Jesus in Film
Please leave your comments about issues involved in film presentations of Jesus, particularly the Last Temptation of Christ. Which depictions of Jesus conform the most to your own image of Jesus? Which depictions of Jesus are most effective or appealing on other levels? What would you focus on if you were a film director making a film about Jesus? Are there dangers of offending people depending on how Jesus is presented? Should a director even worry about offending people?
October 14th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
I feel that all Jesus films are pretty bad. They just ruin the image for me. Whether it be the acting or the story, the interpretations of the directors never seem accurate or believable. For starters, Jesus was Jewish and did not live in North America. Therefore, he shouldn’t look so WASPy… I know that the church and artists have depicted Jesus this way forever, but in reality shouldn’t he have dark, some what curly hair and olive skin? There’s never really a happy medium established when depicting his personality either. He’s either cold and robotic or overly flamboyant (in films such as Superstar and Godspell) Although they try to bring out the human side of Christ by bringing up the possibility of experiencing lust and sexual relationships, the directors seem to forget that the Son of God probably has a bit of an edge on being able to resist temptation better than you and I. Just a thought. If I had to pick I’d choose the more traditional depiction of Christ, but I’m sure that Hollywood directors are simply more concerned with what’s the most controversial in order to sell tickets. If that’s the case they should keep doing what they’re doing and people that are grounded enough in their faith shouldn’t pay attention to it and take them for what they are… movies.
October 15th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Jesus in film. That is a very interesting thing to discuss. It is almost like taking a really good novel and turning it into a movie in fear that some people will be extremely angry because they never pictured it the way the film maker did. However, taking Jesus’ story to film is slightly more complicated then offending Lord of the Rings fanatics.
I believe that the best depiction of Jesus that I have seen was in Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion of Christ. Jesus would not have had fair hair or blue eyes, but he would look much like the average European living off of the Mediterranean. Therefore, I feel that Mel Gibson did a good job of casting him.
It is very risky for a director to tell the story of Jesus because he is one of the most sacred beings to a vast majority of people on this earth. So if he is interpreted as immoral or sexual in any way, then people will say it is blasphemous because that is not how they want to view the man who died for all of our sins. This is a serious problem too because to some, they want to see how Jesus really was like so that they can feel like there is a chance for them too. The view many people have of Jesus is on the cross hanging in the center of their church or pictured in stain glass with the sun strategically shining through. This paints an untouchable image which makes it even more difficult for directors to have a real person playing this divine character and attempt to show that he was alive once and not always living in heaven. It can be a really special experience for some to go the movies and watch Jesus living out his life like an average person for an hour or two, if all they are accustom to is the sacred images of Jesus.
It is a very difficult task but I do not think directors should shy away from it. Jesus was a historical figure that has changed our world forever and his real story should be told. Seeing Jesus’ place in history and as a real person may help people understand the man that they so highly praise a lot more.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
If I were a director making a movie about Jesus’ life, I would not care about offending anybody because no matter what someone will be offended and criticize. I think that it is more believable if we portray Jesus as one of us, more human. I am not impressed with the miracles or powers in healing rather him helping and standing alongside man and trying to understand our suffering. In Jesus Film, I think the movies like Jesus Christ Superstar show him just like us who worry, our overwhelmed, angry at God,and need nurturing.I do not believe that this should be offensive. Why should it be offensive? would we all want a God or Jesus to be like us and someone we could relate to instead of making him so powerful that we cannot possibly become Him. I do not like the robotic Jesus simply walking around and healing people, performing miracles with no emotion. I want a Jesus whose not afraid to be angry at God and questions things just like we do. His humanside disappears once we focus on the divinity. And why do people think its terrible to think that Jesus had a love interest? Was Jesus blind? Creating a love interest also humanizes him but by Him giving up all of these attachments and temptations…He sacrificed Himself for all of us,saving humanity.I really think that Jesus was just a man or prophet who helped rallied misfits in need as He helped them improve their lives and give them hope of an afterlife.I even think that Jesus spent time hanging out with the Buddha and traded important philosophical theories and solutions and then shared them with others. The story of Jesus could have been told to all of us and wirtten down to give us all some glimmer of hope when things get tough becuase in fact Jesus could be in all of us. we may not have the potential to perform miracles or walk on water,turn water into wine,but we can have the power to love,just like Jesus.I find it terrible that he was a carpenter, made crosses that eventually He hung by. Catholics even make the sign of the cross before praying which is an upside down cross,wouldn’t that be the devil or is that expelling the demons???Anyone know??I am not Christian.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
