Back in 9th-grade English class, Franco Zeffirelli was considered a hero. For teachers, he was the guy who made Shakespeare more accessible for kids by including nudity in his film of Romeo and Juliet. For students, well, he included nudity in movie that was required in-class viewing. Now the kids have Luhrman’s version of R&J to fawn over (despite its lack of boobies), but Zeffirelli is still tops for lazy students of Shakespeare, as his Hamlet, which stars Mel Gibson, is still likely the most accessible alternative to actually reading the play that high schoolers have.

Will Zeffirelli have the same luck with Pope Benedict XVI? Reuters reports the Italian filmmaker and affirmed Christian has offered to help with His Holiness’ public image — and I stress this is only at the proposal stage. But it is a proposal Zeffirelli hopes the Vatican takes seriously. He said:

Coming after a media-savvy pope like John Paul II is a difficult task … Benedict XVI still communicates coldly, in a way that is not suited with what is happening around him … It’s an issue I have been discussing with people who have key roles in the Vatican.

In addition to giving the Pope a makeover, Zeffirelli proposes to help the Christian faith image in cinema, claiming modern religious films are, “a horror that the Holy See does not know how to stop.” Does he mean as in violent like The Passion of the Christ or as in too Santa-rific like Fred Claus? The 84-year-old Zeffirelli is willing to make the image consultation gigs his full-time job. I guess that rules out the chance for a more-faithful and teen-friendly version of Twelfth Night, leaving the kids to continue watching She’s the Man instead.