Film and Media Studies Commons^™

Heretic, J. Barton Scott

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Heretic (2024), directed by Scott Beck and Brian Woods.

Conclave, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Conclave (2024), directed by Edward Berger.

Fallen Leaves, Frederick Ruf

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Fallen Leaves (2023), directed by Aki Kaurismäki.

Framing Immanence In Carl Theodor Dreyer’S Ordet And Carlos Reygadas’S Stellet Licht, Andre Fischer

Journal of Religion & Film

My article proposes the notion of the immanent frame to productively address film-theoretical and theological concepts at stake in Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Ordet (1955) and Carlos Reygadas’s Stellet Licht (2007). I believe my intervention to be significant for it shows how both films are not only related in their religious subject matter but negotiate it in formal terms through the notion of the immanent frame. Although both films have been analyzed alongside one another in the past, my article is the first to address the Mennonite migration history and notion of secularization (Taylor) to explain the function of the time-images …

Bodies Of Horror In Judges 19-21 And Evil Dead Ii (1987), Jennifer M. Matheny, Aaron Bohn

Journal of Religion & Film

Sam Raimi's Evil Dead II (1987), a horror film, demonstrates key thematic parallels with Judges 19-21. Evil Dead IIidentifies with the film genres of “splatter horror” and “dark comedy” with a B-movie cult classic vibe. Placing the Bible’s body horror (Judges 19) and horror film in dialogue on their own terms creates an intertextual dialogue that can be fruitful when dealing with violent biblical texts that communicate an excess state of terror (Phyllis Trible). Through the lens of postbiblical intertextuality (Marianne Grohmann and Hyun Chul Paul Kim), this paper will explore thematic parallels and connections in conversation between Evil …

Enraptured By Rapture: Production Context, Biblical Interpretation, And Evangelical Eschatology In The Rapture, Left Behind, And This Is The End, Robert G. Joseph, Laura M. Tringali, Meghan R. Henning

Journal of Religion & Film

The Book of Revelation's place in the popular imaginary has been fueled by both its popularity within evangelical eschatology and its endless evocations within mainstream film and TV. Both evangelicalism and popular culture frequently equate the events of John’s Apocalypse with the rapture, a selective reading of New Testament verses which envisions God’s faithful being called to heaven in advance of the Tribulation. This paper analyzes three distinct films which mediate on both the rapture and Revelation: The Rapture (1991), Left Behind: The Movie (2000), and This is the End (2013). Analyzing these films within their respective modes of production …

Televangelism And Religion In Star Trek V And Licence To Kill, Robert Revington

Journal of Religion & Film

In June 1989, both Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the James Bond film Licence to Kill were released in theatres within days of each other. This study analyzes how story elements in both films were directly inspired by recent televangelist scandals in the United States. The Star Trek film was also intended to have a deeper examination of the nature of God and the Devil. Nonetheless, both films were also intended to appeal to a mass audience. To that end, these films' explorations of religious issues were watered down to avoid offending Christian denominations or churches (though not …

The Sudden Deluge: Parasite, Matthew 24:36-51, And Immanent Apocalyptic Imagery, Diana Abernethy

Journal of Religion & Film

Bong Joon Ho’s 2019 film Parasite shares significant imagery with the apocalyptic teachings in Matthew 24:36-51. Both feature oblivious carousers before a flood, sleeping homeowners, and domestic workers caught unaware by a returning homeowner. This article argues that this shared imagery gives Parasite an apocalyptic edge that intensifies the film’s warnings about potential consequences of extreme economic disparities in capitalism. This article develops this argument by (1) highlighting the apocalyptic features of Matthew 24:36-51; (2) describing the convergence of imagery between Parasite and Matthew 24:36-51; and (3) exploring how the film’s apocalyptic edge illuminates urgent and latent dangers of extreme …

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Seeing Is Believing: Observing Trans Spirituality Through The Smith-Waite Tarot, Phoebe Santalla

MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture

In 1909 the Rider Company published the Smith-Waite Tarot deck which featured 78 illustrated cards by Pamela Colman Smith. With heavy use of appropriated and ambiguous symbology, the Smith-Waite deck became a meditation tool for realizing alternative realities. By observing the history of the deck, analyzing Smith’s approach to illustration, and retracing the counterculture occult explosion in the 1970s, this essay argues that the Smith-Waite deck is an object the reflects the queered body and self. The modern, trans-contentious, Western political climate creates an environment that obscures the fact that transgender people exist beyond the medicalization of their bodies. To …

間, Lele Dai

Theses and Dissertations

LeLe Dai makes contingent participatory public interventions using sensory materials such as sound, flickering light, and water. This paper examines their works through the lens of Chinese character Jian (間), meaning “gap/slit/incision,” to investigate the concept of “in-betweenness.”

Bedeviled Beauty: My Journey Through White American Theater Institutions, J'Aila C. Price

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Game console: Oculus Quest

World: American Theater Institutions

Player: Minority

Place: United States

Level: “Ain’t no way.”

This thesis explores the contrast between the Westernized philosophies ingrained in my education and my identity as a Black female artist. It sheds light on the difficulties of pursuing higher education in the arts and the gaps that arise from limited exposure to culturally diverse Black resources, revealing the systemic issues in Western performance education. The paper also discusses the insights gained from my journey as a Black female artist, focusing on my thesis performance of Blood at the Root, which is …

Lived Experiences, Migration Journey, Religiosity, And Spirituality Depicted In Drawings By Latino Children And Youth Crossing The U.S. Mexican Border: A Qualitative Study., Doroty Magalhaes Sato

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Widespread violence forces thousands of Central American children to endure a hazardous journey toward the U.S. Border seeking refuge. In the Latino community, faith serves as a social movement of resistance against oppression, playing a vital role in migration. There is a paucity of research documenting this experience and children's overall journey. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the lived experience of crossing international borders, religiosity, and spirituality depicted in Latino children's drawings used as coping methods to endure the journey toward the U.S. southern border. This investigation employed Art-based approaches to give voices to children's experiences by analyzing 63 …

Taylor Swift As Religion: The Deification Of An International Pop Music Superstar And The Ramifications Of Fame, With A Comparison To Vox Lux, Jessica Cotturone

Religion and Film

This paper explores the ways in which the culture surrounding pop music superstar Taylor Swift is a religion. Taylor Swift has had an indelible impact on her fans, who are known as Swifties, and this paper brings attention to the ways that she establishes a strong connection with her fans such that they come to view her as a religious figure. Definitions of religion proposed by scholars Clifford Geertz and Meghan Johnston Aelabouni are used to analyze how this popular music culture can fit into a broader conceptualization of religion. Special attention is given to the deification of celebrities in …

Cinema, Black Suffering, And Theodicy: Modern God, Terry Lindvall

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Shayne Lee, Cinema, Black Suffering, and Theodicy: Modern God (Rowman and Littlefield, 2022).

Marveling Religion: Critical Discourses, Religion, And The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jessica Knippel

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Jennifer Baldwin and Daniel Hodge White, eds., Marveling Religion: Critical Discourses, Religion, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Ladham, MD: Lexington Books, 2022).

Animated Parables: A Pedagogy Of Seven Deadly Sins And A Few Virtues, Joel Mayward

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Terry Lindvall, Animated Parables: A Pedagogy of Seven Deadly Sins and a Few Virtues (Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2023).

The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, And Demonic Belief, Sena Nurhan Duran

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Joseph P. Laycock and Eric Harrelson, The Exorcist Effect: Horror, Religion, and Demonic Belief (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2023).

Radically Feminist Or Monstrously Feminine?: Witches And Goddesses In Guadagnino's Suspiria (2018), Lindsay Macumber

Journal of Religion & Film

Guadagnino’s 2018 remake of Suspiria explicitly and implicitly incorporates two connected myths, witchcraft and goddess centered matriarchal prehistory. The fact that each of these myths have been claimed by feminists in myriad ways may explain Guadagnino’s claim that Suspiria is a great feminist film that escapes the male gaze. In this article, I argue that Guadagnino’s representation of these myths lays bare their misogynistic origins and perpetuates, rather than subverts, patriarchal power structures.

