[This paper was written for my Jesus Through The Ages class at Capital University, where I'm seeking a minor degree in religion. In this assignment, I was to analyze three films that depict the images of Jesus: one a traditional film, a non-traditional film, and a film that isn't about Jesus, but could be seen as a metaphor for Jesus.]
Jesse Harmon
RELIG 210
April 16, 2012
Movie Images
I
chose to watch the following movies to see their various depictions of images
of Jesus: The Passion of the Christ (2004),
Jesus Christ, Superstar (1973), and The Matrix (1999). This paper will analyze all three films
to find literal, figurative, and metaphorical images of Jesus.
The
first film I am analyzing is The Passion
Of The Christ. This movie,
released in 2004, is a direct story of the death of Jesus, so analyzing it for
the image of Jesus wasn’t hard at all.
This movie portrays Jesus just like the image at a Brazilian
church. Jesus is horrifically
mortified and mangled, and in intense pain. I think this is one of the most graphically detailed films I
have ever seen. I have never seen
such intense pain and agony in one person than I have with this film.
During
the start of the film in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is obviously tortured
mentally about his impending doom.
He is pleading to be spared.
He prays so hard that he is sweating blood. When Judas and the authorities come to arrest him, his
confidence grows and his golden eyes pierce you. When Judas kisses Jesus, Jesus’ expression changes to one of
disappointment. After a fight
ensues between Jesus’ followers and the police, and one of the guard’s ears is
cut off, Jesus heals the man and reattaches the ear; the man is in shock and
awe the rest of the scene. This
shows the compassion that Jesus has for everyone, and reflects what he said at
the Sermon on the Mount: love your neighbor, and love your enemy.
Jesus
doesn’t resist or put up a fight when he was arrested. He just accepts his fate and goes along
with the brutality that is upon him.
The guards whip him and wrap chains and rope around him. Arrests that are made today are much
more human than thrown a man over the side of a bridge and catching him with a
chain around his torso before he hits the ground. I cannot imagine the internal damage done when something
like this happens.
When
the movie cuts to the scene in the woodshop, Jesus is seen working hard
building a table. Jesus is seen
conversing with his mother about the rather tall table, and then when he washes
his hands before dinner, he playfully throws water onto Mary. Why would he do such a thing? It’s because he’s human, just like us. He likes to have fun and enjoys a good
laugh. I like to have fun and
enjoy a good laugh.
Back
to the arrest scene, Jesus expresses disappointment after Peter denies him
three times. Peter, who then goes
crazy, leaves the area crying.
Jesus again is shown with human attributes. After confronting the Pharisees, Judas goes nuts as well and
is assaulted by hallucinations of demonic children. I would think any normal person would have a mental
breakdown after turning someone so special, like Jesus, into the police (I know
I would).
One
of the more surprising things about the trial scene is how gently the Romans
treat Jesus at first. They don’t
throw him around. Pilate, as I
will describe later, is very adamant about prosecuting an innocent man. Jesus, who by now has about 75% of his
skin torn off, is in dire need of help.
A King of Kings wouldn’t be seen as this bloody and this mangled. A King of Kings would probably be seen
in a nice air-conditioned courtroom with seven lawyers and many supporters
around him. This man, who is
mangled and writhing in pain, is not a king. He doesn’t even look like a king. He is stooped over and desperately wanting to sit down. I couldn’t even watch the scene where
Jesus is being whipped.
Along
the Via Dolorosa, Jesus is in dire need to rest. The cross (which interestingly is pre-made, unlike the other
two) appears to be very heavy, making it nearly impossible for the very fragile
and weak Jesus to carry alone (he eventually gets help). Jesus here isn’t the superman that some
pictures show. He doesn’t have a
rock-hard six-pack of abs and his biceps and triceps aren’t bulging. His flesh is nearly falling off, and he
can barely walk. Why would a king
or a savior be in such a condition?
Only a man could be like this.
When
the movie cuts to the Last Supper scene, Jesus is seen as a calm and
compassionate man, unlike what I will describe later in Jesus Christ, Superstar.
He is talking calmly to his disciples and has a smile on his face. He is happy explaining to his disciples
that the only way to God is through him.
Even
though the nailing on the cross was graphic, it was nothing compared to what he
had previously endured. I don’t
think it really makes any difference, after watching this movie, if Jesus died
while nailed to the cross. He
suffered so much in this movie, and death seemed almost kind.
His
followers obviously see Jesus as a sweet savior. His mother gently kisses his feet while he is on the cross,
as to signify that she is kissing the feet of God himself. Her hands are trembling a lot when she
does this. Who wouldn’t think he
is God after experiencing an earthquake right after a man has died? That seems too much like a coincidence
to me. The priests are obviously
wondering what just happened. Are
they wondering if the death of a man caused this?
The
second film I will analyze is the film adaption of the hit musical Jesus Christ, Superstar, by Andrew Lloyd
Weber and Tim Rice from 1973. This
film portrays Jesus very differently
than The Passion Of The Christ or The Matrix. I believe this film portrays
Jesus as humanly as it can, much like the Gospel of Mark does. It does so by showing Jesus’ emotions,
and his almost being tempted by what appears to be a seductive Mary
Magdalene. We will discuss this
later.
