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Babette's Feast And The Goodness Of God, Thomas J. Curry
Babette's Feast And The Goodness Of God, Thomas J. Curry
Journal of Religion & Film
This article attempts to answer the preeminent question Babette’s Feast invites viewers to consider: Why does Babette choose to expend everything she has to make her feast? Of the critical studies made of the film, few have considered analytically crucial the catastrophic backstory of Babette, the violence of which is implied and offscreen. Appreciation of the singularity of Babette’s own personhood and the darker aspects of her experience, and not only how she might act as a figure of Christ, are key to understanding the motivating force behind her meal and its transformative effect: That through the feast Babette lays …
Framing Salvation: Biblical Apocalyptic, Cinematic Dystopia, And Contextualizing The Narrative Of Salvation, Caesar A. Montevecchio
Framing Salvation: Biblical Apocalyptic, Cinematic Dystopia, And Contextualizing The Narrative Of Salvation, Caesar A. Montevecchio
Journal of Religion & Film
Christian biblical authors used the apocalyptic genre to help contextualize the meaning of salvation for their audiences. Today, dystopian film can serve a similar function. In each case, the narrative diagnoses a sinister mis-ordering of human civilization and attempts to prescribe ways in which it can be overcome. Just as apocalyptic gave biblical authors the ability to make statements about what salvation was salvation from, dystopian narratives can similarly demonstrate what social conditions today remain in need of remediation. When these dystopian narratives do so by making use of symbols and themes associated with Christian soteriology their diagnoses can become …
Take Shelter, Dereck Daschke
Take Shelter, Dereck Daschke
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Take Shelter (2011) directed by Jeff Nichols.
Ironic Faith In Monty Python’S Life Of Brian, Steven A. Benko
Ironic Faith In Monty Python’S Life Of Brian, Steven A. Benko
Journal of Religion & Film
Monty Python’s Life of Brian tells the story of Brian, a contemporary of Jesus whose life becomes chaotic when he is mistaken for a messiah. Standard comedic devices are used to mock and ridicule those who use their authority or office to claim that they are more than human. In this case, laughter humbles those individuals and brings them back to the human community. Second, an ironic faith perspective allows the Pythons to assert that it is up to each individual to define the meaning of his/her own life. While some interpretations of ironic faith suggest the possibility of an …
Scapegoats And Redemption On Shutter Island, Cari Myers
Scapegoats And Redemption On Shutter Island, Cari Myers
Journal of Religion & Film
The themes of redemptive violence, scapegoating, and ritual in the films of Martin Scorsese have provided much grist for critical scholarship. While it is going too far to claim that Scorsese is intentionally interpreting Girardian themes (which are themselves borrowed from a rich mythological tradition), the comparisons between the theorist and the director are compelling. My goal here is to establish the primary themes of scapegoating, mimesis, the cycle of violence, and feuding identities that occur in both Girard’s works and Scorsese’s films and pull them forward into a more recent work of Scorsese, Shutter Island.