Thanks to the continued box office dominance and warm critical reception for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the latest entry in the blockbuster franchise certainly has its share of fans. Not among them, however, is the Vatican’s newspaper, and its negative review left Stephen Colbert in the midst of a crisis of faith.
The Late Show host addressed the Star Wars review in the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano, which describes the film as “confused and hazy,” criticizing in particular the film’s penchant for darkness and its Dark Side characters like Kylo Ren.
“The Vatican, and this is true, gave a better review to Spotlight,” Colbert joked on Tuesday night, acknowledging that while he may not agree with the review, he can’t entirely blame it’s reasoning. To illustrate, Colbert pointed out the similarities between the franchise’s story and people and tenants of the Catholic Church’s teachings.
“Now, it doesn’t help that the original trilogy featured a father, a son, and a holy ghost,” Colbert says, referring to Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ghostly form.
Watch Colbert’s full defense of the review above as he reconciles being “caught in a crisis of faith between deeply held beliefs embedded in me since childhood and the Catholic Church.”
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