Lenten Blog – Day 40 – The End

You know how it ends, don’t you?

Spoiler alerts ahead.

When you think of popular films you know how “Star Wars IV” ends with the destruction of the Death Star. “Wizard of Oz” ends with Dorothy waking up back at home. “Casablanca” ends with Rick giving up his love so she can live. “Citizen Kane” ends with the revelation of Rosebud. “Sound of Music” ends with the Trapp family escaping the Nazis. ET goes home, Rocky loses (or in the many sequels he wins), James Bond saves the world.

You know how it ends. You can’t shake it. As much as you want to watch these films with fresh eyes you can’t. Good storytelling makes you think that the Nazis are going to capture the Trapp family this time, or that they won’t blow up the Death Star or Dorothy will be stuck in Oz when, in the back of our mind, we know what’s going to happen before the credits roll.

At Christmas it’s important that we find religious themed cards to send out to family and friends. There’s enough Santa stuff to go around and we do like to keep Christ in Christmas. You’ve got the three wise men cards, you’ve got manger cards, you’ve got renaissance Mary holding the infant baby Jesus. You’ve got a smiling baby Jesus with a halo over his head, etc. Lost in the gloss of beauty is the fact that Mary could have been stoned to death for being pregnant. Joseph arrested, possibly killed. They could have been exiled, beaten, shunned and that’s just them - not counting the baby. Remember, there’s a birth involved. I’ve been to two births and they ain’t pretty. There’s screaming and blood and water and waste and placenta and more screaming and more blood and umbilical cords and sweat and tension and fear. It’s. Not. Pretty. As much as Currier & Ives or Rembrandt or Hallmark want to create a beatific Christ birth story, there was some serious stuff going down and any moment it could have gone South very quickly. But we forget in the glow of candles and trees and pine scented wreaths and gifts and family.

Yeah, probably not like this...

You know how it ends, don’t you?

When I think about Easter and the resurrection, I know how it ends. We’re taught how it ends from a young age. I’ve seen this movie before. Christ is tortured, beaten, hung on cross, dies, stabbed, is placed in a tomb and three days later he rises again. Pardon me if there was a spoiler in there somewhere, but I think you know the story. Even if you’re not very religious.

Where my difficulty comes in is that I know how it ends. They don’t. The disciples don’t. Mary Magdalene doesn’t. Even Christ, I don’t think, knows how it’s going to end. He’s pretty certain but he still wants the “cup to pass him by.” Or maybe he just wants to get it over with - the pain and bleeding and stabbing part and just get to the resurrection. Skip all the “real” and get to the “amazing.”

But the disciples, as I discussed in a previous blog, are filled with fear. Their teacher, rabbi, friend and confidant has just been dragged away. Their dreams of power and control slipping away with every torch and scream and cry. They don’t know how it ends.

Peter denies him three times, the others scatter, the women follow him. Judas hangs himself. They don’t know how it ends.

During Holy Week I try to place myself in their clueless shoes and try to not think of the three days following the death on the cross. As much as I want to displace the resurrection to another track in my brain, I can’t help but remember it. I know how it ends. Would I have done the same thing? Would I have rejected him? Would I have run away to hide from the authorities? In all honesty, yeah, I probably would have. Peter denied him three times, I probably would have denied him five or six times.

Overcome with fear, people do many stupid things. Fear causes people to lose their senses. Fear is controlling. You make people afraid, you can control them. People will do things they never thought they’d do if they’re afraid. I always analyze presidential candidates with how much they use fear to get votes. Fear is more powerful than hope and, sadly, fear is more powerful than love. Fear gets to the very core of who we are and when the disciples were afraid, their love and friendship with Jesus was cast away. The miracles meant nothing. So he walked on water, I’m afraid. So he multiplied bread and fish, I’m afraid. So he told me he loved me, washed my feet, broke bread with me, held me, wept with me, laughed with me - I’m afraid.

They don’t know how it ends.

