·
How Blum and Harvey characterize the color of
Christ in the United States
o
The image of Christ has changed over time and is
fluid
o
Not a certain image, but the image is
predominately white, and when Christ is not seen as white, the color is usually
black
o
All races see Christ in their own light
o
Media depicts Christ as a white figure, so this
image tends to dominate society since it is mass produced
o
Also depends on the individual and his/her own
experience
o
Individuals are used to an image, so it has
special meaning to them
o
Universal Christ: judged by the content of the
character rather than obsessing about his race…sometimes ambiguous race
·
Is Christ being white problematic?
o
When considering a historical Jesus, Christ as
white is inaccurate and an issue because based on his geographical region and
the time period, he could not have been white…historically problematic
o
Not about the actual image of Christ but about
how the image is used…if Christ as white is used to justify white supremacy, it
is problematic
·
In Chapter 9, liberation theology religions all
have different representations of Christ, so all of the images clash
·
Christ is something beyond the historical Christ
and identifies with those who are most on the margin
·
Liberation theologians claim that Christ is the
same identity as them…to say that Christ is a part of their community
o
For someone to identify with Christ, that person
has to see himself or herself in Christ
·
Why people are so invested in Christ’s
appearance
o
Individuals want to be like Christ, so it is
helpful to picture him in their terms and identity
o
When thinking about these people’s own
salvation, it is helpful to envision Christ as someone they can identify with
culturally and similarly so that they are hopeful that Christ will save them
o
Helpful for people to connect to Jesus and
understand him if he looks like them
o
People have their own personal experiences with
Jesus
·
Experience of Jesus in The Passion of Christ: white Jesus
·
Article by Jordan and Brintall
o
Gibson is inspired by a woman’s visionary
experience of Christ
o
Not supposed to be a factual/accurate
representation but is instead a way for the audience to also experience
Emerich’s vision: role as spectators
o
As viewers, we are also put in that role as
bride as Christ: shapes our viewing of the film because we feel a much stronger
and more personal connection to Jesus, sympathize with him more, and have a
more emotional response…appealing to pathos
o
Director of film is role as bride of Christ too
·
Images to walk us through The Passion of Christ (How it relates to Passion Narratives in the
Bible)
o
Starts in the Garden of Gethsemane
o
Satan is not present in the garden scene in the
Passion Narratives, but he is in the film
o
Image of Satan as androgynous and also
appealing: a seductive image, which says that evil can be masked, hidden, and
unexpected, and Satan can take on any form
§
Maybe a connection to Eve with presence of a
snake
§
Mary is also a second Eve
o
Christ is depicted as a carpenter in the film…constructing
Jesus as masculine, muscular, and strong (dominant images before were Jesus as
a child, but emphasis on importance of Jesus as masculine later)
o
In the film, Jesus invented the table (not in
the Passion Narratives), which says that Jesus is capable of anything and is
superior
o
In end of film, camera lingers on the bloodied
and defeated body of Christ taken down…mirrors painting, which is what people
have previously seen and is a common image
§
Many scenes in the film that mirror the history
of art and tradition rather than paralleling to the Gospels: evokes history of
devotion instead of accuracy
o
Image of Herod is not historically accurate: wig
and thick eyeliner, which is more oriental and feminine, and represents danger
o
Image of Pilate as a sympathetic figure: evokes
tradition since Pilate does not want to be a part of Jesus’ crucifixion
o
Mary’s motherly role: seen in the film every
step of the way, which is not in the Gospels
·
Gibson evokes the history of art, Emerich’s
vision, and the Passion Narratives to a lesser extent (uses all of the final
words he said): his evidence for the film
·
Gibson includes a two-sided conflict since
Jewish priests are depicted as the bad guys, which is not as prominent in the
Gospels
o
Casted in a negative light
o
Audience does not see diversity of Judaism like
in the Gospels…Jesus and his followers are not depicted in the Jewish tradition
·
Characterizations of Jesus often highlight what
is valued in a culture: the ideal
figure and who is at the top of the hierarchy
·
People who surround Jesus also give clues as to
who is accepted
·
Gender roles in narratives: viewers are often
seen as the spouse
o
Gibson portrays Christ in masculine way, but
there are anxieties about masculinity of Christ, especially a body that has
been beaten, because Christ is not naked on the cross
·
The large amount of violence in the film: people
do not usually imagine Jesus’ Passion as in that much violent detail
o
When people are taught about the Passion, the
violence is disregarded
o
Want to represent how much pain Jesus went
through and how gruesome the experience was
o
More of an emotional representation and not historical…director
wants audience to understand the severity and extremity of the passion
o
Audience can almost feel the pain and are so
grateful that Jesus suffered through this because of us
o
Viewers become disgusted with the people who
tortured Jesus in this way
o
Violence added to overall message and made it
more real since people are always taught about the Passion in a lighter sense
o
Also detracts from the narrative due to the
emphasis on violence because hard to watch the scenes
o
Brutality was also a bit unrealistic: reveals
that Jesus is not a normal human
o
So much blood: why one of the colors of Christ
was red…devotional aspect of it and sacrificial
o
Also expresses that being a human is gruesome
and unbearable at times (early Christian texts do not focus on the blood)
o
Too much emphasis on suffering and not enough on
the Resurrection
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