“Different Approaches to Different Films: An Analysis of Theological Approaches to The Greatest Story Ever Told and Jesus Christ Superstar”
As Conrad Oswalt expresses in Screening the Sacred: Religion, Myth, and Ideology in Popular American Film, “films are powerful vehicles for communicating religious meanings, stories, and values to millions of people” (Martin and Oswalt 1995, 157). Two very different Jesus films that act as this vehicle for expressing ideology and theology are The Greatest Story Ever Told and Jesus Christ Superstar. The first film focuses on the basis of portraying an extremely authentic version of Jesus. It follows the gospels closely and aims to articulate the story of Jesus as accurately as possible. On the other hand, Jesus Christ Superstar intends to create a modern day image of Jesus through the use of popular culture of its time.
Before taking a deeper look at the films, one must first have a background knowledge regarding theological approaches to film criticism. Robert Johnston suggests that there are five different approaches that have evolved since the film domain became popular including: avoidance, caution, dialogue, appropriation, and divine encounter (Johnston 2006, 55). In early film, the church took an avoidance approach to religious film. A popular belief was that Christians should avoid watching movies and stay away from the movie theater. The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights was and still is one of the leaders of this early thought. They led campaigns against controversial religious films and boycotted any depiction that they deemed to be a misinterpretation of Jesus.
As time went on and the popularity of the television began to arise, abstinence became less of an option. Instead, Christian leaders suggested the use of caution with television and film. Many claimed that most material was inappropriate or sinful, but there was also some that was not so bad. Viewer discretion became a popular strategy to sort out the good from the bad. After caution, the dialogue theological critique came about. Johnston argues that Christian moviegoers set aside world issues and view a film on the film’s terms first before entering into a theological dialogue with it (Johnston 2006, 64). More or less the dialogue approach suggests viewers simply watch a film before judging it to be right or wrong. One should not have preconceived notions about a film before viewing it in its entirety.
Moving on to an even lesser radical approach, the appropriation theory suggests that there is something about film that is religion-like. In this, Christians believe that film can provide them with something new. By giving film a chance, Christians can seek to find some moral taught, or some aspect that agrees with their own beliefs. Christians will either concede or neglect the film’s teachings. Either way, the film will have some impact because viewers will be forced to again recognize their beliefs.
The last theological approach to film is divine encounter or also known as religious aesthetics. In this theory, a viewer can see oneself in the film or has an experience of transcendence. The film has a lasting effect that continues even after one has left the theater, got home, and ready for bed. Even though a filmmaker may not intend to, the divine encounter occurs when one sees God’s presence and grace in a film.
Even though these approaches and ideologies have emerged over time in the order presented, they are not inclusive to particular eras. All theories are still used today. For example, one person may watch a film and experience a divine encounter. Another person may see a preview for that same film and take the avoidance approach based on the film’s depictions in the preview. Just because the avoidance and caution theories were the earliest of approaches does not mean that people do not still practice them.
Looking at the film The Greatest Story Ever Told, produced in 1965 by director George Stevens, we see that his purpose was to create the most authentic portrait of Jesus as possible. Taking place in the southwest desert of the United States, he aims to give the traditional portrayal that we see throughout the gospels, especially in The Gospel of John. Stevens follows Jesus’ life from birth to crucifixion to resurrection. John the Baptist plays a role in the beginning of the movie in which he is in the wilderness teaching of the famous line “REPENT!” Moving on, the film begins to focus heavily on the last three years of Jesus’ ministry, as is the case for most other Jesus films. Jesus performs four miracles in the film including the raising of Lazarus, healing of the cripple in the synagogue, healing of the woman who touched his robe, and unblinding of Aaron. Stevens also incorporates other miracles, not by showing them but by making references to them from either a narrator or a character in the film (Babington and Evans 1993, 147). For example, a soldier reports to Pilate to tell him about Jesus having walked on water. Stevens’ whole purpose of doing this is to include as many miracles as possible. In the larger picture, we begin to see the leading motive of Stevens, which is to create the most authentic portrayal of Jesus possible.
