Christian Tradition Notes April 28, 2016
Logan Kopchak
·
How is the color
of Christ depicted?
o Historically white, but that depiction was challenged
over time
o Very open to interpretation at this current time
o Universal image
o Is white Jesus bad?
§ Historically, yes
§ Not necessarily true now
§ Misuse of the image of white Jesus can be bad
o Liberation theologies have clashing ideas because each
community claims Christ identifies with that specific community
·
What is at stake
for people/why does this matter?
o What about us made us choose to portray Christ as
white?
§ Historical, political, and social reasons for this
§ Visions of Christ depict him in certain ways
§ Individual, true experiences of Jesus
o If Christ came for you, you would want him to identify
with you
o Helpful to understand Christ in your own terms
·
Christ in The Passion
o Mel Gibson’s Christ
§ Gibson is a conservative Catholic
o A white Christ
o Not a historic account, but an experience
o Viewing the film as brides of Christ
§ More connected to Jesus
§ Emotionally attached to the story
o Carpenter Jesus = Muscular Christianity
§ Jesus as a man’s man
§ Someone who was a hard worker, physical labor
§ Jesus is ripped
o Anxiety over the masculinity of Christ as one who has
been beaten and defeated (covered by clothes on the cross)
o Pieta (painting) is very similar to the ending scene
when all of the people are holding Jesus’ body
o Gibson uses many traditional images from the art of
the passion narrative in the movie
§ Evokes Emmerich, traditional art, and passion
narratives
o Depictions of Jesus and the divine often highlight
revered values within a society
o Jesus’ Jewishness is never really present in the film
o Women are there throughout the film, but not there at
the end when Jesus comes out from the tomb
o Lack of focus on his life
o Lack of focus on his resurrection
o The film is an important piece of Jesus’ overall life
·
Depiction of Herod
§ Historically, very Roman and masculine
§ In the movie, he wears eyeliner and a wig
§ Looks very feminine
·
Depiction of Satan
o Feminine-looking
o Creepily beautiful
o Androgynous look and seductiveness symbolic of evil
o Snake- relation to Eve?
§ Mary treads on the head of the snake
·
Pilate
o Wife is present
o Sympathetic to Jesus
o Concerned about Jesus and wellbeing
o Offered other prisoner to save Jesus, but the people
want Jesus dead
o Passive to guards and Jewish high priests
§ Negative portrayal of Jewish high priests
§ They are the “bad guys”
§ Always present throughout movie
§ Overdressed in opulent clothes all the time
·
Mary
o Extremely strong in the movie
o Tough looking; hair never shown
o Mary is there every step of the way
§ In the Gospels, the women are just there at the end
o Has flashbacks to when Jesus was younger and falling
·
John
o Beloved disciple
o When you recline to eat, 2 people would be on a couch
would lay together
§ John is the one who rests against Jesus in the Gospel
of John
o Close relationship between the 2 (“bromance”)
·
Violence in
the movie
o Excessively brutal
§ Would Jesus have even survived to the point of
crucifixion
o The point of the movie was to show how brutal Jesus’
suffering in order to capture the gravity of Jesus dying for sins
o The gruesome nature of the film was also too much at
some points
§ It took away from film because the gore was too
gut-wrenching and nauseating
o There is still a focus on the suffering, blood, and
wounds of Jesus
§ Relates to people’s struggles in life because humanity
is difficult sometimes
