Had a nightmare experience Friday night, dropping in on the movie night of another church's RCIA group — one that's known for being intellectually rigorous — and discovering that the featured film was an awful "Blue Velvet" ripoff (complete with grisly violence played for laughs, and Marianne Faithfull caterwauling like Edith Piaf in a goatyard). After the obligatory post-film discussion, with the leader saying, "What did the knives mean?" I escaped to my local Blockbuster and rented the original 1966 version of "A Man for All Seasons," which I'd never seen.

Not knowing anything but the barest facts about Thomas More, I was bowled over by the film. Now I'm eager to find a good biography of him. The movie gave me insight into why Catholics in particular have such deep sympathy and understanding for those who are persecuted for their faith. (That's not by any means to say that people of other faiths aren't as sympathetic; being of Jewish heritage, I know better than that. However, each faith has its own experience of persecution because of the nature of that which they have endured, and the nature of attacks on Catholicism is in many ways unchanged since More's time.)

If you've seen "A Man for All Seasons" and would like to discuss it—especially to say how authentic or inauthentic it is—I'd appreciate your leaving a comment. I'd also appreciate any other thoughts you might have on More, especially leads on further reading. Thanks.