In the movie, Son of Man, the opening scene shows good and evil presenting a conflict in power. Satan is introduced as well as Jesus, each taking their sides in the film. Satan pops up when something “evil” or bad is about to happen; a zoomed in portrait on just his face without dialog. Once the bad deed is done or as been seen, Jesus is always there correcting the deed, for example healing the boy who was dying. Jesus also plays out his role of the good power; this is exemplified through his words and deeds. Jesus says a lot about bringing peace to the world, having his disciples set aside their weapons.
Jesus’ crucifixion scene was different from traditional ideas. Jesus was beat to death and to insure his death, shot with a gun many times. His mother digs him up, out of the ground, and ties him to a cross; very different from the tomb being empty in the Gospels. Jesus raising from the dead is very vague at the end, having much more emphasis in the scene were Mary and Jesus followers are sing about darkness in the world without Jesus.
Having a modern day themed South African Jesus changes some of the ways the miracles are carried out. The stone of the adulteress is similar, but Jesus just lets her leave instead of telling the sinless to come forward. Some of Jesus’ disciples are woman, such as Simone. Jesus’s actions, words and deeds, are recorded for the African government to watch. The overall message of Jesus changes because his mission is to get people to follow him, the man who wants peace in the world.
This Jesus is different because he is born in modern day, changing the overall image of Jesus. His mission is not focused on bring people to Christianity, but to peace bringers in Africa. The movie did not seem to portray Jesus as different from the army men with guns. He was just a peace bringer. The movie changes the main motives Jesus as in the Gospels, therefore making a different Jesus and different motives.
Throughout the movie, good is represented by the child angels and evil is represented by the man in the dark clothes with the snake tattoo. It appears that they also foreshadow when something good/bad is about to happen. In this movie, the evil is the South African government that wreaks havoc on the villagers. Although they use an immense amount of violence, Jesus insists that the villagers take a peaceful approach, even making his disciples dispose of their guns.
One of the strategies used by the South African government is making people “disappear.” In one of his teachings, Jesus says “when you are told, and you will be, that people just ‘disappear,’ you must say we have been lied to;” shortly after the government reports that he has “disappeared.” When Jesus’ body is found, this signals the hope that the South African people are searching for- they don’t want people resurrected from the dead, they just want them to be found. This type of resurrection represents the justice that South Africans were seeking.
This movie is a great example of how intertextuality and ideology affect the way that we view the Gospel. Generally, the plot of the movie follows that of the Gospels. However, the South African ideology transforms the major events to reflect their culture. For example, instead of a baptism, they used circumcision which is their culture’s way of men gaining respect within their community. Intertextuality is used throughout the movie as Gospel events are changed to reflect a South African interpretation. The changing of the resurrection to something more relatable to their culture is a great example of this. A “new” Jesus is created in this movie that meets the needs of the South African people. He still teaches and performs miracles, but those that fit within the South African context.
This movie has once again challenged my preconceptions of Jesus. It is difficult to think of Jesus in any other aspect than the one that I grew up with, so initially this portrayal of Jesus is tough to grasp. However, knowing the background and culture of South Africa makes this depiction of Jesus easier to understand.
The opening scene in Son of Man sets forth a very serious manner of Jesus. He speaks with purpose and exerts his force and will upon satin by pushing him down the dune. It shows the tension and battle between the two and also foreshadows the future conflict that will arise between the two.
The crucifixion of Jesus in the film is much different from in the gospels. Instead of being beaten and put on a cross to die in front of everyone, Jesus is beaten to death in a private area. It is not a humiliation in front of the public like in the gospels. In the Son of Man Jesus is put on the cross after he has already died. Mary digs up Jesus from the grave, and puts him on the cross herself.
Placing the gospel story in South Africa brings about a new image of Jesus. In this film, the director creates a more realistic version of Jesus than some are used to. In my opinion we see a very Markian Jesus figure. Jesus shows emotion, has feelings, and gets angry from time to time. One could also argue that the depiction is more like Matthew or Luke’s story. Jesus seems to be in control, understands why he has to die, and makes no remorse about it. Looking at the film from the Gospel of John, I feel like it is definitely harder to make a connection between John’s Jesus and the Son of Man Jesus.
This movie did not change any preconceptions of Jesus that I had before watching it or taking this class. I feel like people must be careful to make sure they separate the biblical Jesus from the Jesus they read about in a fictional book or watch in a film. Sometimes the two can be blended to create a Jesus that is not based on the Bible but rather works based on the Bible. I always try to keep the two separate whenever I read a fictional book about Jesus, or watch a film on Jesus.
The main character, Jaziel portrays a Jesus figure. At the time there is a lot of crime, poverty, and unequal treatment so preaching during a time like this is not easy. He teaches his people compassion and non-violence avoiding drug companies and political hostility. As Jaziel is preaching he attracts a hand full of apostles consisting of armed rebels and women. They are all different ages, have different backgrounds, and gender. He teaches his followers about forgiving adulteresses and draws a lot of attention during the feet washing with the oil, raising a man from the dead, healing a sick boy and performing an exorcism. All of Jaziel’s miracles are portrayed in murals all over the country. At the time a new government is taking over the land and he is monitored closely by the new government. A foreign military is in the country to create peace at the time don’t seem too moved by Jaziel and his teachings but Judas secretly meets with the authorities and shows them how he is a threat to their power.
