Catholic Church Invested Millions on 'Rocketman,' but Opposes Gay Marriage
Sir Elton John has a harsh reality check for the Catholic Church.
Things are getting heated between Sir Elton and Pope Francis. Yesterday, Pope Francis came out with a decree regarding gay marriage, saying, “God does not and cannot bless sin.” According to the Church, marriage is between a cis man and a cis woman, and therefore gay marriage is not part of God's plan.
Obviously, this upset the LGBTQ+ community across the globe. Not only was this a condemnation of the way they were born, but of their desire to have lasting and committed relationships with one another.
This seemed like an especially ridiculous moral ruling from the Catholic Church, which still is dealing with widespread abuse claims and coverups. But it is also is hypocritical given the Vatican's stance on making money.
Elton John put them on blast on Twitter, showing documentation that the Vatican had invested and received millions of dollars in his movie Rocketman.
John wrote, “How can the Vatican refuse to bless gay marriages because they ‘are sin,’ yet happily make a profit from investing millions in Rocketman—a film which celebrates my finding happiness from my marriage to David?”
According to The Daily Beast, the Vatican had “a $4.5 million expenditure recorded in February related to finance for the 2019 films Men in Black: International and Elton John’s rather steamy biopic Rocketman, which portrays the entertainer’s drug problems and is the first studio movie to portray gay sex between men in an authentic way.”
While we don't have an exact return on the Church's investment, Rocketman was a worldwide success and did gangbusters at the box office. So they definitely got something in return. Possibly millions more.
This is the first I am learning of the Vatican investing money in making movies, but it seems so ridiculous and two-faced to condemn part of society and then make money off them as well. Maybe the Vatican should take a deep look inside themselves and fund a few more movies like Spotlight.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
