From Catholic newspaper controversy to 14 years at The RAGE Monthly, writer Chris Carpenter finally answers a few questions of his own.
by brad hart
Chris Carpenter’s name is all over The RAGE Monthly. For the past 14 years, he’s covered movies, television and plenty of wonderfully memorable people along the way.
This past summer marked an even bigger milestone: 30 years since Chris became a consistently published critic and entertainment writer. And the way it started is very Chris — he was headed toward filmmaking, then the priesthood, before an editor at a Catholic newspaper talked him into reviewing Disney’s animated Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The favorable review sparked three issues’ worth of angry letters debating the movie, and whether a priest should be reviewing movies at all. One reader accused him of doing “a great disservice to Catholic children.” Not bad for a first byline.
Thirty years later, Chris has interviewed everyone from Alfred Molina and Dakota Fanning to Charles Busch, Alex Newell, Bryan Fuller and the late Ray Liotta. He helped establish GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and became editor and chief contributor of Movie Dearest before finding his way to RAGE in 2012.
And somehow, that’s only part of the story. Chris has also spent 31 years as a priest, 15 as an openly gay Reformed Catholic bishop, and nearly 20 as a hospice chaplain. There’s also a husband, a cross-country move, and a few turns Chris probably wouldn’t have put in the original screenplay.
So after 30 years of Chris asking the questions, we figured it was time he answered a few.
Thirty years! Take us back to the beginning. What first pulled you into entertainment writing, and do you remember seeing your first review in print?
Thank you so much for recognizing my anniversary! It has been a journey, to be sure. I actually started out to be a filmmaker. When I was in the sixth grade in Phoenix, Arizona, I discovered my late grandfather’s Super 8 movie camera and made a Superman movie with several of my classmates.
In high school and college, I studied film and theater and eventually earned an associate degree in Motion Picture/TV Production and my bachelor’s in Communications. I even won some student filmmaker awards. I was all set to move to LA/Hollywood in 1988 when God called with a different plan.
I entered seminary and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1995. The editor of Arizona’s biweekly Catholic newspaper, The Catholic Sun, was aware of my background and asked me if I would start writing movie reviews for them. I agreed to do so in 1996, and my first published review was a favorable one of Disney’s animated The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
It sparked a debate via letters to the editor that ran for three issues over the merits of the movie as well as whether a priest should be reviewing movies in the first place. One reader accused me of doing “a great disservice to Catholic children” (laughs). But the controversy made me a local celebrity virtually overnight.
A lot has changed in 30 years — including you. How has your voice as a critic changed along the way?
While I wasn’t exactly closeted when I first started reviewing, my departure from the Roman Catholic Church 10 years later allowed me to be completely out as an openly gay critic and focus more on movies with overtly LGBTQ content. Becoming more comfortable in this regard was an evolution, as was adapting to the internet, which was pretty new to me.
Streaming movies and TV shows is an even more recent development, and trying to keep up with all the new offerings is the biggest challenge for me nowadays. But between my print and online presence today, I have a broader and even more international readership than I ever imagined.
And 14 of those years have been with us! What has kept writing for RAGE fun for you after all this time? Any assignments that still stand out?
I am so grateful to RAGE for your support over the years. When I first moved to Long Beach in 2006, I was invited to write for the late Blade magazine. I did so for six years, but then Blade was sold and other circumstances led me to RAGE in 2012. I certainly feel it has been a happy collaboration, and I appreciate that RAGE has allowed me to not only write about film and TV but theater, opera and music as well. You’ve definitely helped broaden my critical horizons!
You’ve interviewed a pretty impressive list of people over the years, including Alfred Molina, Dakota Fanning, Charles Busch, Bebe Neuwirth, Alex Newell, Bryan Fuller, Ray Liotta. Who really sticks with you?
I’m honored to have interviewed LGBTQ icons like Busch, Newell and Fuller. Out Broadway director-choreographer Jerry Mitchell, who founded the annual Broadway Bares fundraiser in NYC for people living with HIV/AIDS, was another fave interview who sticks out in my mind. I’ve been privileged to interview the delightful Michael Urie twice. Alfred Molina and I had an unexpectedly funny rapport, and Ray Liotta’s sensitivity impressed me.
