KCBC Vigilance Mission strongly criticizes Mammootty starrer ‘Kathal D Core’.
KCBC accuses the film of being highly anti-Christian.
KCBC vigilance commission secretary Fr. Dr. Michael Pulikal says in a CMI press release.
KCBC also criticized left-wing gay rights movements. At the same time, strong criticism is being raised against KCBC’s stand.
KCBC press release;
Core: Art and Culture
– Fr. Dr. Michael Pulikal CMI
Secretary, KCBC Vigilance Commission
‘Kathal – The Core’ is a Malayalam film starring members of the Catholic community who oppose claims related to LGBTQIA+, including homosexuality.
The film has a completely Christian background. A second background is that of left-wing politics. Director Jio Baby and writers Adarsh Sukumaran and Paulson Skaria are to be commended for skillfully blending two contrasting backgrounds.
Beyond the technical merits and demerits of the film, there are certain facts that become clear when analyzing the subject matter the film deals with, the ideas it presents, and its method.
The first of these is the idea that homosexuality is a natural phenomenon and that society and society should accept the rights of homosexuals.
Second, there are some indirect ideological propagandas that are against the Christian community and the Christian faith. Another feature of the plot is the overemphasis given to sex.
What is significant is that such a story is presented in the context of a Christian family, especially in the rural setting of Kerala. The team members have taken special care to ensure that the Christian family background is not limited to the two names Mathew Devassi and Omana Philip.
A village called Theekoi in Kottayam district, a Christian majority area, the film maintains a clear background of Christian faith throughout the film, such as the temple-prayer scenes that are shown several times from the beginning of the film, the heroine Omana’s deep devotion to God, the family prayer and the family’s closeness to the parish priest. Mathew, the left-wing fellow traveler and hero, is also a believer in God.
Heterosexual Encounters and Activists
The influence of some of the ideas that are popularized in various ways today under the label of progressive ideas is evident in the film. There are organizations and activists all over the world working hard to promote LGBTQIA+ ideas and work for transgender rights.
Although not so active in the general society of Kerala, there are frequent campaigns centered on colleges. The idea of celestial sexuality often manifests itself as an argument used by professed progressives to brand themselves.
A few weeks ago, India’s Supreme Court sought legalization of same-sex marriage, following the example of some foreign countries, and the court rejected the request.
The central government has taken a stand on this issue that same-sex marriage is not compatible with Indian culture and the concept of marriage. Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized unnatural sex, was declared unconstitutional by the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 2018.
After that, claims of homosexuality began to emerge in mainstream society. There are references to IPC 377 struck down by the Supreme Court in the movie ‘Kathal – The Core’. It has been described as a proud and progressive move.
Left-wing progressive politics
The story goes on to associate the ‘progressive’ idea of gay sexuality with left-wing political ideology. While everyone else views homosexuality with disdain, the leftist political leadership is embracing the hero.
The basic idea is the success and ‘glory’ of that position. It may not be a coincidence that the film puts forward the idea that Kerala’s left-wing politics advocates for gay rights in an era of rampant and unnatural sexist propaganda in colleges led by left-wing student movements.
Anti-Christianity
It can be clearly suspected that the makers of the film have the goal of challenging the moral values strongly promoted by the Catholic Church.
The first reason is that Catholic family and church settings were chosen as the setting for the film. Although the religious background was not a necessity for the concept presented by the film, it cannot be assumed that such a family was chosen innocently.
A Catholic priest who thinks ‘progressively’ is also a character in the film. It can be assumed that a family in the Catholic society that rejects homosexuality was chosen as the characters, with the aim of indirectly establishing that the position of the Church in this regard is not correct.
Another part of this film is the New Generation who are not atheists. The daughter of devout Matthew and Omana is a college student who is not interested in going to church and supports her father’s homosexuality as a ‘progressive’ thinker.
A mother who comes to the church with her son and a small boy appear as characters, promising that ‘if you come to the church, we will give you a cuppa and pork when you return’. One has to wonder whether the church atmospheres involving only a limited number of people, the festival processions of not more than fifty people, etc. are part of cost cutting, or the ‘director’s brilliance’ to present the weakness of the faith community.
The broad-mindedness of Omana, a perfect believer in God, who understands her husband’s homosexuality and ‘lovingly’ lets it go is also a part of the film.
It is clear that behind the film there is a conscious attempt to discuss such an issue, which has not been discussed much in the mainstream of Kerala, and to gain public support for the ‘progressives’.
Apart from Suraj and Nimisha Sajayan, who were the female leads in the director’s previous film ‘Great Indian Kitchen’, the film did not have a canvas big enough to cast two of India’s finest as female leads, but there is clearly another brilliance behind doing so. The presence of the Mammootty-Jyotika star duo made the screens tenfold and filled the theatres.
The position of the Church on this issue is that if the heterosexuals cannot change their physical and mental conditions, they are treated with compassion.
Neither the Christian community nor any morally conscious person can sympathize with such extravagant claims and sexual anarchists.
Instead of the mature approach of seeing sexual orientations and sexual questions as two, we cannot agree with the basic ideas that this film, which often gives space to sexual excesses. The act of misusing the background of the Christian faith for such propaganda is objectionable.
