Thar Be Dragons! gets its due over at OSV – “Just Because It’s Catholic, Doesn’t Mean It’s Good.” It’s a well-written piece by Emily Stimpson, with comments from various folks involved in Catholic media on the sad state of affairs. A snippet:

The list of reasons why Catholic media rarely measures up goes on. There’s the reticence on the part of responsible Christians to make the risky investments that art requires. There’s the shortage of first rate film and communications programs at Catholic universities, the decades of Catholic internecine squabbling which has kept much of the Church’s energies directed inward rather than outward, the distrust of Hollywood and tools of social media, as well as what Vogt and Gan characterize as “false humility” on the part of Catholics.

“It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the Christian message is powerful and compelling enough to stand on its own, that we don’t have to worry about how we present it,” Vogt said.

“The beauty and power of what we have to say can blind us to the importance of the medium,” seconded Gan.

I said what I gotta say over in the comments. Perhaps you should, too? Or just hang out here and let’s make fun of bad movies. In Christian charity, of course.

Oh, fine, here’s what I said: We talk a lot about how to educate and nurture Catholic artists – but not that much about how to educate and nurture Catholic patrons of the arts. The ability to recognize and appreciate Beauty is important whether you are looking for a place to invest your $15 on Kickstarter or drawing up plans to endow a scholarship to film school. I’d be interested to know, in particular, how Catholic universities go about presenting the opportunity to become patrons of the arts to graduates who may not be artistically inclined themselves, but could still help bring about an artistic revival.