The Movie Yellow: Incest as 'Normal' and Cassavates's Slides Into the World of Woes

By Andrew M. Greenwell, Esq.
9/16/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

There are moral truths grounded in moral realities that, in the poet Milton's words,

The American film director Nick Cassavetes discussed his new movie, "Yellow," which explores an incestuous relationship between a brother and sister. "Who gives a damn," Cassavetes said, "love who you want."

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CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - There is an underlying grammar to human sexuality, and the Catholic Church might be said to be the repository of the King's English--the standard--when it comes to it. In the modern world--indeed in all ages and all cultures--she is the only one who speaks about sex well. Her sexual grammar is true, it protects authentic conjugal love, and it ultimately is the recipe for authentic happiness, both here on earth and in eternity.

The sexual grammar of the Church's teaching on human sexuality is based upon what Pope Benedict XVI calls the "gift" of nature and its "inbuilt order," an order which displays a "design of love and truth," and which is witness to a God of order, truth, and love.

This "inbuilt order" is a gift that is given to us by a loving God: it just is.

It is this "inbuilt order" in nature--again, a gift which just is--that allows our reason, if used rightly, to distill out a "grammar" in creation of which the "grammar" of sexuality is part. Caritatis in veritate, No. 48.

The "grammar" of sexuality has rules based upon the reason underlying the nature of things, of what is. But it also relies upon just plain right usage or syntax, a usage or syntax based not so much upon conceptual reason, but upon a sort of reasonable-but-not-fully-articulable intellectual "feel" which informs us what is seeming or fitting.

Moral theologians call this reality connaturality. There are moral truths grounded in moral realities that, in the poet Milton's words, "mix with our connatural dust."

A connatural end or good is an end or good toward which we tend or incline as part of our nature. This is called an inclination to the extent that this connatural end is, relative to our nature, an objective good. An example would be the natural desire for progeny, or learning, or knowing the truth, or having friends.

As Jacques Maritain put it in his book The Range of Reason: "It is through connaturality that moral consciousness attains a kind of knowing--inexpressible in words and notions--of the deepest dispositions--longings, fears, hopes or despairs, primeval loves and options--involved in the night of the subjectivity."

But connaturality has its opposite. There are such ends we perceive as evils to avoid. There are some things that are simply unnatural. We might call such reasonable-but-not-fully-articulable intellectual "feelings" that seek to avoid these unnatural actions or things disinclinations.

As a result of these disinclinations, there are some actions which, by common consent, are simply seen as moral enormities, actions to which any physically and morally healthy human being are disinclined. We have a reasonable-but-not-fully-articulable intellectual aversion to these things and recognize them at once as evils.

Incest is such a thing. We connaturally perceive incest to be a great evil, something altogether more vicious than other sexual sins. It is an offense of huge proportions against familial relations.
Any healthy human is naturally disinclined to commit incest, and it is reasonable to be disinclined, though it is difficult to articulate fully the reasons why. We find incest morally "sick," "creepy," or enormously "perverse" even if we cannot fully say why. This is true for virtually all cultures.

In his Summa Theologiae (IIaIIae, q. 154, art. 9), St. Thomas Aquinas addressed the sin of incest. He finds incest to be a species of lust that is particularly "unbecoming" or "unseemly" because it infringes upon the respect that a person should give his or her parents, and this respect "trickles down" as it were to include his or her "other blood relations, who are descended in near degree from the same parents." It is for this reason, St. Thomas says, that we should experience a certain shame with respect to this act.

The second reason that St. Thomas gives against incest is that blood relations are in close proximity with each other, and if sexual union were not prohibited the "opportunities of venereal intercourse would be very frequent, and thus men's minds would be enervated by lust."

The third reason that St. Thomas gives is that incest hinders friendship in that, by taking a wife that is not related by consanguinity or affinity, a man expands his circle of relationships. Incest is closed to this value because friendship is not expanded in an incestuous marriage, but closes in on itself.

Finally, St. Thomas mentions a fourth reason, one given by Aristotle, and that ...