Christians by the very name of calling themselves Christians should not be afraid. They know how the story ends. What are you so afraid of? Death? In Christ’s resurrection we have life. Pain? Suffering? Hurt? Welcome to life, welcome to the world. Peace and comfort are there for the taking, but we run, we hide, we’re afraid.

We know how the story ends. Why are we afraid?

A priest once said about the resurrection: “We don’t know exactly what happened during Christ’s trip to Calvary, his death and resurrection but the ones who turned their back on him turned around and preached his gospel. Something happened where they weren’t afraid any more. Something empowered them. Was it the risen Christ? We don’t know, but something happened.”

They finally figured out how it ends.

Lenten Blog – Day 39 – Searching for Love

Yesterday I read that something like 20% of people lie, or embellish on their resume.  I’m sure it’s more than that.  Plus, I’m certain, that obituaries don’t tell the whole truth about the person who had recently passed on.  Accomplishments, sure, but not about the alcoholism or the fits of anger or the inability to hold down a job.  Plus there’s that “speak no ill of the dead” unwritten rule that people seem to follow and the next thing you know that celebrity who was kind of a pain now looks better in a different post-life light.

When I think about the story of Christ and his journey to death and resurrection, I think it’s amazing, or telling, that so much love shines through.

John 13 – verses 34 & 35:  ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

The writers of the books could have pushed a different narrative.  I mean, truly, how many were present during this time?  They could have easily written that Jesus said:  “Take revenge on those who hurt you.  Rise up and avenge my death!  Take up arms on your oppressors and spread righteous hellfire down upon them.”  I mean, sure, we get some of that in Revelations…but in these moments, in these passages, a message of love still shines through.

Love your enemies.

Pray for those who persecute you.

Turn the other cheek.

Give the person a cloak.

Sell all you have, give it to the poor and follow me.

Help the poor.

Help the suffering.

Welcome the stranger.

Be generous.

Friend the friendless.

Love one another.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

The authors of the bible knew something of the power of love and forgiveness and redemption.

A quick Google search of “how many times love is mentioned in the bible?” (after wanting to auto search “how many times should I poop?” and “how many times should I pee?”)

KJV – Old Testament:  131 times

KJV – New Testament:  179 times

NIV – Old Testament:  319 times!

NIV – New Testament:  232 times

And yes, I know there are different types of love mentioned and some of the Greek and Hebrew versions are different and mean different things and there’s brotherly love and romantic love and Godly love, blah blah blah – but the point is:

THERE IS LOVE.

Even in the time of trial.  Even in these moments leading up to Jesus’s arrest, torture and crucifixion, he’s still trying his hardest to get it into the thick heads of the disciples that, at some point they’ll GET IT.  Just like Mary Magdalene gets it.  At some point, they’ll clue in.

The authors of the books could have “buffed up” the resume a bit.  Could have embellished the curricula vitae.  Could have tweaked Jesus into a revenge seeking badass hell bent on destruction of his enemies but, instead, chose love. 

How easy it would have been to feed to the masses a narrative so simple as to seek revenge and kill those who have wronged us:  Fear, anger, revenge and retribution are easy.  Forgiveness, restitution, redemption and love are hard.

Choose love.

Lenten Blog – Day 38 – Searching for Hope

When I wrote my screenplay “The Search for Santa” two children travel across the United States and to the North Pole to find Santa.  Why?  To save their friend who was dying of cancer.

Having found Santa to be a disgruntled, bitter old man they feared their journey was a fruitless one.  Santa had given up once the “bad kids started out numbering the new ones.”

Finally one of the heroes says to Santa.  “My friend doesn’t have any hope anymore.”  This ruffles Santa’s feathers (if he had feathers) and suddenly Santa was back in the game, grabbing the lone elf hanging out with him at the North Pole and going about making a gift for the dying child.

Near the end of the script the dying child wakes up in his room to find Santa holding a gift.  A box.  Wrapped.  The dying boy opens the box and we do not see what is inside and our only view is of his hospital room from the outside and our heroes see that the room is filled with lights and colors and beauty.  The box was, indeed, filled with hope.

Hope for a future.  A better tomorrow.  A lasting peace.  Hope for dreams to come true.

