Forgiveness

Director Whitney (John Paul II: The Millennial Pope) here presents a disturbing look at the complex concept of forgiveness, common to most if not all religions and the backbone of most therapy programs, including 12-step programs. Her film offers a comprehensive view of case studies of heart-rending tragedies, some forgiven, others not, ranging from personal (mom leaves husband and kids) to community (gunman kills kids at an Amish school) to national (genocide in Rwanda and Nazi Germany). These examples consider denial and retribution as well as how forgiveness eases injury to the soul and restores personal sanity. Both the home version and the two-disc academic version were reviewed. Each contains most of the same case studies. The bonus material on the home version includes additional scenarios that are part of the body of the academic version, plus a written biography of the filmmaker and some advertising. In the academic version, each disc's uncaptioned bonus material provides discussions with over half a dozen academics and theologians. Both of these outstanding programs suffer the same production shortcomings: the indexing is incomplete and misleading, the attributions lack contrast and are too small to read on a small screen. Nevertheless, either is highly recommended as a teaching resource in psychology and philosophy and their various subfields.—Diane W. Kazlauskas, formerly with Univ. of North Florida Lib., Jacksonville