Commentary: Real Jesus is bigger than any movie depiction By Rev. Dan R. Dick Actor Jim Caviezel joins elite company by portraying Jesus Christ in Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ." The
canonized gospel story - written in many different forms between the
early second century and the late 1960s - is cinematic in its raw form.
As director Cecil B. DeMille once claimed, it "cries out to be filmed."
For 80 years, a handful of men have been chosen to represent Jesus in
movies and on TV, all to mixed critical review. What
does it take to be Jesus, even if only in a movie? Many actors claim
that the honor is both humbling and life changing, while others see it
as just another role. Regardless of the opinion of the actors, viewers
tend to hold high standards against which any portrayal of the Son of
God is measured. Many
people who came of age in the ’60s still remember the performances of
Max von Sydow ("The Greatest Story Ever Told") and Jeffrey Hunter ("King
of Kings") as the very definition of the role. | Many
people who came of age in the ’60s still remember the performances of
Max von Sydow ("The Greatest Story Ever Told") and Jeffrey Hunter ("King
of Kings") as the very definition of the role. Both men gave deeply
respectful performances that helped imprint visual images of the life
and death of Jesus in the minds of millions.A
decade later, two very different portrayals of Jesus resulted in
controversy and conflict. Jesus was a face-painted jester in a Superman
T-shirt in "Godspell," an off-Broadway play that moved to the silver
screen in 1973 with Victor Garber as the whimsical Christ. By the time
the movie was made (two years after the play), much of the controversy
had quieted. Still, many people were offended by the less-than-holy
presentation of God’s son. Much
more troubling to many more people - both on stage and screen - was
"Jesus Christ Superstar." In the movie, screeching, bawling Ted Neeley
offered the most extreme Jesus to date. Written as a rock opera without
pretensions to proselytizing, "Superstar" opened to picket lines and
inflammatory sermons worldwide. Neeley’s shrill, emotional,
down-to-earth rebel Jesus offended many Christians. In truth, both
Neeley and Garber opened millions of young people to a more real, more
accessible Jesus. Television
gave the world one of the most memorable - and without argument the
prettiest - portrayals when Robert Powell assumed the role. Powell’s
angular figures and deep blue eyes most closely evoked the famous "Head
of Christ" painting by Warner Sallman. This mini-series garnered
widespread approval for its images of Jesus, though it was criticized
for the license taken with the gospel story. Perhaps
the most controversial screen Jesus ever appeared in the person of
Willem Dafoe in 1988’s "The Last Temptation of Christ." Based on Nikos
Kazantzakis’ novel rather that the canonized gospels of the New
Testament, this film deeply enraged conservative Christians worldwide.
Thousands of people took to the streets to protest a Jesus with human
emotions, desires and psychological weaknesses. Kazantzakis intended to
present the loneliness and deep anxiety and pain that might have been
felt by the human Jesus as he wrestled with the mantle of the Christ. "The
Passion of the Christ" opens to both rave reviews from Christians
across the theological spectrum and deep controversy from Jewish leaders
concerned with the strong anti-Semitic inferences of the film. Some
university and seminary professors are concerned with the narrow
theology and the liberties taken with the story. Other concerns deal
with the graphic and violent nature of the movie, as well as with the
commercialization of the Christian faith. Caviezel
presents a deeply moving, real, and powerful Jesus - so powerful, in
fact, that a whole generation will think of him when they picture Jesus
in their mind. | However,
taken on the merits of the film itself and specifically focusing on the
portrayal of Jesus by Jim Caviezel, there is little disagreement.
Caviezel presents a deeply moving, real, and powerful Jesus - so
powerful, in fact, that a whole generation will think of him when they
picture Jesus in their mind.The
most recent portrayal of Jesus may forever alter the way actors
approach the role. There is not much characterization in "The Passion of
the Christ." Jesus is an object - abused, sadistically beaten, torn and
humiliated. The humanity of the man Jesus is obliterated, while
glimpses of the divine are allowed through briefly. Jesus
is a victim in "The Passion" to such an extent that the greater message
gets lost. There is little to celebrate of the one who conquered death
and atoned for the sins of all. In earlier versions of the story the
message of Jesus teachings, the power of his healing, and the glory of
the resurrection balanced the horror of the crucifixion. Movies
communicate with power visual images that stay with us all our lives.
We may endlessly debate the best screen Jesus, but almost every
Christian has a nominee to defend. The challenge to each of us is to
remember that the real Jesus is larger and more complex than any image -
graven or celluloid. Actors who portray the Christ point not to
themselves, but beyond themselves. The story they enact is a grand and
glorious story, but it is much greater than the messenger, especially
human messengers portraying Jesus the Christ. Every
screen representation of the gospel story is incomplete - some terribly
incomplete, like "The Passion of the Christ" - and should challenge us
to dig deeper. May these films and all the portrayals of Jesus that they
contain be for us an invitation - an invitation to meet Jesus in
prayer, in Scripture, and in a community of faith that enables us to
meet the Christ in others. Dick is research manager for the New Solutions Team at the United Methodist Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn.
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