With a completely different objective, producer Andrew Lloyd Webber writes the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar to give the viewer an alternative perspective on how to view Jesus. The film is slightly based on the accounts given in the Gospels, making different provisions, interpretations, and fill ins than the traditional story/view of Jesus. The film also focuses heavily on the relationship between Jesus and Judas. Immediately, the film sets the stage for Judas’ importance throughout the entirety of the film by having him foresee and discuss a “far away tiny Jesus” (Schilling 2004). One could argue that the entire plot is based on this relationship. Very different from the traditional view of Judas, Paffenroth notes that the film depicts Judas as a loving friend of Jesus until the end of Jesus’ life (Paffenroth 2001). The only reason he decides to betray Jesus is because he wants to prevent violence to his friends and the rest of the Jesus followers. In this sense, Judas is looking out for the best of Jesus’ people but not Jesus the “superstar.” He immediately realizes the long-term effects of Jesus’ ministry, which in this case will lead his demise. Judas sees that Jesus’ teachings conflict and cannot co-exist with the traditional Jewish teachings. Secondly, seeing what Jesus’ teachings may eventually lead to, he hands over Jesus in order to preserve his message and keep his people safe (Schilling 2004).
We immediately begin to see why Jesus Christ Superstar is such a controversial film. Jesus as a pop star? His story as a rock opera? Judas not being that bad of a guy? No resurrected Jesus? These four elements most contributed to the poor reviews and controversy of the film. Goodacre also points out another reason being because it contains frequent historical errors in portraying the gospel stories (Goodacre 1999). However, the film differs from most others religious films because its goal is not to put the events in order, combine the gospels, or present a realistic Jesus, but to provoke the audience to begin to think about Jesus in a different context or view him differently from the traditional Jesus most think of.
The film’s era also speaks to the setup of the movie. Produced in 1971, America was going through a social change with the rise of the peace/love/hippie movement. Director Andrew Webber likely made the movie the way he did in order to reach out to these people of this movement. However, most people took and still take the avoidance or caution approach to this film due to the reasons as stated earlier. Many Christians, especially conservatives and Catholics do not want to see Jesus as a hippie singing songs, wearing peace signs, and having groupies follow him around. No, they want the traditional depiction of Jesus.
No greater attempt has been made to create this authentic figure of Jesus in film than The Greatest Story Ever Told. Closely following the Gospel of John, Stevens paints a picture of Jesus that strictly follows New Testament Scripture. For one, the character of Jesus speaks mostly in sayings of Jesus in the Gospels. Secondly, the film gives the entire story of Jesus’ life from birth to crucifixion to resurrection. Due to these elements, many Christians do not take the avoidance or caution approach. Some say it is the greatest Jesus film ever created, while others view it falling short of expectations (Martin 1997). Some may have had a divine encounter with the film, while others may have used an appropriation approach. No one can discredit Stevens’ attempt though.
One could argue that no one approach is the correct way to take to these two films. However, you should always at least take the dialogue approach in that you have to give these films a chance. If you see a preview, read a review on the internet, or hear a friend talk about one of these films, you should never base your approach off of it. Make interpretations for yourself and make conclusions based on your own views, not someone else’s.
Annotated Bibliography
Babington, Bruce, and Peter William Evans. Biblical Epics: Sacred Narrative in the Hollywood Cinema. New York, NY: Manchester University Press, 1993
Babington and Evans briefly discuss The Greatest Story Ever Told throughout their book. They note the four miracles performed by Jesus in the film that derive from the gospels that include the raising of Lazarus, healing of the cripple in the synagogue, healing of the woman who touched his robe, and unblinding of Aaron. The authors also note how Stevens, the director of The Greatest Story Ever Told, deals with non-healing miracles in his film. Rather than showing them, Stevens refers to them verbally in the film by having the priests talk as narrators about stories of the five thousand people being fed and water being turned into wine. Stevens also has a soldier report to Pilate to tell him about Jesus having walked on water. His purpose of doing this is to incorporate or mention as many miracles as possible without them taking up the entire film.
Clanton, Dan. “Book Review: Reading the Gospels in the Dark: Portrayals of Jesus in Film.” Journal of Religion and Film.
Clanton’s book review of Richard Walsh’s book highlights some of the most important aspects of it. He notes the parallels of the Gospel of John and The Greatest Story Ever Told, and techniques used to grab viewers by filmmaker George Stevens. Such tactics include modernization of dialogue in the film, setting up the story in a familiar American West, and use of Hollywood stars such as John Wayne, Charlton Heston, and Sidney Poiter. Setting the story in the American West recalls the Western film memory of many viewers and in turn, sets up Jesus to be another American Western hero. Clanton notes Walsh’s view of The Greatest Story Ever Told perhaps being America’s quintessential American Jesus film not because of its contents but because of the gnostic meanings that are implicit in the Gospel of John.