If I were to make a movie I would have Quentin Tarantino as the filmmaker, why? He portarys things like Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ in honest raw form,even if its gorry or alittle far fetched, they make the viewer walk away with a new perspective. I would love to see how Mary conceived Jesus and see Joseph become crazed with jealousy and rage. I would also like to see Joseph never really accepting the truth on how Mary conceived Jesus, leaving Jesus being raised by a single mother with him rebelling against his parents, as his parents lived a lie. And instead of Jesus dying a horrible torture of death upon a nailed cross, it would be Judas who poisoned Jesus’ cup and then He died affter He said who betrayed Him,leaving Judas to fall into the ground after a massive earthquake caused by Jesus’ death and we see Judas being dragged into Hell by demons.BUT the best person to play Jesus in my movie would be…Dr. Charme…But I would have to make sure Dr. Charme could belt out a tune so he could sing like the guy in the 2000 version of Jesus Christ Superstar!
October 15th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
By the way…I am not making fun of Dr. Charme…when he talks about Jesus stuff, he knows more than I could possibly ever know about Christianity…for some reason I think he would make a great Jesus, he is mellow,laidback and has a beard too…I can so see him on broadway!!!!That’s a compliment too!Anyone else agree??
October 16th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Yes I believe Prof Charme would make a great Jesus. However if I were to make a film about Jesus it would have Jesus as darker skinned. He lived in the middle east, correct? All these folks make films with him being brightest white with blue eyes. He is a middle eastern Jew, historically, therefore I would cast Jesus as a dark skinned man. I believe Jesus was a prophet who taught some fantastic principles. Unfortunately in my belief his focus has been lost through the religion of Christianity/Catholicism. The films that make a strong Jesus statement are the ones that do not include Jesus but include symbolic characteristics within the movie, like Chocolat, Whale Rider. Also their is no way to make a movie about religion and not offend someone. In fact, their is no way to make any movie about anything and not offend someone out there. People are sensitive. Especially religious people.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Okay this is my last entry,I swear! I find it really boring that Jesus was and is portrayed as “perfect.” I think by seeing the movie the “Last Temptation” and showing another version of the typical story humanizes Jesus and that even God’s son can be infalliable like Adam. Everybody is tempted at one point or another in life, it’s how we discipline ourselves and how we chose to fall. Jesus is a representation on how we define our morals and what our true path or purpose in life is. I really hate the typical stories of Jesus because I think that by spicing it up a bit it makes Jesus more believeable/authentic as we all suffer. Of course, everyone is entitled to his/her opinion about Jesus or God but how can a story of Jesus be so offensive when we only know what we are told or have read.Life itself could be an illusion. If Jesus preached the message of love then why isn’t He entitled to experience love in every aspect as we do? Having sex with love is sinful only if we are acting on pure lust with no future commitment to the one we do the act with. We should push away from the typical Jesus movies and pursue issues like this movie has,the “Last Temptation” that attempt to answer questions that we only dare to ask or dare to imagine.I have probably already sinned once again for writing this! hahahahaa!!!!!!
October 17th, 2008 at 8:54 am
The film Last Temptation portrays Jesus in a way that makes him seem more accesible and compassionate and less stoic than a lot of the earlier movies showed him to be. If I were a director, I am not sure on what I would focus. Scorcese’s treatment is challenging to some because it shows a questioning Jesus by allowing the viewer access to Jesus’ thoughts. As stated above a director could make a film about anything and offend people. I guess directors should worry about the business of making movies and people will worry about the business of being offended.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:14 am
hello. I’m not in this class, I take Dr. Charme’s Religion and Psychology class, but think I can contribute a bit to this discussion. After posting on the other class blog, I started to read this one and remembered a recent movie I had seen - Hamlet 2. If you haven’t seen it, check it out when it comes to DVD.