It’s been over a year since I helped walk my son down the aisle for his wedding.  That day was filled with so much hope.  Of new beginnings and all the stuff that that may entail (amazing joys and crushing defeats, journeys of a thousand miles and baby steps).

When I walked to the bus this morning, the full moon shown bright.  That moon doesn’t know of the death of terrorist attacks.  That moon doesn’t know the depths of depression or hurt.  That moon doesn’t celebrate one’s accomplishments.  That moon doesn’t cheer you on.  It is just there.  Constant.

In the torture, pain and death of Christ – we see the disciples lose hope (scattering to the winds).  In the bleakness of that moment when all that had been hoped for, all that had been planned, all the triumphs of miracles and followers and everything Christ had said would come to pass – seemed lost in the very fact that Christ had been crucified.  Where do you find hope in death?  Where do you find hope in finality?

Though I’m searching for hope, I know that it will come.

The world keeps turning.

Lenten Blog – Day 37 – Searching for Peace

The news hit again, a terrorist attack on Brussels, dozens dead.  Drone strikes and ISIS and shootings in the street.  Paris attacks and immigrants drowned.  Terrible, terrible things.

How do you find peace in a world where war seems so prevalent?  How do you find peace in the journey of Christ to the cross?  Violence begetting violence.  Swords and cut off ears and hands being nailed to a cross?

Years ago I remember hearing a story about a woman who complained to the local library because they had a dictionary which contained, what she said, were dirty words.  She found these words offensive and brought the book to the head librarian and demanded that the book be removed.

“This book contains dirty words!”  She said to the head librarian.

And the librarian responded with:  “Madam, you were looking for them.”

It’s difficult in this 24-7 world of news and internet and Facebook, etc. to find peace.  It’s easy to find war and fear and hatred and anger and murder and strife and confusion and pain and evil.  A lot of our economy is based on those.  What’s going to put you in front of your TV so that every 12 minutes we can sell you products that make you feel inferior about yourself, your body, your sex drive, your car, your life?

Someone once said:  “Imagine how many magazines and companies would go out of business if women just accepted their bodies exactly how they are.”

Let’s face it:  It’s hard to find peace.  It takes work.  It takes thought.  It takes effort.  Sometimes it means stripping away old prejudices or thought processes and rethinking things.

I walk by a Mosque two times a day.  For some politicians that mosque should have a cop car out front 24/7.  Those going to and from should be profiled.  We should train cameras on the mosque.  Heck, while we’re at it, let’s just round ‘em all up and put arm bands on them and put them in a nice fun camp somewhere so they can’t hurt us or hurt each other.

If I sought fear and hatred and anger and frustration maybe I’d go the long way around.  Maybe I’d just keep walking.  Maybe I’d wait a few more minutes to take a bus that would drive me two blocks a different way.  Maybe.

It’s HARD to find Peace.  I admit that.  And it’s a struggle.  But, honestly, if you look hard enough.  You can find it.

Even in the darkness.

Lenten Blog – Day 36 – Searching for the Messiah

When I talk of logic and think of the time Jesus walked the earth (and if you buy into everything in the story at face value) there’s something that’s always on the fringes of my mind:  “How many Messiahs were there?”

The people in Jesus’s time were simple folk.  As I may have written in a previous blog, someone pointed out that the technological advancement of a wheelbarrow would have blown their minds.  Many were illiterate and easily sway-able with hear-say and rumor.  I’m sure if you just said to Bill that Kyle had Leprosy - Kyle would be in for a bit of a hard time.  The ten commandments that Moses brought down from the mountains had morphed into hundreds of rules and regulations for the people to follow because, as they knew, if they followed them there rules, they’d have eternal life or power or control or God’s favor.

With Jesus’ ability to tell stories that made sense to the masses and to teach in the synagogue and be called Rabbi - it was obvious that Jesus was a learned man.  Probably could have been in the Judean version of Mensa.  So, certainly, he was a threat to the ones in power and control.  He was smart.  And the rumors of him doing some kick-ass miracles were starting to get to the authorities.