I
was reminded why I never liked this musical to begin with. I think the story and the plot are fantastic,
but the music, words, and acting can be severely improved upon. Since I am seeking a degree in music
technology, I tend to analyze things as an audio engineer. The sound in this film is
atrocious. There are many horrible
tape edits that I noticed (since digital recording wasn’t prominent until about
1982). Recording was mainly done
on old reel to reel tapes, which were poorly made to save money. I noticed that there were absolutely no
background noises. I didn’t hear
any birds chirping, or any sounds of sand shifting in the wind. I wonder if this was intentional. Did the director want us to focus on
the storyline and the words instead of distracting us with noises from the
background? This also seems to
reflect the Gospel of Mark. Mark
was probably the first gospel written that is included in the canon, and it is
the shortest gospel. Mark is very
fast paced, almost like a journalist who wants to be the first person to get
his story out. He writes down just
the basic facts, and doesn’t elaborate much on it. For example, the story of Jesus’ temptation (which is not in
the movie, but written here to explain a point), is fairly short. Mark 1:12-13 says, “The Spirit
immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by
Satan; and he was with the wild beasts.” While Luke’s account of the temptation is nearly 13 verses
long, and Matthew’s is 10 verses long, both are about equal length
(Aland).
Jesus Christ, Superstar can reflect the
style of the Gospel of Mark. Each
song is a different part of the story of the Holy Week. The first song shows us Judas’ personal
conflict with Jesus. He sees Jesus
as a person, and not divine. The
song, “Heaven On Their Minds,” talks about Judas’ doubts about Jesus being the
Son of God. One of the lines is “strip
away the myth from the man.” I’m
reminded of what Thomas Jefferson did to two Bibles back in the 1700s. He took a razor, destroyed the sections
of scripture that describe the “supernatural” aspects and miracles of Jesus.
Mary
Magdalene is very touchy of Jesus during the song, “Everything’s Alright.” She is putting oil on his face and
being very seductive of him. Some
of Jesus’ expressions make me wonder what he’s thinking. It’s not very obvious, but I think he’s
very tempted to have sex with her by the way she’s seducing him. I know I would be tempted by if a woman
were to start caressing me and touching me like Mary Magdalene was touching
Jesus. Judas was obviously upset
about the way the disciples were talking to Jesus and how they marveled at his
works and teachings, since he thinks Jesus is simply a teacher of morals.
Something
interesting happened during the scene that comprised of the song called
“Hosanna.” I’m not sure if this
was intentional, or just a glitch in the copy of the film that I have, but when
the chorus was singing, “Hey J.C. J.C. would you die for me,” the camera froze
on Jesus’ expression, and his expression was that of, “oh, no.” If it is a glitch on my DVD, then it’s
a great coincidence. The
expression shown also shows that Jesus was a human just like everybody else,
and that he felt pain and emotion.
I
never really imagined what would have gone on in the Temple when Jesus drove
out the venders, but this film really showed me what might have happened. I was horrified when I saw strippers
and women prostituting themselves in the Lord’s house! “This is appalling,” I thought, and
then I wondered if Jesus thought of the exact same thing.
The
Jesus in Jesus Christ, Superstar
experienced stress after being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people
outside the city of Jerusalem after driving the venders out of the temple. I can only imagine what really happened
to Jesus when hundreds of people storm him and crowd around him wanting to be
healed. I’m reminded of when
country superstar Garth Brooks appeared at the old Fan Fair in Nashville,
Tennessee, unannounced. Fan Fair,
now renamed the CMA Music Festival, is a day long event where country music stars
conglomerate together in one place and sign autographs for fans. They usually stay 3-5 hours and then
leave. Garth, on the other hand,
signed for 23 hours. I can only
imagine how much time Jesus spent healing people and performing miracles. Scripture says that many of the
miracles haven’t been included in the Bible. He stood on his feet for 23 hours straight signing
autographs for people who didn’t expect him to be there.
The
Last Supper was an interesting scene.
In this scene, Jesus and Judas reach their climax. Jesus and Judas are yelling at each
other. Judas, who has already
offered to turn Jesus into the authorities, has asked Jesus who will betray him. Jesus gets up, and storms over to Judas
and yells that Judas will betray him.
I remember from the Bible that Jesus took Judas aside, and from what I
understand, had a very calm and collected conversation about what is going to
happen. Matthew 26:20-25 shows a
very calm and collected Jesus.
“Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” It is fairly hard to express emotion on paper, but to me
that seems calm. The Jesus in the
movie is very different. His fuse is short, and his temper is
flaring.
During
the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is pleading with God to not
die. He even says, which surprises
me, “If I die what will be my reward?”
