Articles by Tim Hruszkewycz
“Doctor, I Let You Go”-- Catholic lessons from Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who
Jan 5, 2018 / 00:00 amLate Christmas Day is always bittersweet for "Doctor Who" fans. Most people feel wiped from a day of Christmas parties, midnight Mass, and the game of having to discover scraps of wrapping paper hidden in the oddest places. But most Christmases also have a Doctor Who Christmas special: one final episode of "Doctor Who" before fans have to wait a criminal amount of time before the next episode sometime in September. Those who aren’t Whovians, the nomenclature for "Doctor Who" fans, probably think that Whovians should be excited. After all, a Christmas special should be a special treat. It is…kind of. But many people aren’t aware that many of the Christmas offerings given by the BBC are remarkably bleak. This isn’t true 100% of the time. “A Christmas Carol”, the Eleventh Doctor’s first Christmas special, is a hilarious interpretation on Charles Dickens’s famous tale. But something terrible seems to happen every third or fourth Christmas special. On Christmas, the Doctor often dies. For the uninitiated, "Doctor Who" has been on and off the air since 1963. To maintain such a show, the lead actor has to be recast fairly regularly. The First Doctor, played by William Hartnell, was replaced by Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton by a process of regeneration --then called “renewal.” Because the Doctor is an alien, he has the ability to repair his body by reshaping it and adopting a new aspect of his personality. This allows the BBC to recast the titular role when needed and keep the show going. Since the show returned to the air in 2005, often this regeneration has happened on or near Christmas. This sounds fun, but it is also a traumatic experience for fans of a particular actor. This Christmas, Peter Capaldi, the Twelfth Doctor, regenerated into Jodie Whittaker, the show’s Thirteenth Doctor. With this regeneration came another changing of the guard. Showrunner Steven Moffat left the helm and gave the wheel over to former Broadchurch showrunner Chris Chibnall. This regeneration was special, though. In a way, they’re all special to me. But I really was moved by Peter Capaldi’s regeneration. Capaldi’s regeneration spoke to me not only as a fan, but as a Catholic. The running theme throughout Capaldi’s run as the Twelfth Doctor was summarized in the question, “Am I a good man?” Over the course of Capaldi’s three seasons, his Doctor transformed from a gruff, emotionally-stilted general into a gruff, but caring mentor for those who had lost their way. His battle for redemption and growth led him to a place of spiritual exhaustion. He just wanted to stop. Aware that he was going to regenerate, he wanted his regeneration to hear the advice that he never got. He didn’t want his impending regeneration to force him to relearn the same lessons he had already learned. So he spoke, quite plainly, to his next incarnation. And some of those lines meant more to me than to any fictional trope. His speech is transcribed as such: You wait a moment, Doctor. Let’s get it right. I’ve got a few things to say to you. Basic stuff first. Never be cruel; never be cowardly. And never ever eat pears! Remember, hate is always foolish. And love is always wise. Always try to be nice and never fail to be kind. Oh, and….and you mustn’t tell anyone your name. No one would understand it anyway. Except….except children. Children can hear it. Sometimes, if their hearts are in the right place, and the stars are too. Children can hear your name. But nobody else. Nobody else. Ever. Laugh hard. Run fast. Be kind. Doctor, I let you go. What a great message to enter the new year with! I can’t even wrap my head around it. Okay, the pear thing is a joke, but he’s right because they do, in fact, make a chin all wet and dribbly. But the tale of the Twelfth Doctor is one of redemption and his speech summarizes what he learned over those three years. 2017 was, unfortunately, a time where people yelled more than I cared to hear. Despite that, we should be kind. But in context of that, we Catholics should also be brave. Our faith has validity. There are things that people need to hear. We should be brave and speak for truth, but we should do so with kindness. The world is perhaps more complex than we choose to admit and people are always trying their best. Each one of us should be asking the Doctor’s question, “Am I a good man or woman?” When we talk about our faith, we must do so with courage, kindness, and -most of all -love. After all, “Hate is always foolish.” The other stuff is perhaps more emotional advice than theological imperatives, but it is good stuff. I love laughing hard and running fast. But the overall message of Peter Capaldi and Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who run can be summarized with the words, “Be kind.” If I take anything into 2018, I think it might be those words. I am saddened to see this Doctor and his showrunner go on to other things, but I’m excited to see where Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor will take me. I want to see all of space and time through her eyes, as long as they are eyes of courage, love, and kindness.