In Luke 23, verses 8 & 9:  ⁸When Herod saw Jesus, he was very glad, for he had been wanting to see him for a long time, because he had heard about him and was hoping to see him perform some sign. ⁹He questioned him at some length, but Jesus gave him no answer.

So, yes, word on gotten to Herod about what Jesus was doing and I can’t imagine the communications systems were all that great 2000+ years ago.

But I often wonder how many other “messiahs” were there.  How many others thought they were the chosen one?  How many had some obscure dream which told them that they were to be the next King of the Jews?

If Jesus was from the line of David, how did we exactly know this?  Was his mother from the line of David since she was the one pregnant with him?  Or was Joseph, the surrogate father?  And, again, how many others thought that they had the answer to the problems of the suffering of the Jews?  It’s not like ancestry.com was available for them to quickly log in and do a little research.  And it wouldn’t surprise me if Meredith, around the watering hole, pointed out that her son Biff seemed especially good at drawing in the dirt and she was certain that their family was from the line of David.  So Biff was, certainly, destined for great things.

Much like hind-sight is 20-20, I imagine that the authorities and disciples and the story tellers were able to piece together the fragments of Jesus’s journey from Birth to Resurrection and then fit it into a whole (even taking four books of the bible to do it).

And what of these other messiahs, kings, rulers, saviors?  To what end did they meet?  I assume that they met a grisly end, no doubt.  And the word of their grisly end sent shockwaves through their followers and their friends who slunk back into the recesses for fear of retribution by the authorities.

So here comes Jesus.  Already known for doing some amazing things.  Already hitting the tabloids that Herod reads:  “He hangs with sinners!  He runs with tax collectors and prostitutes!  People call him a king chosen by God!  HE DOES MIRACLES!”  Known throughout a land that doesn’t even have a dial-up modem.

How many discarded what he said as the ramblings of yet another madman – a friend of that other madman John the Baptist?  How many turned aside when wanting to see a man on a horse with sword in hand but instead got a carpenter on a donkey preaching love and forgiveness?

Searching for a messiah, how many walked on by casting him with the others who came before him?

I wonder.

Lenten Blog – Day 35 – Searching for Truth – 2 + 2 = 5

Holy Week is starting and I’m six blogs away from finishing this path that I’m on. I really didn’t think I’d last this long, to be honest. I figured I’d peter-out about 20 and come up with some excuse or realize that no one was actually reading them and quit writing them, so no loss anyway, right? If a blog in the blogosphere doesn’t get read, does it truly exist?

And now, with Holy Week underway I’m scrambling to find some morsels of something in the recesses of my brain cupboard. All I’m finding is out-of-date soup. But even soup is something, unless it’s cream of mushroom.

So why not handle “Truth.”

I know within the next few days I’m going to be bombarded with a bunch of images and stories and rituals and church services. The images and stories and rituals and church services will collide in my brain like they have in the past and I will question and I will nod and I will reason and I will ask and I will confirm and I will shake my head and I will rationalize and I will wonder a basic question: Did it all really happen? Is it true? What is the truth?

If I type 2+2=5 your brain snaps. You know that 2+2 does not equal 5. It’s not true. You know this because you were taught from a young age about numbers. Whether by your parents or a teacher or your older sibling who pointed out that HE got FIVE pieces of candy and you only got FOUR. There’s something about 2+2=4 that rings true to you. What if you discovered some ancient tribe and 2+2=bogsnap to them. Bogsnap would be true to them and not to you and 4 would be true to you, but not to them. So which one is true? Can you both be true? And where does that truth come from?

"They’re over there with their picnic basket."  As an editor, I see that this sentence is correct. But if you start messing with the their, there, they’re and getting them out of order, my brain will attempt to put them in the correct order. “Their over they’re with there picnic basket” is so out of whack, WORD wants me to fix it. Even a dumb word processing program knows what is true or not - at least when it comes to editing.  An "editorial truth" if you will.