I’ve never wondered what reward Jesus got for dying. I really cannot come up with any
conclusions as to what Jesus got out of dying except to say that he has been
the only person who has been to hell, earth, and heaven. This obviously shows the confusion and
the sadness and anxiety expressed by someone who knows he or she is about to
die. There are five stages of
death: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This scene obviously shows the
bargaining aspect. The depression
and acceptance stages are seen during the scene when Jesus and Pilate meet for
the second time. Pilate, in the
movie, is a very condescending character, unlike what I see in the
gospels. The Pilate in the gospels
seem confused and bewildered, and not at all the uptight and conceited man seen
in the film. He seems to have the
“guilty until proven innocent” mind set (recall the Casey Anthony trial and the
mindset that many people had about her killing her child, even though the
evidence wasn’t there). Pilate is
like this the first time he meets Jesus, and also after the second time (after
the atrocious King Herod Song).
The
crucifixion itself is not at all bloody and gory that The Passion Of The Christ was. This was like the first picture I showed during my art
presentation; very modest and calm and collected. The Passion Of The
Christ, as I mentioned before, is like the image of Jesus at the Brazilian
church. The final stage of death,
acceptance, takes place when Jesus says the last words, “Into your hands I
commit my spirit.”
The
third and final film is The Matrix,
released in 1999. The main
character indirectly shows attributes to various Biblical characters such as
Doubting Thomas and Jesus himself.
Trinity, another main character, is an obvious play on the Holy Trinity
(God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
The Matrix (seen in a green color scheme) can be seen as the world of
sin, and the real world (seen in a blue color scheme), can be seen as the
salvation.
Neo,
or Thomas Anderson, is not a direct parallel to Jesus, but has a lot of
similarities to Jesus. He was a
man who was found to be “The One” to help the people of Zion (a Biblical city)
survive. Morpheus, who can be seen
as John The Baptist, gives Thomas Anderson (whose first name, Thomas, can be
seen as Doubting Thomas, and his last name means “son of man”), or Neo, the
choice of taking a red pill or a blue pill. This choice could mirror the belief or unbelief in the
teachings and salvation that Jesus Christ brought to us when he died on the
cross. The One could be seen as
God, and Neo could be seen as Jesus.
Why is this? Neo is called
as a successor to The One. I find
it interesting that the name Neo has the same letters as the word One. Not only is Neo a good representation
of Jesus, but also the whole story line can be paralleled to that of the
Bible. The first matrix was
designed to be perfect. This could
parallel what God had in mind before destroying the world with a flood.
When
Agent Smith captures Morpheus, he is drugged and nearly dies. This struggle can be seen as someone
entering the world of sin (the Matrix) and becoming stuck. Sin is the pulling away from a
relationship with God, and Morpheus can be seen as pulling away from the real
world. Neo and the gang go back
into the Matrix to retrieve Morpheus from his captors. Jesus came into this world to retrieve
us from the bondage of sin.
The
climax of the movie involves Neo getting shot. He is in a great battle with Agent Smith, and as Agent Smith
shoots Neo, he dies in the Matrix and in real life. This can sort of be seen as Jesus dying on the cross. Neo was crucified. Jesus was crucified. After three days, Jesus rose from the
dead. In the movie, Trinity (acting
as the Holy Spirit) kisses Neo and he comes back to life. Neo has been resurrected from the dead,
and is in love with Trinity. After
being resurrected, Neo is now Super-Neo is enters Agent Smith. Agent Smith’s skin then starts to bubble,
and eventually Neo destroys Agent Smith from within, just like Jesus destroyed
sin and death from within.
I
personally believe The Passion Of The
Christ portrays Jesus the best.
It shows the humanness of Jesus, while still maintaining a mystic
figure. It shows the humanness of
Jesus. It shows the Son of
Man. Jesus died on the cross to
save us from sin and death. The brutality that is shown in this
film is almost too much to believe.
It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that someone took a
bullet to save my life. Sometimes,
when I think about what Jesus did, I tear up because I know I’m not worthy of
being saved. I’ve done some
horrible things in my life that aren’t worthy of being forgiven. I’m very grateful for Jesus and what he
did for me. I wrote before that a
king or a savior cannot be in such a condition that his skin is nearly falling
off. Only a man could do that. However, Jesus wasn’t just a man. He was God, and Man. He had the best (or worst) of both
worlds. He had the divine power
that God had, and he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had the intimacy to be close to
people, and he felt pain and suffering.
I’ve
come to the conclusion that the main difference between The Passion of the Christ and Jesus
Christ, Superstar, is that in The
Passion, Jesus mainly feels physical pain and agony. In Jesus
Christ, Superstar, Jesus mainly feels emotional turmoil, rage, and
frustration. The Matrix really made me think about what it meant for someone to
die from someone else. I would
really like to find a good movie that shows the divine aspect of Jesus, as well
as a film that shows the continuing influence of Jesus on people today.
Works Cited
Aland, Kurt. Synopsis
of the Four Gospels. 3rd. United Bible Societies, 1979. Print.
Gibson, Mel,
dir. The Passion Of The Christ. Newmark Films, 2004. Film.
Jewison,
Norman, dir. Jesus Christ, Superstar. Universal Studios, 1973. Film.
Wachowski,
Andy, dir. The Matrix. Warner Bros. Pictures, 1999. Film.
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