Flesher, Paul, Robert Torry. “Filming Jesus: Between Authority and Heresy.” Journal of Religion and Film 8, no.1 (February 2004, http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/2004Symposium/FlesherTorry.htm (accessed April 16, 2012).
Paul Flesher and Robert Torry focus on the difficulties of making a Jesus film in this article. They note how the gospels only provide limited information about Jesus’ life, causing the director of a film to fill in the blanks based on their own interpretation of text. Scripture provides the barest information for making a film. It lacks adequate amount of dialogue for film, suggests the action that happened rather than describing it, and lacks information regarding dress, setting, weather, food, emotions, and personalities which are essential to any film. Because of this, directors make up the rest so to speak. Flesher and Torry also talk about these parts that are filled in by directors. Directors who make their films authoritative usually get acceptance from the viewer. On the other hand, when a film fails to do so, the audience normally rejects it and questions the interpretations. One interpretation Flesher and Torry note is the lack of the resurrection story in Jesus Christ Superstar. Lastly, they discuss additions to film in order to bear authority by using aspects of modern culture noting Jesus Christ Superstar as a prime example.
Goodacre, Mark. “Do You Think You’re What They Say You Are?” Journal of Religion an Film 3, no. 2 (October 2, 1999), http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/jesuscss2.htm (accessed April 16, 2012).
In this article, Mark Goodacre exams Jesus Christ Superstar from a “post historical” Jesus perspective. The play was originally produced in 1971, but during the time the article was written, the film/play was experiencing revitalization. Goodacre thought it would be a good idea to revisit the film to examine its portrayal of Jesus based on the era it was originally produced in, as well as how it differs from other Jesus films. Goodacre points out why the film was not a big success noting one of reasons being because it was a rock opera. Another main reason was because the film contains frequent historical errors in portraying the gospel stories. However, Goodacre also makes the point that it is difficult to depict the gospel stories in combination and specifically in a sequential narrative. He goes on to say that the film differs from most others of the area because its goal is not to put the events in order, combine the gospels, present a realistic Jesus or focus on the entirety of Jesus’ life (Jesus Christ Superstar is centered around “Holy Week”). Goodacre claims that these work to the film’s advantage for its purpose.
Johnston, Robert. K. Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Publishing Group, 2006
Robert Johnston suggests theological approaches to film criticism in the third chapter of his book. The earlier approaches include avoidance and caution while the later denote appropriation and divine encounter. Johnston goes on to explain each one of these in depth giving reasons for the change of attitude in the theologic critical approach. In chapter four, Johnston addresses the question of “Why should movies and Christianity be brought together for mutual insight and understanding?” Johnston claims that the main reason for this depiction of Jesus in film is because of the parables. He claims that modern day films are essentially parables. Every film has an underlying message, and the film serves as a metaphor to get across this message. It is easy to see the parallels between Jesus’ parables and film when you look at it from this perspective. Johnston concludes the chapter by saying that God can be experienced through film when it invites the viewer to take a look at their own theology.
Landry, David. “God in the Details: The Cleansing of the Temple in Four Jesus Film.”Journal of Religion and Film 13, no.2 (October 2009), http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol13.no2/Landry_GodDetails.html (accessed April 17, 2012).
As the title suggests, David Landry’s article focuses on Jesus’ cleansing of the temple. This well-known biblical story is found in all gospels and is significant because it triggers Jesus’ death. Landry exams and compares this scene’s depiction in four different Jesus films, one of them being Jesus Christ Superstar. Landry notes the difficulty of portraying this scene in film because it is so briefly described. In Mark, there are only five verses that describe it. The filmmaker, like any other bible reader, has to ask himself questions to fill in the blanks. A casual reader of the Bible may read these five verses in Mark and think that there is a limited number of ways in which this scene could be depicted in film. However, nothing is further than the truth, because we see a tremendous amount of differences in this scene when comparing Jesus films.
Martin, James. “The Gospel According to Blockbuster.” America 176, no. 15 (May 3, 1997), http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&hid=17&sid=0e1a2dca-cfee-43d6-8833-b9a921b1c363%40sessionmgr14 (accessed April 19, 2012).
