The Desire to Over-Read...

One of the dangers of study in university is we are constantly challenged to write something our professor has never read before – and for some professors who have been teaching for years, that can be quite the challenge. In a desire, then, to really think outside the box, I think this has lead many students to read something into a work (whether it is books, movies, paintings, etc.) that isn’t actually there. I am not saying that thinking outside the box is a bad thing, nor am I saying that being challenged is a bad thing, but I do think we as students need to temper the desire to be brilliant with being authentic to the work presented to us.

And with that, I get into reading Christ figures into movies. I do believe that some directors very deliberately use Christ figure motifs as part of a movie, but, as suggested by Deacy in the article we read this week, I think there is also sometimes the desire to read a Christ figure into characters where that might not have been the actual intention. Although I would assert that in some cases an artist (or in the case of movies a writer or director) creates their work and then releases it to the world to be interpreted entirely by the viewer, I do think that in watching and reflecting on most works, you do want to be somewhat cognisant of what the artist intention was, and what their history is.

The example that Deacy suggested that really stuck with me was the example of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. There is a bit of fallacy in reading E.T. as a Christ figure because Spielberg is Jewish – he would clearly not have a Christian agenda within the film. When asked if he intended the movie to be a religious parable in an interview:

Spielberg answered that he did not intend the film to be a religious parable, joking, "If I ever went to my mother and said, 'Mom, I've made this movie that's a Christian parable,' what do you think she'd say? She has a kosher restaurant on Pico and Doheny in Los Angeles." (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E.T.#Themes)

Reading a Christ figure into the film would clearly not be letting the film stand on its own merits or being true to the artist intention. I think doing this also ignores the features associated with the Christ figure that also exist elsewhere in ancient mythology and other religions (which could serve as an inspiration). The features of resurrection, willing sacrifice and miracles are not exclusive to Christianity, and some legends with this as key features to the protagonist pre-date Christianity.

For this reason, I do think it is important to go into reading a work with an open mind (and not a clear desire to see certain elements represented), but also to be familiar with the artist, writer, or director involved to gain a deeper understanding of what they hoped to represent, and how those thoughts informed the creation of a hero character.