Jim McDermott is a screen and magazine writer in New York. He produces a weekly Substack about pop culture and spirituality called Pop Culture Spirit Wow.
Society's "clowns" force us to surrender what we think we know in favor of a greater joy, writes Jim McDermott. They teach us a sort of mercy toward a world not living up to our expectations.
Recreational horror experiences give us a means of release, one that comes with a level of freedom that can be hard to come by otherwise. Scream at the top of your lungs in your neighborhood or apartment building and someone's going to call the police. But do it at a scary movie and you're among friends.
Even if the creators of the disco-inspired "Here Lies Love" seem allergic to the Catholicism at the heart of the story of Imelda Marcos and the Philippines, they're unable to fully suppress the traces of that reality.
Jesuit Fr. Jim McDermott interviews Filipino-American illustrator Mike Curato about his controversial middle grade graphic novel Flamer and his experience growing up Catholic.
How do you make the familiar strange again, and yet also accessible? This year Jim McDermott decided to try an experiment for the Triduum, in hopes of seeing the events of the Passion and Resurrection with fresh eyes.
In mid-December, 13 artists concerned about the global climate crisis staged a five-day pop-up art exhibition, "Mayday! EAARTH," curated by Marcia Annenberg at the Ceres Gallery in New York City.
The varied works in the provocative "Earth on the Edge: 12 Artists Declare a Climate Emergency" at the Ceres Gallery in Manhattan seem to invite viewers into a quiet contemplation of environmental loss.
Theater: Broadway's stages have been dark for 18 months, and much of our lives, too. But tonight, here to see "Chicago," I sink gratefully back into the experience of being with other people and not being afraid.
Just as watching "Friends" when it aired kept alive my experiences of college, the reunion reminds me of my own experience of reunions, which are always such a muddle of gratitude and sadness.
No matter the specifics, in most films there's something concrete out there the protagonist is after, something they're going to fight for and a journey we're going to take with them. Oscar-nominated film "Nomadland" is very aware of this conceit.
Perspective: As a gay priest, you tend to think of your silence as a required act of self-sacrifice. But our self-erasure contributes to other people believing there is no place for them in the church or the world.
San Ysidro, Calif. - It began with a simple request. Jesuit ordinand Elías Puentes wondered if the ordaining bishop could be someone who could speak to the immigrant experience.
