Catholic League: 'Three Stooges' movie wrong to mock nuns

New York City, N.Y., Apr 13, 2012 / 15:46 pm

The new “The Three Stooges” movie departs from the classic comedy series by mocking nuns, Catholic League president Bill Donohue has argued.

“In the 1950s, Hollywood generally avoided crude fare and was respectful of religion. Today it specializes in crudity and trashes Christianity, especially Catholicism,” Donohue said April 13.

“Yes, the slapstick is there, along with the groans, pokes, thumps, and the like. But the TV show never mocked nuns or showed infants urinating in the face of the Stooges. The film does.”

The remake, from filmmakers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, has a plot device based on the Three Stooges raising money for their childhood orphanage run by nuns.

One of the religious sisters, played by swimsuit model Kate Upton, is shown wearing a nun's veil and a rosary along with a barely-there bikini. Another nun, played by Seinfeld creator Larry David, is named Sr. Mary Mengele, echoing the name of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele.

Twentieth Century Fox is distributing the PG-rated movie, which was released to theaters nationwide on April 13.

A Fox spokesperson said that the nuns are “caring, heroic characters” in a “very broad comedy.”

“And as far as the nun attire, I think we did the audience a favor by letting Kate Upton wear the nun-kini rather than Larry David – it could have gone either way,” the spokesperson said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Donohue also objected to Larry David’s disparaging remarks towards nuns he made to talk show host Conan O’Brien on April 11.

The Catholic League head contended that the movie is “not just another remake.”

“It is a cultural marker of sociological significance, and what it says about the way we’ve changed is not encouraging.”