Cinematic Jesus Only Part of the Story

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hThfoBzWxw

Official Trailer of The Bible

The newest instalment to cinematic Jesus, The Bible showing on the History Channel in USA, is advertised as "an epic... the story everyone knows told like never before". Proving to be a zeitgeist our current era, the above trailer draws on action sequences rather than lyrical content of the Bible canonical text. "The real Bible is a layered, often lyrical epic in which personal journeys are intertwined with collective ones, and human failings bump up against human strivings" (Genzlinger, 2013) and hence the mini-series appears to miss the spiritual elements that the Bible holds for Christians.

Typical of film media, the viewer is a passive recipient of Burnett and Downey's production. Unlike literary texts, where there is space for the reader to use their interpretations (Miller, 2005), in cinema the images are thrust upon us. Film adaptation has difficulty with any text to live up to readers' expectations as the production teams views diverge from the readers' individual perception of the text. The texts are also manipulated in order to reflect the era in which they were produced.

So, for example, In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Mr Darcy does not jump in a lake or participate in fencing, but in the 1995 BBC mini-series the screenwriters need the male character to be less stiff and more active to be considered a man of the 1990s, so voila, the scenes were produced.

The Lake scene from Andrew Davies 1995 Pride and Prejudice 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasKmDr1yrA

Jesus, however, is a difficult character to capture for a Christian audience because He is not only a man but one third of the Trinity, God (Greydanus, 2010). A cinematic principle of making Him a man of the times does prevail with Diogo Morgado's portrayal being compassionate and physically attractive. Although this may seem an unreachable combination to many a husband-hunter, it does little to depict the incomprehensibility of divinity. Instead it says more about what is alluring in contemporary culture: sexiness in men, and personal relationship with God. 

In contrast, the Islamic tradition does not allow images of Allah or his prophet Mohammed (pbuh). Without these images, there will be no epic blockbuster of the Qur'an and Islam does not conform to popular cinematic culture. Indeed, the locus of control here lies with the believer being able to construct his own faith, not based on someone elses image of their personal divinity. The mystery and intangibility of the sacred remains intact.

While cinema does allow for cultural expression of religion, the suspension of disbelief required does confound believers. Faith is a personal experience that transcends adaptation of canonical text. So while the producers of The Bible may use their talents as an evangelical tool, it only tells the action sequences rather than mysterious experiences of spirituality.

works cited:

Greydanus S.2010. The Last Temptation of Christ: An Essay in Film Criticism and Faith.  http://www.decentfilms.com/articles/lasttemptation.html   

Genzlinger, Neil "God's Word the Greatly Abridges Version The New York Times. 2013. http://tv.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/arts/television/the-bible-mini-series-on-history-channel.html?_r=0. Web. 

Miller, J. Hillis, “How to Read Literature” in J. Hillis Miller Reader. Stanford: Stanford University Press, c2005, ch.12, pp.251-258. Online. 23^rd July 2012.

Tangible Art Forms and their Sacred Content

Tolai people during ceromony

Elkin poses that religion has limited scope in contemporary art. Currently the biggest exhibition in Brisbane is the 7^th Asia Pacific Triennial at GOMA. As a recent visitor to this exhibit, I was enthralled by the use of religious figures within the works. One such example is LN Tallur’s sculpture “Chromatophobia” (2010) which couples the Hindu goddess Lakshmi with local coins drawing upon the faith in both tradition rituals and consumerism. Also the Tolai people of PNG had tokatokai (headdresses) commissioned with both ancestral figures and Mary the mother of Jesus topping them, confirming that belief narratives and customs are syncretized with the relatively -recently arrived Christianity. While Elkin asserts that tribal or eastern views are tolerated by the art world, western influence is prevalent in the contemporaneous practice of these belief systems.

Perhaps what Elkin was trying to argue is that Christian images are not acceptable to galleries and exhibitors. Art depicting Jesus in particular is fraught with theological debate among even among Christian denominations: while iconography remains a staple within Orthodox and Roman Catholic worship, Calvin “argued that it was an insult to God, "corporeal images" being unworthy of divine majesty” (Morgan, 2002). For the point of this argument, given that the content of Jesus is authorized in art, I wonder of the ethnocentricity in depicting a Middle Eastern man as fair, blue eyed and effeminate. And content aside, I wonder at the media’s replication of Renaissance religious art. Art is reflective of the times and, while to this writer the works of Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli were literally jaw dropping in reality, the reinforcement of these forms portrays a static nature to Christianity. Which then poses another question: is the Avant-guarde art world just reflecting the inert Christian faith by denying access to western religious art?

