Christians in the movies: a century of saints and sinners (original) (raw)
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Book reviewed:Cinéma Divinité: Religion, Theology, and the Bible in Film, Eric S. Christianson, Peter Francis and William Telford (eds), SCM press 2005 (0-334-02988-0), xvii + 373 pp., pb £19.99
Early Christian Apologetics and 20 th Century Cinema: A Comparative Perspective
This study looks at the depiction of Roman 'paganism' in film, from the silent era through to the 21st century. It analyses how 'paganism' has generally been depicted as a spiritually redundant and morally flawed religion in comparison to contemporary Christianity, but how this point of view may be shifting in the 21st century depictions of Roman paganism.
Christ in the Limelight: Contemporary Films and Christological Discourse
Dialog-a Journal of Theology, 2014
The aim of this article is to show how theology can, through the medium of film, engage contemporary interpretations of Jesus' person and work. Starting out by tracing the development taking place in films about Jesus throughout the twentieth century, the focus then moves to a theological reading of Mel Gibson's interpretation of the passion story for the twenty-first century in his movie The Passion of the Christ.
The Christ-figure in Popular Films
Kinema, 2005
POPULAR feature films (1) should be put to work in the classroom, home or pulpit as a scholarly extra-ecclesiastical resource, and not relegated in a knee-jerk fashion to the status of visual aide, diversionary entertainment or student pacifier. In addition, religion, literature and film studies students should be sensitised to the numerous religious figurations hidden within their everyday video fare. After all, as Linda A. Mercadante (God 3) noted: "more than just media inundation, we have come to live in a media-mediated culture, where our understanding of life, reality and our own experience is filtered through video frames," unsettling as that may be to older generations. Mercadante's claim is of course understandable given that commercial feature films were the most persuasive art form of the 20 th century, and they will continue to be so well into the 21 st century. Not only were popular films responsible for the birth of the "Age of Hollywood" (Paglia 12) and the ascendancy of moving image culture, but for "many people today, especially the young, popular culture is culture, and [so] theology, to remain true to its calling, must take such cultural expressions seriously" (Simmons 254). The literature and teaching professions have a similar obligation. Since popular films can generate powerful aesthetic, emotional and spiritual effects, they can also significantly change ones' perceptions of love, life and faith (Kozlovic Epiphanies). For example, Kathleen S. Nash enthusiastically confessed how she now reads biblical texts differently because of her exposure to the cinema: [Take] Pulp Fiction, for example. Now, whenever I read or think about New Testament parables, I look for the motorcycle named Grace that speeds characters off into second chances and new life. To discuss the Wise Woman and the Foolish Woman of Proverbs, I invoke the demure, domestic/ated Beth [Anne Archer] and the wildly sexual Alex [Glenn Close] of Fatal Attraction. Bette Davis [playing Julie Morrison] descending the stairs in an off-the-shoulder gown [in Jezebel] is forever fused with the image of the queenly Jezebel dressed in her finest to mock Jehu from a second-story palace window, as she engineers her own death [2 Kings 9:30-37]. (2) (188) Indeed, many traces of Judaeo-Christianity can be found within the popular cinema in various genres, guises and formats, and which are not always easy to detect at first glance. For example, as Jorg Herrmann noted: This pedagogic task can thus be seen as the mission for religious educators in this postmodern, post-Millennial and increasing post-Christian age. After all: Jesus' parting words were to go into all the world (Matthew 28:19). That means not only India and China, but also New York and Los Angeles. God is calling "pop culture missionaries," as 1 CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
Film, faith and culture–Editorial–St Mark's Review–234–Dec 2015
The immolated victim 77 Traditionalist Roman Catholicism and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ Bernard Doherty Book reviews 102 The Real and the Virtual 102 Language that poses a question 107 Scholar, monk and bishop 109 Editorial 'Film, faith and culture'
Sanctuary Cinema: Origins of the Christian Film Industry by Terry Lindvall
Journal of The American Academy of Religion 76 (4): 1043-1046, 2008
many purposes. In the end, filial piety did serve as "the linchpin of classical political discourse" (3), but Brown has shown us the limits of that metaphor: Han moral discourse did not provide a stabilizing restraint so much as a set of weapons for conflict, tools for navigation, targets to pursue, and blocks to build a new order.