archdiocese just
announced that it is establishing a new
Division for Pastoral Councils, and the
Detroit archdiocese is the process of
electing delegates for its first
archdiocesan assembly.
In an interview with NC News Father
Howes stated the importance of
diocesan pastoral councils bluntly.
“If the councils failed, it would mean
that the laity had tried to take a
responsible role in the Church and had
been frustrated he said. “If the diocesan
pastoral council goes under, the
alternatives are a return to an
authoritarian Church or separate
councils of priests, Religious and Laity.
Father Howes said that diocesan and
parish councils still are “not getting the
comprehensive help and support they
need,” but he added that the picture
looks better now than it did a year or
two ago.
“One thing that still bothers me,” he
said, “ is that I still don’t sense the
intense, massive support of bishops and
clergy that should be there.”
On the other hand, Father Howes
pointed out that he saw “real signs of
hope” in one area especially- the
realization among many that councils
must contribute to the spiritual life of
the parish and diocese.
“We recently polled about 30
dioceses about a possible newsletter for
pastoral councils,” he said. “We found
that their top concern was spirituality,
and second on the list was a theology of
shared responsibility.”
“The council is much more than a
business operation. There seems to be a
real searching for a visible spirituality.”
The notion of pastoral councils as
something more than efficiency groups,
as an important part of a whole
Christian way of life, is shared by many
of the most enthusiastic proponents of
pastoral councils.
But according to Father Sheehan, the
vision of shared responsibility and
pastoral councils in the Church is “not
something essentially or radically
different.”
Father Sheehan stressed that the
Second Vatican Council’s documents
emphasized the equality of all because
of Baptism. “While we do have a
hierarchy, there is still a basic equality,”
he said. “Every person still has
privileges, rights and duties.”
On the other hand, Msgr. Earl L.
Whalen, executive secretary for the
Cincinnati Archdiocesan Pastoral
Council, said that in calling for pastoral
councils Vatican II was calling for a real
change of attitude.
“I like to speak of being made FIT
for the apostolate-Formed, Informed,
and Transformed,” he said. He spoke of
the Cincinnati APC as a key part of the
“growth process” of spiritual formation
among the people in the archdiocese
“People learn to pray together, to live
together,” he said. “You don’t develop
a whole new attitude overnight. It’s a
long, hard process.”
He said one of the basic objections
people had to the development of parish
councils and the APC was that “you
can’t make the Church a democratic
process.”
“Granted,” he said, “but you can get
people to work together.”
The value of a pastoral council, he
said, is that it provides a structure for
Christians to communicate with each
other, to share their concerns, to learn,
to be transformed into better Christians.
“Sometimes we may be overly
structured,” he said. “But it’s people
who make a structure. The pastoral
councils bring people together so they
know one another. If I don’t know you,
I don’t know why you are saying what
you’re saying.
“This gets into interpersonal
relationships. It gets into the meaning of
love.”
LIFE IN
a
^ MUSIC
By The Dameans
NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY
I used to be such a sweet thing
Til they got hold of me
I opened the door for little old ladies
I helped the blind to see
I got no friends cause they read the papers.
They can’t be seen with me
And I’m gettin’ shot down
And I’m feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy
No more Mister Clean
No more Mister Nice Guy
They say he’s sick, he’s obscene
My dog bit me on the leg today
My cat clawed my eye
My mom’s been thrown out of the social circle
My dad’s had to hide
I went to church incognito
When everybody rose, the Rev. Smith
He recognized me
Punched me in the nose.
( c 1973 Ezra Music BMI
Warner Bros. Records
Alice Cooper-His tour of 56 American cities grossed over four million dollars
within a 90-day period. What is it about him that drives some people into a
frerizy while others walk away bored? Is he Superpop-star or the ultimate
put-on, “neither an especially gifted singer nor a talented actor,” as Time
magazine puts it.
First, it must be understood the Alice Cooper (25 year-old Vincent Fumier) is
not just music. Record companies know that you sell records because of
personal appearances, and the more you give an audience, the more they will
remember you. Find a gimmick-lights, props, give them a show they won’t
forget-and it almost seems that the clue to success today is “the weirder, the
better.”
The bizarre activities of Alice Cooper anger a lot of grownups but what is
more frightening is the number of young people who flock to him. Maybe he’s
not as mad as he appears on stage. “I understand that all an sudience wants is sex
and violence” he says in Rolling Stone. “I know that ‘cause I used to watch T.V.
all day long . . .we’re the ultimate American band . . .merely the end product of
an affluent society.”
He may have a point, but after recognizing the problem with some of the
society’s non-values, he continues them by his very actions. He is adding to the
very problem he is supposedly commenting on.
Alice Cooper does not claim to be a hero. “We’re anti-heroes. We don’t give
the kids any conclusions, just all the problems.” The fact is that most of his
audience is made up of young people who already have enough of their own
problems and are searching for real heroes in their lives.
What is “No More Mister Nice Guy” supposed to be? A comment on what
society has done to people? Then it’s a song about problems that exist in
society. Or is it a comment about how you have to act to get along today? This
is where the danger to Alice Cooper lies-can young audiences really see whether
he is presenting the problems or offering solutions on how to cope with what
society has done?
“No More Mister Nice Guy” is about a man who is all alone and everybody’s
against him. He used to be so sweet 111 “they” got hold of him, but who is
“they”? He even got rejected in church, but you wonder why he wanted to go
incognito. The song almost gives you the feeling that he enjoys being rejected.
In the face of rejection the singer makes a choice-no more Mister Nice Guy.
He withdraws into his own little world, touches no one and lets no one touch
him.
The Christian response is just the opposite. He, too, faces rejection, but he
picks up again and finds reason for going on. The Christian offers the world good
news, hope and optimism. Alice Cooper, on the other hand, tries to get more
mileage out of bad news. Thanks, Alice, but no thanks.
(Direct all correspondence to: The Dameans, St. Joseph’s Church, 216 Patton Ave., P.O.
Box 5188, Shreveport, La. 71105.)