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Spectacle Of Redemption: Film As Religious Iconography, Michal Paul

All Volumes (2001-2008)

In his book, Film as Religion: Myths Morals and Rituals, John C. Lyden argues that the movie theater has become a surrogate sacred space, where film provides for its audiences a system of world-naming that contributes to the formation of morals, the establishment of ritual, and a manner of addressing matters of ultimate concern.

“Films can be taken as illusions in one sense, but can also have the force of reality by presenting a vision of how the world is as well as how it might be. In the ritual context of viewing a film, we ‘entertain’ the truth …