I have to say, though, that the strongest celebrity/artist connection I’ve made over the years was someone I never actually interviewed. Soon after relocating to Southern California, I crossed paths with actor Barry Dennen. Barry was the original Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar on LP, stage and film. He also played the Emcee in the original London production of Cabaret (opposite Judi Dench as Sally Bowles) and memorably voiced the sniveling Chancellor in Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal. We often joked about Pontius Pilate and the priest being friends, lol. He even introduced me to his friends, including the fabulous Jo Anne Worley, as “my priest.” Sadly, Barry died in 2017. I had the honor of officiating his funeral at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Movie Dearest has been another big part of your writing life and it’s almost 20 years old! How did you get involved, and what has the site given you that your other writing hasn’t?
Movie Dearest was developed in 2007 by Kirby Holt, one of my best friends since high school, and he invited me to contribute. Wow, I just realized Movie Dearest is nearly 20 years old! The blog gave me the opportunity to share “Reverend’s Reviews” and interviews I had done for other publications as well as post new ones, notably my theater reviews. Kirby stepped down as editor/administrator a year or so ago and I took over. I am in the early stages of developing a podcast as part of Movie Dearest, so stay tuned!
You were also there at the beginning of GALECA, when it had around 30 members. Now there are more than 500. Did you ever imagine it would grow into what it is today?
In 2008 or 2009, I crossed paths with fellow critic John Griffiths. We got to talking and both thought a group of specifically LGBTQ critics who could give annual film awards à la the African American Film Critics Association and Women Film Critics Circle was needed in Hollywood and beyond. John ran with it and we formed with approximately 30 members.
Today, GALECA has over 500! Some studios were wary of us at first and it took a few years to establish relations with them. Today we present our annual Dorian Awards (named after Oscar Wilde’s timeless Dorian Gray) not only to movies but to TV shows and Broadway/Off-Broadway productions! Now that I live NYC-adjacent in Connecticut, I’m a member of our Theater Wing and love it.
Here’s where your story takes another turn. You’ve spent 31 years as a priest, 15 as an openly gay Reformed Catholic bishop and nearly 20 as a hospice chaplain. How have those different parts of your life shaped who you are today?
They say the Lord works in mysterious ways and I can testify to this! If you had told me back in the 1980s that I would one day be any one of these things, I would not have believed you. I had a rocky relationship with God after my parents divorced when I was 9. Things got rockier when I was a teenager figuring out my sexuality. In hindsight, I can see God had faith in me when I didn’t have faith in God. I tried to remain open, however, and that ultimately allowed God to break through.
I am so grateful for all the opportunities and hats — some literal — that God has given me. I affiliated with the Reformed Catholic Church in 2009 and they consecrated me as a bishop a few years later. Hospice ministry in particular has given me so much insight into the human condition and a greater appreciation of life.
I pretty much fell into it after moving to Long Beach. Wells House Hospice was still operating there and provided a final home to many people with end-stage AIDS and nowhere else to go. They hired me as a chaplain in January 2007 and I have continued to serve in that role with other hospice agencies ever since. I became board certified in 2023.
After 30 years, what still gets you excited about doing this? And who’s still on the interview wish list?
It’s been interesting and exciting, but sometimes frustrating, to watch how the film industry and theater-going have changed, especially post-COVID-19. There are definitely more “hoops” one has to jump through on one hand, while Zoom and online opportunities have made artist/celebrity access easier in other ways. I’m happy that seeing movies on the big screen has become popular again, as evidenced by the massive international success of The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day this past summer.
I would love to interview Lady Gaga one of these days and discuss her vibrant career as well as her Catholic background. A newer singer-actress I’ve been impressed by is Amber Iman. San Diego audiences may recall her from Lempicka at La Jolla Playhouse a few years ago.
I saw her in it on Broadway (for which she was Tony Award-nominated) and recently saw her in the world premiere of the musical Black Swan in Boston. She’s next set to appear in Hadestown on Broadway. I’d love to chat with her one of these days.
We’ve covered 30 years of writing, movies, faith and a lot of unexpected turns. What haven’t we asked you about?
One of the most unanticipated developments in my life was that of marriage. I met my now-husband, James, in Long Beach in 2007 when same-sex marriage wasn’t even legal. Neither of us could have predicted then we would one day be legally married and living together in his home state of Connecticut. We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last year. Yet another example of God’s unpredictable ways.