Eric Gill (English printer, sculptor) disagreed with faith being stagnant. He was inspired by Hindu temples imagery in his work and was a late convert to Catholicism.  For Gill, the creative process was enmeshed with spiritual practice: 'all creative acts have God for their author. The human act of begetting is a type of divine creative power'. Art practice as a sacred ritual is not refined to theists such as Gill. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way draws on spirituality as a core element. She guides artists “One life, one love, one energy, runs through all of creation. This life is Spirit, an inner river that can be tapped into at any time. Knowing this, we are divinely guided at all times.” Even Fredrich Nietzsche, atheist philosopher, stated in The Birth of a Tragedy "In song and in dance man expresses himself as a member of a higher community... supernatural sounds emanate from him... He is no longer an artist, he has become a work of art: in these paroxysms of intoxication the artistic power of all nature reveals itself."  While Elkin and Morgan may argue at relationship between art and religion at a social and institutional level, the readings do escape a common conviction of creative process itself being a spiritual experience. As experiential forms of religion grow in Australian society, more investigation is warranted into the soulful transcendence occurring with creative expression. 

Cameron, Julia "One Spirit" http://juliacameronlive.com/?s=creation+spirit

Elkin J. 2007. Bridging the gap between modern art and religion. ArtStyle Blog, Nov 30, http://www.chicagoarts-lifestyle.com/cac-perspectives-can-modern-art-and-religion-get-along/#more-660

Gill quoted "Artist Profiles" http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gill-ecstasy-t03477

Morgan D. 2002. “Would Jesus Have Sat for a Portrait?” The Likeness of Christ in the Popular Reception of Sallman’s Art: Negative Response and the Case Against Likeness: Iconophobia, Iconclasm, and the Masculinity of Jesus. In S. Brent Plate, Eds., Religion, Art and Visual Culture: A Cross-Cultural Reader. 81-86. New York: Palgrave.

Nietzsche quoted on:http://www.redefinemag.com/2012/mysticism-spirituality-in-modern-music-redefine-magazine-sxsw-2013-panel/

Mediatization and Religion

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Meyrowitz's term media as environments deals with the way human interaction is facilitated by the media and organised institutions, such as religion (Hjarvard, 2008: 13). Development of communication has undergone rapid change within Western contexts in previous centuries: churches no longer inform small communities of worldly events; mass media of TV and radio gave people information as it happened rather than when it was reported, printed, and distributed; traditional media can no longer condescend to people with the one-to-many broadcast with individuals interacting with news and entertainment providers via the Internet. 


Modes of communication mirror the change within the Christianity where individuals' personal relationship with God is increasing in prominence rather than the mediated, paternalistic sacramental rites. As with the traditional media "one to many" facilitation, traditional churches have adopted the same approach with one member of the clergy presiding over rites; quoting from singular scripture passages; and his opinions being touted at the pulpit. The "Born Again" sectors of Christianity broadened communication ritual by using parishioners’ accounts of their saviour as well as pastors and preachers. Further, the advent of social media has extended the role of lay people with their views making up part of chat rooms, on line communion, within meme images, and also questioning/ conversing with the institutions.


With a less rigid structure and authority, memes, such as "Conclave Bingo" are distributed widely. This image reflects the mediatization of religion in that it is transmitted multi-directionally; religious content is treated as entertainment rather than sacred; it satires religious and media institutions; people share in the communal ritual of electing the new pope; it is contemporaneous; and it is using the pop culture of memes. While Hjarvard's study showed it is not likely to draw individuals to attend church ceremonies, it does demonstrate the prevalence of religious themes in the media and individuals uses different modes to express beliefs.

Hjarvard, S. 2008. "The Mediatization of Religion: A Theory of the Media as Agents of Religious Change". Northern Lights. 6(1).


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