Mission is a 1986 film based on the subject of Jesuit missionaries in South America and their predicaments while Black Robe is a 1991 film about predicaments undergone by Jesuit missionaries in Canada. The concept of missionaries is based on the presupposition that someone’s religion is superior to the other’s and thus seeks to have these individuals convert from their religion to that of the missionary (Castaño, 2016). Jesuits were a section of the Roman Catholic Church founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola and focused on missionary expeditions, education, and charity work. Whereas there are many similarities between the two films, they vary exponentially based on the predicaments facing the missionaries to wit problems from indigenous people and problems imported from Europe respectively.
Mission, relates to an extremely successful mission to South America by the Jesuit missionary Father Gabriel (Canby, 1986). The mission is so successful that many of the local populations are converted to Christianity and a fledging mission is established. One of the basic doctrines in Christianity such as love and forgiveness is displayed when the local Indian Community the Guaraní forgive Rodrigo Mendoza, a slaver and allow him to stay with them in the mission (Canby, 1986). When all is going well between the missioners and the locals, a treaty arrived at in Europe between Spain and Portugal transfers the area where the mission is situated to Portugal, a nation that supports enslavement (Canby, 1986). This is a direct threat to the mission that must now be closed. Cardinal Altamirano fails to convince Father Gabriel to close the mission and it is attacked by a joint force of the Spanish and Portuguese. The defence however fails and a massacre ensues with the mission being destroyed (Canby, 1986).
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The Black robe is similarly about a Jesuit missionary LaForgue who has been sent inland into what was to later become Canada on a mission to find a mission situate in the Huron village ( Barshis, 1991) . LaForgue is accompanied by some friendly and Christian native Indians of the Algonquin tribe. However, when they get to the interior, other indigenous Indians convince the Algonquin to turn against LaForgue whom they abandon in the wilderness ( Barshis, 1991) . The Algonquin are however smitten by guilt and return. The entire team finally locates the local mission but finds that the members of the mission had been massacred by the Hurons in the aftermath of a smallpox epidemic. However, LaForgue is still able to convince the Hurons to embrace Christianity and be baptized beginning a new episode in their lives ( Barshis , 1991) .
Both films relate to the theme of Christian missionaries and their role and contribution to the new world. These contributions and roles are both positive and negative. The positive roles include the introduction of Christianity in to the Indians as well as the positive behavioral changes that come with it. Acts of kindness and love are shown among Christian Indians in both films. Another role of bringing development projects such as agriculture is also portrayed. However, several negative roles are also seen from the main difference between the two films. In the Mission, the missionaries are followed by colonists who engage in slavery and genocide. It is through the missionaries that the potential of the land was realized by European colonists who followed up with many adverse consequences. The colonialists are so determined that they are even willing to kill missionaries if they stand on their way. In Black Robe, missionaries bring along foreign diseases such as small pox for which the indigenous populations have no immunity leading to deaths ( Barshis , 1991) . The two films show clearly that the missionaries meant well and were genuinely interested in assisting the native population. However, albeit inadvertently, the missionaries were accompanied by instruments of death and destruction to the native population.
References
Canby, V. (1986, November 31). Movie review - - screen: “The Mission,” with Deniro and Irons. . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=
Castaño, V. R. (2016). Spanish-American Literature: The Colonial Period. The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies , 76 , 195-201.
Barshis, M. (1991, November 8). The black robe. Retrieved January 26, 2017, from http://www.cabrillo.edu/~crsmith/blackrobe.html
