In college, my friends and I, who thought we were so cool and edgy, used to laugh at how there was this entire shadow economy wrapped around slapping “Christian” on things. I mean, we have Christian music, Christian novels, Christian art, Christian candy (you’ve not lived until you’ve tried a Testamint), and of course Christian t-shirts. It’s almost as if there is this narrative of how we need to keep our Christian money in Christian hands to make sure those nasty people like Taylor Swift and Tommy Hilfiger don’t get their idol-worshiping hands on it.
Now, I know that a lot of my feelings about labeling products “Christian” has more to do with me than anything to do with the intent of those who are putting their work out on the market. It takes a lot of work and courage to put together something that represents the fruits of your creativity and then allow a monetary value to be attached to it. For many, I assume it is a struggle to not have your personal self worth connect to the sales numbers. However, American Christians of all backgrounds struggle with consumerism and materialism because it is such a deep part of our economy and culture. That struggle is on both sides of the marketplace, as well. It’s not just the end user who is battling the urge to consume, but the creator who has to meet the demands of those consumers. When life is stripped down to its most simple aspects. People have to make money to survive, which for some is making a product that can be sold.
This week, a new movie is to premiere that is based around a “Christian” theme. The movie, “Risen” will star Joseph Fiennes as Clavius, a Roman soldier charged with finding the body of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. In the midst of his search, he will come into contact with many of the people from the Biblical narrative such as the Mary Magadelene, Disciples, and Pontius Pilate. There is actually a play I read in college that is similar to this focused around the experience of Cassius Longinus, the supposed centurion who pierced the side of Jesus with a spear. The movie is coming out during Lent, and I have seen that a lot of church groups are putting together nights where they rent out an entire theatre for a showing as an outreach event.
I’ll say now that I have not screened this movie (I’m not a movie reviewer and so no one asked me…that’s obvious), and I don’t know if I will go see it. The marketing for this movie bothers me, though. A radio spot I heard, and have since seen the video on the internet, says that this is a Biblical account. Even the IMDB page describes this as the Biblical account of the resurrection as told through the eyes of this Roman soldier. The commercials I have seen depict images of a brutal and intense manhunt for the body of Jesus with text pages saying that its the story ripped from the pages of the Bible.
However, there is no manhunt for Jesus' body in the Bible.
None of the four Gospels record this “Biblical” event. In Matthew, there are three verses that talk about the Temple leaders paying-off the soldiers who were guarding the tomb. Encouraging them to spread the rumor that the Disciples stole his body. Luke has the account of the Road to Emmaus, Mark has very little other than quickly acknowledging that the Disciples saw Jesus, and John has the story of Jesus meeting the Disciples at the Sea of Galilee while they were fishing. It seems a little strange, to say the least.
Now, if they told all of these stories from the perspective of a Roman just watching all of them happen from a distance…that would be interesting. What would it be like for a someone from a different culture to see these things happen? Especially since this person would not have been around for all of the healings and feedings. It would be interesting to hear an honest attempt at expressing the thoughts of such an outsider.
What bothers me about the movie, however, is that none of this is how the movie is being marketed. Trailers show scenes with Fiennes’ character being told to turn over every stone to find this dead Jew, and then scenes of him violently confronting Jews who may know something. But the word “Biblical” is being used, a lot.
What feelings is this supposed to create?
Does this feel a little disingenuous to anyone else?
I don’t know how to gauge the effectiveness of this movie as an outreach event, and I don’t know what to think of the actual movie, since I haven’t seen it. It bugs me, though, that the marketing of this movie seems to be focusing on using buzzwords to attract evangelical moviegoers. It’s almost as if the movie is more geared towards getting a market segment to come see and spend their money; not an attempt to put forth a genuine piece of confession. I feel manipulated and caricatured, even though I don’t see myself as an evangelical anymore.
More than that, I wonder if we should be more upset that there are those who will spend their money on this.
Do we actually know better?
Do we really care?
No comments:
Post a Comment