Guillermo del Toro the lapsed Catholic

Each and every one us moves closer to and farther away from God depending on time and situation. Our proximity or closeness to the divine does not make us more or less qualified to teach fellow man. Each of us is a child of God and therefore each of us has a voice and opinion that matter. I love what Guillermo del Toro says at the end of this interview about the movie The Shape of Water on NPR.

(Original interview can be found here.)

(“Martin” refers to NPR host Rachel Martin and “Del Toro” to director Guillermo del Toro)

MARTIN: Your family is from Guadalajara, Mexico. You were raised as a Catholic...

DEL TORO: Yeah.

MARTIN: ...A pretty strict Catholic. I understand you are - you do no longer identify as a Catholic. But...

DEL TORO: No, no - I'm very lapsed.

MARTIN: ...You are the product of that culture and that point of view.

DEL TORO: Yes.

MARTIN: Does it affect how you construct your heroes and villains?

DEL TORO: Yes, of course it does. I mean, the very simple notion that is both a fairy tale and a very Catholic notion is the humble force or the force of humility, you know, that gets revealed as a godlike figure towards the end. It's also used in fairy tale. In fairy tale, in fact, there is an entire strand of tales that would be encompassed by the title "The Magical Fish" - and not exactly a secret that a fish is a Christian symbol.

…

MARTIN: There is also, in your work, flirtation with the idea of an afterlife. What is it about that idea that captivates you?

DEL TORO: I believe that we all have access to that moment of clarity, but we don't have it in a supernatural way. I don't think there is life beyond death - I don't. But I do believe that we get this clarity in, you know, the last minute or our life. The titles we achieved, the honors we managed - they all vanish. And you are left alone with you and your deeds and the things you didn't do. And that moment of clarity gives you either peace or the most tremendous fear because you finally have no cover. And you finally realize exactly who you are.