The Cinematic Christ-figure: From Everyman to Antihero-antichrist
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15575/kt.v5i1.20034Keywords:
Bible films, Christ-figures, popular culture, religion-and-film, sacred subtextAbstract
In this second century of the Age of Hollywood and the reign of moving image culture, popular feature films are nowadays the lingua franca of our youth throughout Western society, and the natural home of numerous sacred subtexts; most notably the cinematic Christ-figure, but hitherto unexplicated in-depth to date. Consequently, a broad review of the critical religion-and-film literature plus a close reading of selected feature films utilizing humanist film criticism as the guiding analytical lens (i.e., examining the textual world inside the frame, but not necessarily the world outside the frame), revealed at least six (but not necessarily mutually exclusive) categories of the cinematic Christ-figure, namely: (1) Everyman Christ-figures: Earth-sourced Humans, (2) Alien Christ-figures: Extraterrestrial Messiahs, (3) Female Christ-figures: Gender Swapping Jesuses, (4) Animal Christ-figures: Veterinary Versions, (5) Inanimate Christ-figures: The Holy Non-living, and (6) Antihero-antichrist-figures: The Shadows of the Christos. To ensure category robustness, they were sourced from different directors, genres, countries, aesthetic styles, and release decades. Each category was briefly explicated and illustrated herein. It was concluded that the sacred subtexts subgenre within the exciting emerging field of religion-and-film is immense, under-explored, awaiting (re-)discovery, and with a promising future worthy of further investigation and pedagogic deployment within the classroom, home or pulpit. All of which strongly implies that these cinematic extra-ecclesiastical sources of insight function as modern-day missionaries that expands theological discussion far beyond Bible readings and tracking of the Apostle’s journeys that more often had to be endured by students rather than enjoyed.
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Filmography
A Short Film about Love (1988, dir. Krzysztof Kieslowski; Do Not Desire the Wife of Another; Decalogue Six; Krótki film o miłości)
Alien (1979, dir. Ridley Scott)
Alien Resurrection (1997, dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Alien3 (1992, dir. David Fincher)
Aliens (1986, dir. James Cameron)
Amélie (2001, dir. Jean-Pierre Jeunet; Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain)
Antonia’s Line (1995, dir. Marleen Gorris)
Au Hasard Balthazar (1966, dir. Robert Bresson)
Babe (1995, dir. Chris Noonan)
Babe, Pig in the City (1998, dir. George Miller)
Breaking the Waves (1996, dir. Lars von Trier)
Cape Fear (1991, dir. Martin Scorsese)
Cyborg (1989, dir. Albert Pyun)
Dancer in the Dark (2000, dir. Lars von Trier)
Dead Man Walking (1995, dir. Tim Robbins)
Deadpool 2 (2018, dir. David Leitch)
Destination Unknown (1933, dir. Tay Garnett)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982, dir. Steven Spielberg)
Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014, dir. Ridley Scott)
Hannibal (2001, dir. Ridley Scott)
Jesus (1973, dir. P. A. Thomas)
Jesus Christ, Superstar (1973, dir. Norman Jewison)
Karunamayudu (1978, dir. A. Bhimsingh & Christopher Coelho; Ocean of Mercy)
King David (1985, dir. Bruce Beresford)
King of Kings (1961, dir. Nicholas Ray)
K-PAX (2001, dir. Iain Softley)
Mad Max (1979, dir. George Miller)
Mary Magdalene (2018, dir. Garth Davis)
Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999, dir. Kevin Connor)
Nights of Cabiria (1957, dir. Federico Fellini)
Noah (2014, dir. Darren Aronofsky)
Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018, dir. Andrew Hyatt)
Raging Bull (1980, dir. Martin Scorsese)
Risen (2016, dir. Kevin Reynolds)
RoboCop (1987, dir. Paul Verhoeven)
Samson and Delilah (1949, dir. Cecil B. DeMille)
September (1987, dir. Woody Allen)
Son of God (2014, dir. Christopher Spencer)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, dir. Nicholas Meyer)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984, dir. Leonard Nimoy)
Starman (1984, dir. John Carpenter)
Steel Magnolias (1989, dir. Herbert Ross)
Superman: The Movie (1978, dir. Richard Donner; Superman)
Tanda Tanya (2011, dir. Hanung Bramantyo; ?; Question Mark)
Taxi Driver (1976, dir. Martin Scorsese)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, dir. James Cameron)
That Eye, the Sky (1994, dir. John Ruane)
The Book of Esther (2013, dir. David R. A. White)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005, dir. Andrew Adamson)
The Dead Zone (1983, dir. David Cronenberg)
The Fifth Element (1997, dir. Luc Besson; Le cinquième élément)
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965, dir. George Stevens)
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, dir. Martin Scorsese)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928, dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer)
The Passion of the Christ (2004, dir. Mel Gibson)
The Penitent Thief (2020, dir. Lucas Miles)
The Ten Commandments (1956, dir. Cecil B. DeMille)
The Terminator (1984, dir. James Cameron)
Twelve Monkeys (1995, dir. Terry Gilliam)
Twilight (2008, dir. Catherine Hardwicke)
Watership Down (1978, dir. Martin Rosen)
Whale Rider (2002, dir. Niki Caro)
When Worlds Collide (1951, dir. Rudolph Maté)
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