Still, what I’m trying to get to, is what is it about our brains that say “aha!” to this and “nu-uh” to that? I’m sure therapists and psychologists, etc. have some general understanding of basic comprehension when your brain acknowledges that something is correct and true and when your brain doesn’t. It’s like I’ve written in previous blogs about logic. There are some things in Christ’s journey to the cross where it rings true but then there are logic gaps that make me question. Maybe that’s why I continue to focus on the political aspect of this path that Christ is on - because it makes logical sense. Man is on a path, man talks of love and peace and fighting the good fight, man gathers followers, man journeys to Jerusalem where he is seen as a threat to the governing authority and is arrested, tortured and put to death only to rise again in three days.

As logical, or illogical, as that may be, there’s still something about it that “rings true” for me. Even while I question and search and rationalize and look deep into myself and my psyche I can’t help but wonder if it rings true because that was what I was taught. That’s how I was raised. That’s what I learned. 2+2=4. Jesus died and rose from the dead three days later.

Is it true because it's true?  Or is it true because someone said it was true?  Or do I take it on faith?

Lenten Blog – Day 34 – Sixth Sunday in Lent

Luke 19:28-40

 

When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, saying, ‘Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” just say this: “The Lord needs it.” ’ So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’ They said, ‘The Lord needs it.’ Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying,
‘Blessed is the king
   who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven,
   and glory in the highest heaven!’ 
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, order your disciples to stop.’ He answered, ‘I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.’

It’s kind of obvious that I’m not a biblical scholar. I can quote maybe 10 verses from the bible and that’s if you spot me seven of them to begin with. But I do know this: the bible was written a long time ago by many different people. Stories that were passed down from the ages. I don’t believe that people were in a ‘trance’ when they wrote the bible and were holy stenographers for God. I do believe that a lot of the stories can influence our minds and actions today. How often have we wanted to throw stones at those we feel unworthy? How often have we wanted to remove the speck of dust from our brother’s eye while leaving a plank in our own? How often have I not helped the poor, the suffering, the destitute, the outcast? But as these stories have filtered out over the many years, they begin to take on a life of their own.

We’ve heard the story of Palm Sunday many many times. What a fun parade welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem. Cloaks and branches and leaves covering the ground as he rides a donkey. People cheering him on like he’s a top 10 Wide Receiver for your favorite football team.

Over the years our church has paraded around our block marching and singing and ringing bells and annoying the neighbors for 15 minutes.

My job, during these processionals, was to be “traffic control.” Nick and I with walkie-talkies in hand would make sure no cars would go down the street while people were walking. It was an important job and someone had to do it. This meant that Nick and I didn’t get to “march and sing” but brought up the rear.

Before one of these marches/processionals, one of the priests of the church used the word “riot” instead of processional. His reasoning, probably through years of study, was that this processional of Jesus into Jerusalem was not a lovely parade but, in fact, a riot.

If it was a riot, how does that effect the story? Kind of makes it less “Arbor Day Fun” and more “oh crap.”

As I read this passage again, I see the riot more clearly. I also see how the people in power would suddenly, logically, move quickly to crush this rebellion and their “king” Jesus.

If you put yourself in the minds of the Roman Authorities and Pharisees’ they’ve heard about this Jesus guy roaming the countryside performing miracles. Sure. No problem there. Yeah, he’s friends with that crackpot John the Baptist, no problem there. Fed some people with some loaves and fishies. Still, no problem. Raises Lazarus from the dead. Seriously?! Oh no he didn’t! And now, showing up like a King, riding a donkey and everyone cheering him on and treating him like a king and praising his miracles. THIS we need to put a stop to. Before he starts too much trouble.

I imagine during this time in Jerusalem, there were many insurrections against the authorities. “Judean People’s Front” and the “Peoples’ Front of Judea,” if you will - and I had heard that crucifixions were common - not only as a way to torture, punish and kill rabble-rousers but also as a way to keep everyone in line.

If you’re traveling to a city and you pass by a hundred or so crosses with dead and dying people on them as you enter said city - you might think twice about stepping out of line. The act of crucifixion was both a death sentence AND a warning.

