The class in which we spoke about Jesus films and Christ figures was extremely interesting. I am going to be declaring my major next year and I'm planning to choose cinema studies. I enjoy not only watching films but also studying the way in which they were made, the messages they are trying to convey and the way in which viewers interpret those messages. Listening to all the different depictions of Jesus and Christ like figures depicted in films started to worry me. I mean, almost none of those depictions included any women. Kozlovic does mention superheroes and among them Batgirl and Wonderwoman are Christ-like figures. Also written about is the character of Bess in Breaking The Waves, (though her Christ-like mission is controversial as she prostitutes herself in hopes of saving her husband). Lastly, one of the attributes Kozlovic talks about is a Mary Magdalene. She is "a sexually tagged woman who is related to him in some close way, but who does not know how properly to
express her sexuality with him." It seems as though almost all the women who are associated with Jesus or Christ-like figures have one thing in common; their sexuality.
Why is it that the only way women can have a Christ-like effect is by using their looks or promises of sexual interaction to do good? Do scholars not see women as being able to help others and do good in the way men do? It is surprising to read that men and women are seen so differently and that the main difference is how they can help people. I believe it is putting humanity on the whole many steps back to suggest that women can only aid others with sex and not with their minds or hearts.
I have mentioned this before, but one of the only films I have seen a Christ-like figure and a God figure represented by women is Kevin Smith's Dogma, where a woman is the descendant of Christ and must save the world without seducing anyone and Alanis Morisette plays God. An additional film (though originally a book) that includes a Christ-like figure who does not have to show off her sexuality is The Davinci Code, where Audrey Tautou is the descendant of Jesus.
It would be nice to see more women in Christ-like roles. Understandably most of the time it is men featured as such because Jesus was of course, male. Yet his journey and attributes can easily be contributed to a woman who does not have to dangle her sexuality in front of a man to make a difference in the lives of others.
-Jackie
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you are considering to major in cinema studies. I myself am minoring in it and I must say the cinema classes I am in are the highlight of my school year. I totally agree with your argument because it seems that in today’s society women are still not being treated equally. I think we both have to remember that most of the female Christ like figures like Wonderwoman and Batgirl were created from the imaginations of a man. Now I am not saying that all men believe that female Christ like figures can only show a sexual side but it seems that the men who made these ones all had such similar ideas.
Another thought that we must remember is that the media has brainwashed society to believe that when something sexual appears on the television screen it is supposed to interest us. This simply means that without any forms of sexual content in any form of media wouldn’t be considered good. I also believe that women can only posses a sexual side to them because we sadly still live in a society where men only view women as sexual objects. I also believe that we don’t see a lot of women possessing actual Christ like roles because society was taught that Jesus was a male. This simply means that society feels that if anything is related to our lord and a man must do savior then the job. My final thoughts would have to be that gender should not matter when it comes to depicting Jesus Christ. Society has to learn that in the end we are all the same and that anyone can be a Christ like figure because doesn’t the Christian religion teach us to spread the good word and act like Jesus?