The crucifixion and resurrection part of the film was a more modern way of presenting Jesus’ death and resurrection. He was ambushed and beat up by the new government then shot and buried. The disciples then denied him and the women of the community were the ones who protested in the streets. The women who portrayed Mary went to his grave site and took out all the sticks that buried him. She brought him back to the town and hung him to the cross with t-shirts. His resurrection consisted of being taken down by a bunch of angels and celebrating with them.
In the movie, Jaziel demands peace and equality at a time when it’s not very possible where in the Bible Jesus’mission was to save the faith of the people not to necessarily preach equality. The apostles are portrayed as coming from factors of armed rebels across the country, not fisherman and tax collectors. The women in the movie play a more significant role than one seen in the New Testament. Mary seems to almost inspire Jesus instead of teaching him and there are women apostles. The Angel Gabriel
is a small African boy with glued feathers to his shoulders and Satan is in a trench coat. As a modern film Judas betrays Jaziel with a camcorder. The murals on the wall are interpretations and recordings of Jesus instead of being passed down through words.
My idea of Jesus has changed. I always viewed him as brunette with blue eyes but instead he is portrayed as a black man in South Africa who is bald and has brown eyes. Just that visual reminded me that Jesus is a universal figure.
From the very beginning of the film “Son of Man”, the director has juxtaposed two forces in the world: good and evil. Good is personified by a young African man in white robes, while evil is personified by a young African man with a snake tattoo on his face wearing black and red apparel. In fact when something bad is about to happen, Satan is always in the forefront of the camera before the deed or event occurs. The film director also uses apparel differences with the apostles to emphasize who is for and against Jesus. Judas is always wearing brown overalls while the others are wearing some shape of green on them. The film is constantly using clothing to discern good from evil.
The two, Jesus and Satan, are sitting on a dune in the desert to start off the film. From the opening line, the viewer sees what this film is about: retelling the life and death of Jesus in the political and present state of South Africa. The film is playing with intertextuality to change the viewer’s ideology of who Jesus was and what he did in a more present context with video cameras and AK-47s. From the first temptation to turn the stones into bread, I knew the story was about Jesus. After that scene, I was prepared to see how the conversation of Text A (the Gospels) would agree or vary from Text B (the movie). Having the previous knowledge of the Gospels made me look for the varying interpretation of them in this film because I knew how the story of Jesus started and ended according to my ideology of the Gospels. One example of this search for new interpretations of the plot of the Jesus story was when Jesus had his rite of passage into manhood. When Jesus became a man, I expected him to be baptized by John, but this did not occur in the film. After the rite of passage like the baptism scene, Jesus does start his ministry though, which follows the gets to the same point in the Gospel plot just by a different plot creation. This Jesus of the film values the same sort of things as the Jesus in the Gospels as well. He preaches solidarity and non-violence. He asks people to follow him in search of peace and a belief in the inherent good of others. The values of Jesus in the film bounce off the values of Jesus in the Gospels, this constant conversation of the two texts can be seen throughout the film. Jesus performs miracles as well paralleling the ones in the Gospels like healing a dying child, dead man, and possessed child. I like how the filmmaker after each major event of Jesus cut to a mural of the same deed on a wall in the streets, which tied in the culture of the film to Jesus’ story. This invention shows what this class is about: Jesus is painted in one’s own image because of culture and ideology. Jesus’ identity crosses political, geographical, and social borders constantly playing with the Gospel story to fit one’s ideology.
1. The movie was about the struggle for power in Africa. Jesus and his followers are caught in the middle of destruction, murder, and war. Satan represents the current government in Africa, which believes in creating “peace” through murdering and torturing anyone who seems to be disruptive. The Jesus in this film seems to be on more of a political mission than any other Jesus we have seen or read about. “Not all authorities are divinely instituted”, this quote from the movie brings his ideas about the condition of government in Africa to light and suggests what his mission will be.
2. Unlike in other interpretations of the Gospels, Jesus in The Son of Man does not die by crucifixion on the cross, but rather through the violence of government militia. He is later tied to the cross as a symbol for his people to rise up against the government. Rather than as a tool of death, the cross in this film is used as a symbol for a new beginning. Jesus is then resurrected as a result of the beliefs of his people and their unwillingness to back down.
3. The Jesus in this movie is placed in a more present day world rather than an older one. This helps the audience to better relate to the story. The film uses the stories of the Gospels to help tell a modern day story of revelation instead of the one we are most accustomed to. By bringing Jesus into the problems that people face today, he seems more accessible and inspirational.
4. I enjoyed the image of Jesus in this film. I feel that the film followed the telling of the Gospels accordingly while also reinventing Jesus’ purpose. The Jesus in this film was more appreciated and encouraged by the people of his country than Jesus as told by the Gospels. Although the Jesus in this film did not seem to retaliate against the military himself, being supported by his people allowed Jesus to inform and urge his followers to defend themselves.
|
RSS Feed