People had to know this. The crowd cheering Jesus on had to know this. The authorities certainly had to know this. So when this is all going down - imagine what Jesus and the disciples are thinking. Imagine what is going through their heads as people are yelling and screaming to the point where the authority is asking Jesus to have them “pipe down” and Jesus refuses.

If you look at this as a riot directed against the ruling authority of Jerusalem at the time it loses some of it’s lovely quaintness of palm branches and donkey riding and you realize things are about to get very, very real.

Lenten Blog – Day 33 – Christ on Film - Wrap Up

If I haven’t already stretched this topic far enough, here again is another blog entry to finish it up (and take up one more of the 40 blogs...).

There are, certainly, films where Christ was front and center that I did not bring up.  I chose to focus on films that I had actually seen but feel remiss if I don’t mention the others that may have popped into your head.

First: “Jesus of Nazareth”  I can’t remember if I had seen this film or not but it appears to fall into the “let’s have a bland white guy play a charismatic character.”  I’m sure that I’ve seen this film at some point during my formative years but I don’t remember it (typically a bad sign).

"I just can't get my hand shadow spider to work very well..."

Second:  “Jesus Christ Superstar”  I’ve seen bits and pieces of this film over the years and, for some reason, it really doesn’t demand my attention.  Maybe it should.  In my brain I can understand the concept of a modern day group of mimes/clowns/actors trotting around a desolate New York City singing and telling parables.  But I don't know if I can grasp the concept of a group of disciples bursting into song 2000 years ago.  So sue me.

Is he holding a cross or a surf board?

Jesus!  Jesus!  OVER HERE!!

Third, and probably most important in terms of impact both monetarily and publicly:  “The Passion of the Christ” - Mel Gibson’s self financed blockbuster that broke box office records.   Why haven’t I seen it?  Probably the same reason I haven’t watched “Saw” or “Hostel” or any other film that can be described as torture porn.

If you’ve seen it and loved it.  Great.  I, honestly, don’t want to see the images that known anti-Semite Mel Gibson puts on the screen.  Granted, mad props to him doing the film in Latin and Hebrew and taking some other risks (mostly financial) but images can be lasting.  Images can be important and I really don’t know if I want Mel Gibson’s images of Christ getting the living crap kicked, beaten and bled out of him for two hours to filter through my brain on Good Friday service. 

Uh, yeah....

Thank you for reading this collection.  Now to move onto other subjects.  If I could only figure out what they'll be....

Lenten Blog – Day 32 – Christ on Film - “The Miracle Maker” (2000)

The last film in this collection of blogs is, actually, a feature length puppet film entitled “The Miracle Maker.”

Ralph (Voldemort) Fiennes does the voice of Jesus while others such as William Hurt, Alfred Molina, Julie Christie and more fill out the cast.

Cool puppetry.

Don’t let the fact that it’s a “puppet film” scare you from the story.  At first blush you may think it’s for children, but it’s an actually very well thought-out piece of work.  Sure, it has a little “Rankin & Bass-ness” to it but there are moments where the puppet/Claymation aspect shifts into beautiful hand-drawn animation.  Plus there are no songs.

This.

Not this.

And speaking of the animation, I can’t begin to tell you how well done it is.  It is just stunning and it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around the toil and work it took to put this together.  If you just watch it for the animation alone, it’s worth the price of admission.

Some really good cel animation, too.

As to the story:  At last our Jesus doesn’t look like he stepped out of Esquire magazine.  He actually looks the part of a middle-eastern Jew and it’s obvious that this Russian/UK co-production put in a heckuva lot of work to create this world.

Okay, maybe a European version of Esquire Magazine.

The film does a great job balancing the political aspect of the story and the eventual death and, surprisingly, the resurrection of Christ.

Not John Wayne.

With all the films in this collection, none of them broach the actual resurrection.  The films just kind of “end” when this is truly the beginning.

Nice detail work.

Sure, as Victor Garber is paraded around empty New York, or we know “Glowing Christ Arm” is going to come back, or when John Wayne says his ONE LINE that there is more to come – the screen goes to black and we all leave the theater or turn off the DVD player and go back to our chicken salad recipe we’re working on but “The Miracle Maker” actually GOES THERE.

