Page - 104 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 02/02

104 | Alexander D. Ornella www.jrfm.eu 2016, 2/2, 99–122 and reconfigured them.23 What we are faced with, then, both historically and to- day, is not one clerical masculinity (we are, however, often faced with a hegem- onic clerical masculinity) but a rich, fluid, and at times highly contested diversity of clerical masculinities that are always also tied to their secular counterparts and the struggle over the relationship between masculinity, sexuality, and virili- ty.24 These rich and competing clerical masculinities are also expressed in Rev. (2010–2014), for example when Adam encounters (and envies) colleagues who appear much more competent, cooler, and more hip, in other words, who are more masculine (from his perspective anyway) than he. A challenge for research and members of the clergy themselves, however, is the question of how to make sense of and talk about clerical masculinity and what it means to use terms from secular contexts that might not necessarily make sense in an ecclesial context. As Derek Neal points out, “masculinity” typi- cally refers to a position of power, while he links “clerical” to a more serving role, raising the question how masculinity can be negotiated with this (sub)ser- vient understanding.25 What complicates Neal’s distinction, however, is that in public discourse, the church as institution and its (clerical) representatives are often associated with a position of power, authority, and wealth. Therefore, clerical masculinities are always both “discursive trope and … lived identity”26 trying to negotiate a range of competing perceptions and ascriptions. Clerical masculinities are always related to other (secular) masculinities or femininities, which shape their understanding, and they are continually renego- tiated in relation to these (changing) others. Often, however, these renegotia- tion processes themselves contribute to a transformation (and naturalization) of ideas and boundaries. THE LOSER Different understandings and perceptions of clerical masculinities clash already at the beginning of Rev. (2010–2014) and thus set the tone for some of the strug- gles throughout the TV series. In episode one, the audience encounters differ- ent clerical masculinities in the character of Adam Smallbone: husband, host for the parish community, the guy who is available 24/7, manager, transvestite, or (closeted) gay. Viewers are also introduced to non-clerical masculinities, and all these different forms of being male compete with each other: Adam, the 23 Cf., for example, Lutterbach 2013; Bailey 2007; Thibodeaux 2010, 8, 12. 24 Thibodeaux 2010, 1–3. 25 Neal 2010, 18. The multifaceted nature of priesthood is also expressed in many documents of the Catholic Church that describe the priest as teacher, minister, and leader, though this requires further discussion with respect to theology and actual practice as well as to the relations between the differ- ent orders of deacon, priest, and bishop; cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith 1999. 26 Neal 2010, 33.