Rose Pacatte

It was a huge pleasure to meet Sr. Rose Pacatte, who is based in Culver City CA, around 9 miles from Hollywood, for my latest Nostalgia Interview. Rose is from San Diego originally and we learn that she planned to be a Sister from a young age. She started the Pauline Center for Media Studies and in the interview Rose talks about how she became a film critic.

Faith and film came about at the same time for Rose, and we learn that she first saw The Searchers when she was seven and how it is one of her most important films. Rose is currently working on a chapter in a book for Routledge on social justice, human rights and media literacy education.

Rose has recently been to the cinema for the first time in a year and we find out why she prefers independent cinema to those (many) quests for Jesus figures in superhero movies.

We learn why The Matrix made such an impression on Rose and why meaning is made between the screen and the audience, rather than by what the director (necessarily) intends. She talks about why she is not interested in ‘messages’ and why film is the external manifestation of the inner reality of the characters and of the story itself.

We discuss the role of violence and Holocaust films, how she styles her reviews, and we talk about this year’s Oscar winners including Nomadland. 

We then proceed to talk about how blood and guts are Mel Gibson’s signature. She was invited to a screening of The Passion of the Christ and we learn that he didn’t like what she told Gibson afterwards regarding how people might laugh at the film because of the intensity on display.

Rose tells us how eating her dinner before watching The Exorcist wasn’t a good thing and we discuss the differences between The Nun and The Exorcism of Emily Rose – and the problems that arise when you don’t have a theological consultant on board.

At the end of the interview Rose discusses how she never thought that this would be her vocation and she reveals that she was diagnosed in 1997 with MS – and how it ended up being an amazing gift for her. The interview then finishes with a discussion of the difference between hope and optimism.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and Rose Pacatte and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.