Today's class was particularly interesting to me because Professor Harris spoke to us about film and the different ways it can relate to religion. We then proceeded to fill out a shot-by-shot analysis of David Fincher's, Fight Club. As a cinema studies major I found this exercise very enjoyable as it was mixing SMC305H1l's material with many things I have learned in my intro to film class.
The exercise and the entire topic surrounding film and religion got me thinking of just how many movies use religious ideas, iconography and even religious humor. There are obvious films such as Mel Gibson's, The Passion of the Christ, which strives to be as historically accurate as possible. This movie tells the plight of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and is a guaranteed tear jerker. Then there are movies such as Kevin Smith’s Dogma which has a much lighter and comedic air about it. The movie tells the story of two angels who have been expelled from heaven and wish to re-enter via a loophole they have discovered. A woman who is unknowingly the descendant of Christ must stop them. I know it doesn’t sound like a knee-slapper, but trust me, like any Kevin Smith film it’s very funny. The beauty of this film (besides the hilarious script), is the fact that while being so funny in no way does it demean religion. In fact, after watching this one would come to believe that Kevin Smith is a devout Christian with a great sense of humor. The amount of research and pure knowledge of the Christian religion required of a person to have written this film is not on the light side. Not bad for a guy who created the characters Jay and Silent Bob (who I actually quite like).
Basically, films depicting religion come in many forms. They can be serious and precise to the biblical stories or they can revamp the tales and modernize them. Either way it’s entertaining to watch and viewers can learn about Christianity in whichever version.