Jesus is depicted in the movie as a jeans and wife-beater wearing “sexy Jesus,” and dances to the tune of “rock me sexy Jesus.” It’s hilarious, although not as profoundly religious as some of the other movies you watched for this class it’s definitely a case of invoking humor to the topic of Jesus and the directors (same guys who create the TV show south park) not caring who they offend or of needing to present Jesus in the cliche way.
I’ll leave you with the following link, the name should say it all…
http://www.whatwouldsexyjesusdo.com/
October 21st, 2008 at 11:44 am
I am fascinated by Jesus in general. Moreover the phenomenon of artistic passion towards his characterization. From film, tv, photography, painting, sculpture Jesus is consistently a hot topic. In film particularly I simply love each directors personal take on the life and ways of Jesus Christ. From the slow, detailed effects of older films to the recent “pop” art expressions I feel that the Jesus story is one that we are constantly narrating and challenging. The films that attempt to remain as close to the scripture as possible seem to be the most entertaining and the reason for me is this: scriptures contradict. In this way it is highly entertaining to see which portions of the text a director feels they should include. If a director were to show every single substantive teaching and story in all the gospels the film would have to be done in dream sequences where the viewer would not be able to discern the fantasy from reality since there are so many differences in the gospels pertaining the the life of Jesus. Good stuff though all around. I would much rather see a film about Jesus than a film about gushy love stories or sports movies or annoying hollywood special effects debacles.
End Scene.
Thanks for letting me share.
October 21st, 2008 at 12:44 pm
I have yet to view a Jesus movie in which the depicted him the way i would like to see him. Of course everyone has their own interpretations of Jesus. I would like to see Jesus in a more “rational” light rather then a biblical one. I would like to see a film in which there was no supernatural aspect of Jesus. In the film he wouldn’t talk to God directly, he would just be a preacher passing along a message of hope. Mary wasn’t a virgin but perhaps cheated on Joseph and made up the story of God giving her Jesus. This type of movie would of course be controversial and offend alot of people but like i said i would rather see a biographical interpretation of Jesus’ life as opposed to a biblical one. And i do not think that a director should care if he or she offends people or not one can only make a movie that interests them and hopefully some other people like it.
October 21st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Where do we post our thesis for The Last Temptation of Christ?
October 21st, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Post your thesis here: http://blogs.camden.rutgers.edu/wpmu/scharme/2008/10/21/your-thesis-about-last-temptation-of-christ/#respond
October 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Thesis: The film adapts the traditional story of Jesus Christ in a way as to make the New Testament more resonant for both modern audiences and modern Christians. The film does this primarily by inverting the traditional portrayal of Jesus and Judas. In fact, it is Judas who possesses some of the core “virtues” of Christianity and who compels Jesus to carry out “God’s will.” Thus, I will argue that the film carries a “Christian” message, although the real hero of the film is Judas. He is the voice of Jesus’ conscience and is his spiritual and political (to some extent) guide. By remaining at Jesus’ side throughout his trials and tribulations, he embodies Christian “love” and faith. In the same light, we can see the famous kiss of Judas not as a mark of betrayal, but an emblem of anguished Christian love. In doing so,the director gives us a picture of Jesus that is more fitting of the modern age and one that embodies the doubts that ordinary Christians may experience in their everyday lives.
I. Judas acts as Jesus’ conscience or spiritual guide
II. Judas shows Christian virtue
a. friendship and loyalty to Jesus
III. The famous kiss is not a kiss of betrayal, but of anguished Christian love.
IV. Conclusion: The relevance of the gnostic Gospel of Judas and how this discovery electrified Christians in a similar way.