Your loyal critic
Dec 19, 2017 / 00:00 am“Greetings, True Believers!” Now read that again, this time in Stan Lee’s voice. That’s the meaning of this column. Stan Lee, if you don’t already know, is the creator of some of our greatest superheroes, and one of the best comic book writers in the history of the genre. He used to welcome his readers to his comic books with catch phrases like “Excelsior!” and “’Nuff said!”. But I always liked that he referred to his readership as the “True Believers.” I’m not sure if that was capitalized or not, but my dodgy memory, mixed with the apathy that it takes to Google it says that it probably was. If it wasn’t, my choice is better. Stan Lee always made me feel like I was part of some special club. Other people thought that his stories were disposable, but I never did. After all, I was one of the true believers. I felt a part of a secret club that was unabashedly proud of what I liked, and that was always cool for me. When my editor asked me for a Catholic title to this new television/movies/media column, I immediately thought about “True Believers.” That’s what I want this column to be. I want to have this fun little club where we Catholics can discuss movies and comic books and episodes / seasons of TV, completely proud of what we like. We may not always agree on what to like. But I always want my readers to fully embrace and be proud of what they like. Now, if you tell me that what you like is better than what I like, that’s where I’ll get moody and whine to my wife. It’s weird how Stan Lee has influenced our culture so much. It’s mind-boggling to me that people probably recognize a Stan Lee cameo in a movie sooner than they would recognize an Alfred Hitchcock cameo. That guy has got it made. I have a photo of Stan Lee and myself in my classroom. My buddy Sean is in the photo too. We’re both giving the camera a thumbs up. Sean has an intentional deer-in-headlights look. I have a cheesy, self-aware grin. That photo of us and Stan Lee hangs under my framed diplomas and degrees. My students don’t tend to notice all of my accolades. They do notice Stan Lee. I consider that photo of Stan Lee to be on my list of achievements. I met Stan Lee. Sure, I paid through the nose to see him and the truth is that he might have responded when I said “Hello”, but that’s part of my dodgy memory. That guy is awesome, either way. I have his voice so firmly rooted in my brain from the days when I had a stack of comic books piled up on a table, as I waited for my dad to get out of his chemotherapy sessions when I was a kid. I have never really gotten into sports, no matter how hard I’ve tried. I’m not trying to turn away the sports crowd. I always consider that just another kind of nerdiness, despite the fact that it is perhaps the most socially acceptable fandom. I am perplexed that people can wear jerseys to Mass. If I wore a fez, a bow tie, and a sonic screwdriver to Mass, I’d get looks. And that’s even a scenario where I’m still wearing a tie to Church. But stories have always interested me. I invest. I have to. I tend to like a lot of things, which may not be the best trait for a critic, but I can’t help it. But that disposition also asks me to hold up my views to a higher standard. Characters always need to be real for me. The world needs to follow a set of rules, regardless of how unrealistic those rules may be. I also tend to look at the morality of the media I consume. I’m not talking about criticizing Hollywood or about agendas or all of that. When there is an agenda, I tend to roll my eyes and invest in the story, despite this obvious element in the room. But I try look at a character’s sense of morality even when the creator isn’t thinking about it. Don’t get me started about Harry Potter and his consequence free use of an unforgivable curse. I write because I love it. I read because I invest. I watch and allow my cares to fade away. All I ask from you, the reader, is to have fun with the things you consume. Have a good time and talk with others. Be respectful, have fun, and feel free to feel. Lord knows that I try. In the words of Stan Lee: “’Nuff said.” True Believers is a new media column from Catholic News Agency. Look for new columns weekly.
