Cleveland Plain Dealer
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Ted Danson is no newcomer to TV movies that tackle difficult subjects. He won a Golden Globe award for his work in "Something About Amelia," the landmark 1984 film about incest.
The Emmy-winning "Cheers" star has top billing in "Our Fathers," Showtime's movie about the sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the Roman Catholic Church. It premieres at 8 p.m. Saturday, and Danson knows that the very topic makes this drama controversial.
But he hopes "Our Fathers" won't be viewed as anti-Catholic. Many of the film's heroes are Catholic, Danson says, and certainly the victims brave enough to confront tortuous pasts are Catholic.
Olan Horne agrees with Danson. Portrayed by Chris Bauer in the cable film, Horne was a 12-year-old schoolboy when first molested by a Boston Diocese priest named Joseph E. Birmingham.
"We're Catholic chickens who came home to roost," Horne said of himself and fellow abuse survivors. "Remember, we learned our morals here. I wasn't a weekend Catholic."
And Horne's message is not one of anger and attack. It's about healing.
Posted by kshaw at May 15, 2005 08:14 AM