Gadflyparexcellence
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- Time of past OR future Camino
- Walked in "2016," "2018," "2022."
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I am not American and like you I did not see the film before walking the Camino, although I did see it before walking the Camino Frances.The article below indicates that this represents more than 10-fold increase in the number of U.S residents receiving the Compostela in little more than ten years. It attributes much of this growth to the popularity of the film The Way.
Personally, when I did my first walk on the Camino in 2016, I had not even heard of the film. A few years later when I first saw the film, I didn't like it. It would be unfortunate if "hollywoodization of the Camino" - to use the words of a French peregrino I met during my last walk on the Camino - serves as the main reason for this surge instead of one's own internal search or quest.
https://www.fundacionjacobea.org/ca...-sobre-el-exito-del-camino-en-estados-unidos/
Perhaps. But one has to know about the camino in order to walk it.one's own internal search or quest.
yikesI think it is probably true that the movie has greatly increased the number of people from the US who walk the Caminos. But the influence of the film more widely is sometimes greatly exaggerated. I had a bizarre encounter with an avid fan of the movie in Melide in 2016. He asked me what I thought of the film and became quite angry at my lukewarm reply. He told me I should be more grateful for it because without it I would never have heard of the Caminos. A puzzler as I walked my first Camino twenty years before the film was released.
That was a huge motivation for me as well.She liked the idea of a long walk without having to sleep on the ground for a change.
Yes, always a bonus!That was a huge motivation for me as well for me, as well.
Agreed! We will walk our first of hopefully many Caminos This coming December. The book Walking with Sam by Andrew McCarthy was our main inspiration, then going down the very deep, long rabbit hole of videos of every route on YouTube made us commit.I am not American and like you I did not see the film before walking the Camino, although I did see it before walking the Camino Frances.
I haven't watched again, although I probably will at some stage, but I do think this is an ungenerous characterisation. It crams a lot more drama into the story than the average pilgrim would experience in a lifetime of Caminos, but only a couple of incidents jarred. Overall it was meant to be respectful of the Camino and I think it is. It is certainly a particular type of Camino but one that resonates with many people.
I think the broader internet including Youtube and blogs probably count for more in the growth of numbers. Once someone watches one Camino video on YT the algorithm will feed them more and the seed is sown.
I would also think that word of mouth amongst American Catholics will play its part.
On this forum, when I expressed the fact that I walked the Camino for non-religious/non-spiritual reasons, one poster suggested that I was taking advantage of the support given by the Church and various Catholic organizations.Were any of you, as a non-Catholic, derided by a Catholic for walking a camino? Ponder that before you declaim the increased number of camino visitors.
I set out on my first Camino for a cheap walking holiday - although I didn’t use any facilities which were not entirely commercial. My motivation slowly changed en-route and I’d be hard-pressed to put a name to it 14 years and many Camino routes later.On this forum, when I expressed the fact that I walked the Camino for non-religious/non-spiritual reasons, one poster suggested that I was taking advantage of the support given by the Church and various Catholic organizations.
I remember when I first watched it (after a couple of Caminos) my first thought was that the pilgrims in the film tended to be meaner to each other for most of the movie than was my experience on the Camino. I guess they needed to create some conflict. Others complained about the lack of blisters, etc. in the film but the pilgrims being pretty consistently mean to each other until they eventually came together was where I thought it was most unrealistic. But I might not have had that impression if I had watched it before a Camino instead of after.I never watch tv and rarely movies. I see more movies on flights to and from Spain than I do the rest of the year. I have watched The Way several times, twice in theaters. No violence. No meanness.
Blisters: For my last several long distance wilderness hikes in Alaska (Chilkoot Trail) and Canada (Banff/Skyline Trail), and California (Kearsarge Pass, Mt Whitney), besides my local trails, both my husband and I experienced no blisters. We are not strangers to blisters. What works for us: well fitted, lightweight (appropriate to pack weight) hiking boots, thick padded hiking wool socks (Smartwool PhD), and slathering on a tremendous amount of Vaseline.Others complained about the lack of blisters, etc. in the film …
The main character’s plight did not lend itself to being welcoming. He lost his only child. His grief was worsened by the fact that he was estranged from his son. He did not understand his son’s life choices, and realized belatedly that he knew little about his son, let alone that his son had embarked on a pilgrimage. The father was grieving, and understandably short with others. Some take that as mean. The point was that the father did not remain embittered. That happens in real life. He could have stayed angry, and turned away from God, much like I have seen an in-law do.mean to each other until they eventually came together was where I thought it was most unrealistic.
I think that’s true, David.. But I might not have had that impression if I had watched it before a Camino instead of after.
And had it only been the main character who was mean to the other pilgrims that would have been one thing. But it wasn't.The main character’s plight did not lend itself to being welcoming. He lost his only child. His grief was worsened by the fact that he was estranged from his son. He did not understand his son’s life choices, and realized belatedly that he knew little about his son, let alone that his son had embarked on a pilgrimage. The father was grieving, and understandably short with others. Some take that as mean. The point was that the father did not remain embittered. That happens in real life. He could have stayed angry, and turned away from God, much like I have seen an in-law do.
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