The Movie Nerd’s Guide to the Week Before Christmas
Dec 19, 2017 / 00:00 amA three-week Advent really messed with me this year. I wasn’t ready. I’m still not ready. I watched two Christmas movies this year and I felt that they were just out of obligation. I wanted to really hold onto Christmas movie traditions until I was in the spirit. It also didn’t help that we tried this Advent thing that our pastor recommended. I’m not sure I get it all the way, but he wrote something about minimizing the decorations until Gaudete Sunday to avoid the secular commercialization of the season. He offered it as a challenge and my wife’s response was “We’re doing this!” So, we tried it. I’m not sure I get it, but my house, in its normal state of being littered with hardened Play-Doh and LEGO figures, didn’t get me in the mood. Besides, I had to rewatch Star Wars: The Force Awakens before The Last Jedi came out. I had to. This leaves me in a state of carefully considering what Christmas movies and shows are really worth watching this season. I’m not saying that I’m really going to watch all of these things before Christmas, but they are heavy contenders. Scrooged (1988): Directed by Richard Donner and starring Bill Murray and Karen Allen, this might be my favorite adaptation of “A Christmas Carol.” “But, whoa, Tim!” you might be exclaiming to your reading device of choice in front of your loved ones, “What about A Muppet Christmas Carol?” This is where I always lose my readership. I don’t love A Muppet Christmas Carol. Let me clear the air and say that it is fine and far more family-friendly than Scrooged. (I remember Scrooged being R-rated, but my DVD now says it is PG-13. You’ll learn about my secret war with the MPAA in future columns.) I love The Muppets and the entire concept of muppets, but I really have a hard time being emotionally connected to a stuffed Tiny Tim. That’s where the story resonates, so I need my Tiny Tim to deliver. Scrooged does better than any other adaptation at delivering a perfect Tiny Tim dismount. (I am not referring to the Mary Lou Retton joke in the movie.) I know I should apologize to fans of the Alastair Sim Christmas Carol, because it seems that I’m making enemies left-and-right with this Christmas-themed column, but Scrooged is really good. Scrooged is for adult audiences, but the movie is really funny and really touching--maybe while you're wrapping presents. It’s on TV all the time. If not, you can download it on your digital service of choice. Doctor Who: “A Christmas Carol”, “Last Christmas”, and “The Husbands of River Song.” My wife calls me the John the Baptist of Doctor Who because I won’t stop evangelizing it to everyone I meet. Sorry in advance. I love this show. I have already mentioned my love for A Christmas Carol, because Dickens’ story might be a perfect Christmas tale. I love what Doctor Who, a story about a time-traveler, does with the Ghosts of Christmas’ Past, Present, and Future. But “Last Christmas” and “The Husbands of River Song” are also great. Doctor Who’s “A Christmas Carol” is a great episode for new fans. My stepfather, who doesn’t even care for science fiction, really dug this one. If you are afraid to get into Doctor Who, try “A Christmas Carol.” It’s awesome. These can all be found on Amazon Prime. It might not be a bad time to catch up on other Peter Capaldi Doctor Who episodes, before his final episode comes out on Christmas Day. I should also apologize to those serious Doctor Who fans are complaining that I’ve left out Russell T. Davies, and chosen exclusively Steven Moffat episodes. I get it. Doctor Who fans bicker a lot. But in the spirit of Christmas, let’s put aside petty Doctor Who bickering, at least for a couple of days. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969): This is for the Die Hard fans who claim that anything involving Christmas is a Christmas movie. I’ve been there. It’s a Wonderful Life? Pfff! There are no explosions in It’s a Wonderful Life. But you can’t ride the high of Die Hard forever. That’s where James Bond comes in. This movie isn’t for everyone. But this is a Catholic movie-nerd column, so I’m allowed to let my movie-nerd flag fly. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service used to be my favorite James Bond movie. It is so weird. In some ways, it is a quintessential Bond film, taking the mantle over from the Connery era. They were still trying to maintain a formula that had made them a lot of money. But they also wanted to shake things up and establish that George Lazenby could hold a franchise on his own. (Spoiler: he left after this movie because he’s a weird dude.) The movie isn’t perfect, but it is set at Christmas and there’s a sweet skiing scene. Watch it on Amazon Prime and Hulu Plus. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): Because claiming Die Hard is a Christmas movie is kind of ridiculous in retrospect and It’s a Wonderful Life is perfect. Buy it on DVD, and watch it with the whole family, because it is worth it.