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1 - 10 of 20 Comments

Ben
3 weeks ago
Whatever the hell evil people call normal...I nor anyone else of good conscience do not have to agree with immorality of any sort! We have a God given right to live in accordance with His Holy Righteous Words and commands in the Scriptures...and shame to them who distort the truth and pervert and bring destruction on themselves and scandalize unsuspecting ignorant youth!!! The fool has thought they will corrupt others and prevent the righteousness of God from being established in people...Who will win? evil people or God Almighty? Jesus knows and I know because He has made it plainly clear to anyone who cares to hear the truth! I hate liars and murderers and people who try to corrupt the world when clearly God is trying to save restore heal and morally and physically replenish the world through His Son Jesus Christ!
K C Thomas
1 month ago
Most of the Governments in the world are trying to meddle with the traditional and religious concepts of sexual morality. That is why in many nations they are bringing homosexuality, infidelity, gay marriage, polygamy as something normal and non-prohibitive. This means that sacredness of marriage is unacceptable. With this ideology, permissiveness is wide open and no combination of togetherness can be wrong or illegal--provided there is mutual consent .
I am afraid, we have already entered into this civilization. Religion which teaches the morality is sidelined and the followers are humiliated. No Remedy---No Remedy-------Only prayers may reveal the plan of God.
MaryAnn
6 months ago
In my lifetime I fear I will see all kinds of perversions become 'normal'. It's happened with homosexuality, bisexuality, adultery, promiscuity, prostitution and now they're considering altering the polygamy laws in my country (Canada) to accomodate rich Saudi's who want to immigrate with their multiple wives.

Incest? Sure! Why not, let brothers and sisters marry in the church, heck, let brothers and brothers marry in the church! Why have ANY standards of decency in society at all.
After incest becomes acceptable, the pedophiles and necrophiliacs will be waving picket signs demanding equal rights too, because hey, 'you can't help who you fall in love with'.

The world is deturmined to destroy itself, our society is desperately morally ill, I can only pray Jesus heals us soon.
JeanCatherine
7 months ago
I see the Catholic Church has been finally exonerated and prophetic. Its now happening. We went for gay rights now we see what we predicted----incest rights. Were there people. Its here.
Judy Claar
8 months ago
Rob, Ditto. Especially last paragraph. Blessings...
Rob
8 months ago
Not sure how Hollywood is marxist vance, but I do agree with your sentiment. The only thing those folks understand is money and all we need to do is just avoid this garbage.

It's so frustrating to see how well moves like The Passion and Courageous did but yet no one picks up the idea and runs with it. People are hungry for this and I just wish those with the means would come together and get a larger share of the media space.
Anne
8 months ago
As regards my earlier comment on Our Lady of Fatima and the errors of Russia, please watch on Gloria TV. I enclose the link to click on, or please copy and paste onto your browser if clicking on link does not work.
.
http://en.gloria.tv/?media=332898
KarlVDH
8 months ago
I'd like to add this: while I still say "shame on us" because none of us bothered to call for prayer to almighty God for the people involved in this thing, I also have to say shame on C.O. for actually posting a TRAILER... and naming it a "TEASER" for this disgraceful film.
How about, "Lead us not into temptation?" "Vade retro, Satanas?"
No matter how innocuous, a "teaser" for this piece of garbage is incredibly inappropriate on a Catholic website.
anne
8 months ago
Pray the Rosary every day, all catholics as it defeats hell. Our Lady of Fatima asked us to pray the Rosary every day. It is no longer an option, we are in spiritual battle.Lucia, one of the visionaries of Fatima said there no problem the Rosary cannot solve.
Our Lady also spoke about the "errors of Russia spreading". Please watch Gloria TV for this article.
Pope Pius 1X said give me an army of people saying the Rosary and I will conquer the world.
Or Lord said he would spit out the lukewarm.
God bless you all,
Anne
DLL
8 months ago
Incest,homosexual sex,bestiality,all a result of ignorant alternate sexual lifestyle choices,introduce diseases into society that need not be. Ordered life styles such as traditional marriage are healthy lifestyles if they are sexual between 1 man and 1 woman,for the purpose of procreation. This is how the medical world through normal family sexual relationships,can trace the problems due to disease processes within family units of peoples. When anything goes sexually,then who knows where someone inherited diseases like diabetes etc. Bizarre Sex= bizarre diseases. This all used to be common sense as they used to say"no biggie".

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