James Martin writes a brief article of the synopsis of several Jesus films. Martin writes that movies can sometimes encourage people to see Scripture with a new perspective, one that people would never get from simply reading the Bible. He claims these Jesus films can sometimes fill in the gaps of narrative where the reader is left in confusion. He also goes on to say that The Greatest Story Ever Told was the best attempt ever to portray the Gospel stories up until the film Jesus of Nazareth was produced. Martin suggests that if you are looking for a religious provocative film, then be sure to watch Jesus Christ Superstar. On the other hand, if you want to see a solid retelling of the Gospels, then watch The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Martin, Joel W. and Conrad E. Oswalt Jr. Screening the Sacred: Religion, Myth, and Ideology in Popular American Film. Boulder, CO: Westview Press Inc., 1995
Joel Martin and Conrad Oswalt’s book serves as a teaching tool for viewers to properly view film, understand the relationship between religion and culture, and perceive the power of religion in society. In the last chapter, Oswalt looks at the idea of theological criticism. When authors create a film based on a theological idea such as religion, they are looking at how the film relates to societal and political issues, not suggesting a particular ideological framework. Criticism should then be focused not on a narrow agenda but rather the broad picture that deals with the interconnectedness of the complex cultural matrix. Film is a medium for providing the experience of otherness. It pushes people to leave their comfort zone when viewing a film that represents different ideas from their own. They serve as a vehicle for articulating ideology-beliefs and values, religious meanings, and stories to millions of people.
Miles, Margaret R. Seeing and Believing: Religion and Values in the Movies. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1996
Margaret Miles gives a great introduction on how to “read” a film in the first chapter of her book. She begins by talking about the close historical ties between religion and film. Miles then goes on to discuss the importance of discussion of a film, especially with one’s friends. Friends are needed to reconstruct what public concerns and issues there were at the time the film was produced to determine how the film may relate to them. Miles goes on to say that viewer’s impressions of a film are simultaneously informed by their background, including knowledge, education, personal experience, as well as the film’s conventions and viewing habits. Lastly, Miles says that “North American-even those with religious affiliations-now gather about cinema and television screens rather than in churches to ponder the moral quandaries of American life” (Miles 1996, 25).
Paffenroth, Kim. “Film Depictions of Judas.” Journal of Religion and Film 5, no.2 (October 2001), http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/judas.htm (accessed April 16, 2012).
Kim Paffenroth analyzes the role of Judas in seven different films, two of them being The Greatest Story Ever Told and Jesus Christ Superstar. In the first film, Paffenroth discusses how nearly all Jesus films fill in the silence of the character of Judas. However, The Greatest Story is an exception to this. It contains no characterization of Judas and no fills ins for why he chooses to betray Jesus. On the other hand, Paffenroth notes that Jesus Christ Superstar depicts Judas as a loving friend until the very end. The only reason he decides to betray Jesus is because he wants to prevent violence to his friends and the rest of the Jesus followers. Paffenroth also brings up the notion of the decision to make Judas as an African American character. She says that this is done not to be provocative in portraying the world’s greatest villain to be African American, but to do just the opposite. We see in the film that Judas is actually the most appealing and powerful character in the story.
Shilling, Kalie. “Servant of the Story: Judas as Tragic Hero in Film.” Journal of Religion and Film 8, no. 2 (October 2004), http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/Vol8No2/servant.htm (accessed April 16, 2012).
Kalie Shilling focuses on the role of Judas in different Jesus films in her article. More specifically, she looks at the role of Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. Shilling notes that the film opens up with Judas discussing a far away tiny Jesus. Immediately, the film sets the stage for Judas’ importance throughout the entirety of the film. The film focuses heavily on this relationship between the two. Judas is focused heavily on the message of Jesus, but not Jesus as the “superstar.” He immediately realizes the long-term effects of Jesus’ ministry, which in this case will lead his demise. Judas sees that Jesus’ teachings conflict and cannot co-exist with the traditional Jewish teachings. Secondly, seeing what Jesus’ teachings may eventually lead to, he hands over Jesus in order to preserve his message and keep his people safe. We see that Judas is in a difficult situation early on.
Walsh, Richard. Reading the Gospels in the Dark: Portrayals of Jesus in Film. Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2003.
In this book, Richard Walsh makes comparisons between “Jesus films, the four gospels, American culture. Walsh has specifically dedicated a chapter to the film The Greatest Story Ever Told. In this chapter, Walsh compares the film to the Gospel of John. He notes similar introductions in both that reveal the importance and significance of Jesus’ identity. Walsh also notes the figure of Satin (Dark Hermit) in the film and its similarity between the Satin in the Book of Luke. He appears primarily during the wilderness temptation and also is a driving force of Judas’ betrayal. The film’s Jesus also frequently talks about the kingdom, specifically a kingdom not of this world, which is a very prominent subject in John. Lastly, Walsh notes similarity in several miracles performed by Jesus that arise in both such as the raising of Lazarus.