Mary Magdalene On Film In Twenty-First Century: A Feminist Theological Critique, Mary Ann Beavis

Journal of Religion & Film

Since the turn of the millennium, several films (and one popular TV series) featuring Mary Magdalene as a significant character, or even as the central character, have been produced. A few, specifically Son of God (2104), The Chosen (2017-), and Mary Magdalene (2019), gained a wide audience through some combination of theatrical release, television, and streaming services. Unlike earlier productions that unfailingly portrayed her conventionally as a penitent prostitute, these and other, less well-known films of recent decades have departed from this traditional Magdalene. This is no doubt due, among other things, to the influence of feminist theology and biblical …

Resistencia Artística Bajo Dictaduras En Argentina Y España A Través De La Lente De Las Teorías De Comunicación, Adrian Self, Adrian Self

World Languages and Cultures Student Papers and Posters

Under dictatorships in Spain and Argentina, artists used their mediums to criticize the actions of the Catholic church and oppressive conditions enforced by the government, using allegories, metaphors, and symbolism in their art. While many artists tried to create works that fell within authoritarian guidelines, others intentionally created cinema and literature criticizing the Argentine and Spanish governments, values, and practices, knowing the works would be banned. This investigation uses examples of cinema and literature created and published deliberately to be prohibited or censored under the regimen of Francisco Franco from 1939-1975 in Spain or the last civil-military dictatorship from 1976-1983 …

Grace, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Grace (2023), directed by Natalie Jasmine Harris.

Krazy House, Christopher R. Deacy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Krazy House (2023), directed by Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil.

In The Land Of Brothers, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of In the Land of Brothers (2024), directed by Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi.

Exhibiting Forgiveness, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Exhibiting Forgiveness (2024), directed by Titus Kaphar.

*666, William L. Blizek

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of *666 (2024), directed by Abby Falvo.

After Great Pain: The Uses Of Religious Folklore In Kenji Mizoguchi’S Sansho The Bailiff (Jp 1954) And Kaneto Shindo’S Onibaba (Jp 1964), Teng-Kuan Ng

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

This article studies the adaptations and applications of religious folklore in two mas-terworks of Japanese cinema: Kenji Mizoguchi’s Sansho Dayu (Sansho the Bailiff, JP 1954) and Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba (JP 1964). While academic approaches will often draw a strict line between narrative genres and discursive forms, these films, I argue, draw creatively from Japanese tradition for both critical and constructive purposes in the postwar context. Besides mounting trenchant criticisms of Japan’s erstwhile militaristic violence and imperial ambitions, both filmmakers present their respective female protagonists as models for spiritual and sociocultural transformation in the face of anomie. Embodying humanistic compassion on …

Depaul Digest

DePaul Magazine

College of Education Professor Jason Goulah fosters hope, happiness and global citizenship through DePaul’s Institute for Daisaku Ikeda Studies in Education. Associate Journalism Professor Jill Hopke shares how to talk about climate change. News briefs from DePaul’s 10 colleges and schools: Occupational Therapy Standardized Patient Program, Financial Planning Certificate program, Business Education in Technology and Analytics Hub, Racial Justice Initiative, Teacher Quality Partnership grant, Intimate Partner Violence and Brain Injury collaboration, School of Music Career Closet, Sports Photojournalism course, DePaul Migration Collaborative’s Solutions Lab, Inclusive Screenwriting courses. New appointments: School of Music Dean John Milbauer, College of Education Dean Jennifer …

Irena's Vow, Sherry Coman

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Irena's Vow (2023), directed by Louise Archambault.

Muslim Heroes On Screen, Ahmad Nuril Huda

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Daniel O'Brien, Muslim Heroes on Screen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021).