Why these other films just sort of stop after he’s on the cross, or has been brought down and placed in the tomb is beyond me.  It’s like they’re completely okay with “water-into-wine” and “casting out demons” and “loaves-and-fishies” and even “Lazarus from the grave” but the resurrection?  Yeah, not going there.  Why?

At least “The Miracle Maker” has scenes that focus on the resurrection and the disciples’ and Mary Magdalene’s response to it.

How this film came to be in my collection, I do not know.  I don’t know if it had a theatrical release here in the states.  And, sure, maybe it was a straight-to-video distribution – but don’t let that, or its animation, make you think of this film less than what it is.  It is well done on multiple levels – animation, “acting,” voice acting and story.

Trump rally or scene from the film?  Hard to tell the difference.

Lenten Blog – Day 31 – Christ on Film - “Godspell” (1973)

This film had such impact on me that, when I was baptized as a baptismal gift I asked for, and received the soundtrack. I think I still have it somewhere (this was noted in an earlier blog post but unless you haven’t been following along…).

Soundtrack.  I played this.  A lot.

 

When I was trying to come up with a description of this film that didn’t involve the words “hippie” or “free love” – I found this from IMDB:

A modern-day version of the gospels, opening with John the Baptist calling a disparate group of young New Yorkers from their workaday lives to follow and learn from Jesus. They form a roving acting troupe that enacts the parables through song and dance, comedy, and mime. Jesus' ministry ends with a last supper, his Crucifixion in a junkyard, and, the following morning, his body being carried aloft by his apostles back into the world of the living on the streets of New York.

Clowns or mimes or street performers or homeless people....

Based on the stage musical and the full title being: “Godspell: A musical based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew” (though three of the parables come from Luke), we in the Terry household have watched this film, traditionally, on Holy Saturday.

Where people may dismiss the film as hippy-dippy claptrap that is very much a product of its time, I still find the film powerful in its own way and very much enjoyable. And the songs, well, as Tony-the-Tiger would say: “They’re GREAT!”

A couple places where the film fails is the overt use of ADR. ADR is a term in filmmaking circles and it is short for “After Dialogue Recording.” Typically any film that is made, for some reason, the dialogue isn’t picked up in a scene or two so the actors are called in at some point to do ADR. Speak in a microphone and the sound guys match it up with the scene. If it’s done flawlessly you won’t notice.

Twin Towers played a significant part in one of the songs.

Recently, while watching the show “Top Chef” it was obvious that they did some ADR as Padme Lakshmi’s voice went from one octave to a lower octave back to the original octave. It’s not something that people particularly notice and, when it’s done well, you won’t notice it AT ALL – but I’m kind of a geek when it comes to film so this type of stuff I notice. Just like the time on “Dance Moms” when, for some reason, the filmmakers reversed a shot of a mom blinking and it looked weird…but I digress.

In Godspell it appears that this group of mimes, artists, clowns – once they go on their adventures have the run of the city. You see NO ONE ELSE - kind of in a creepy zombie type way.

In this scene, stuff just got real.

How did the film makers not have the sounds of the city? How did the film makers remove all the minutiae from an enormous city and focus on just these few characters?

Simple: ENTIRE ADR. From what I can tell, they recorded no live sound. No microphones (boom or otherwise) and just filmed the entire movie with whatever sounds were around them. Then, in post, they had to layer on all the sounds. Sound effects, songs, dialogue etc. Every bit of it. They do it very well, don’t get me wrong but once you realize what they’ve done, you can’t un-see it or un-hear it. So for that aspect of the film, I become detached from the story. Much like it’s difficult for me to look at, supposed, “historic” films of Jesus’ life and see a white guy from Green Bay or some Swedish dude. I can’t help but be a bit detached from the goings on.

Godspell doesn’t break new ground nor do I think that people were up-in-arms about it. No protests here. I can understand why people would dismiss its hippy-dippy 1973 stuck in a time-warp world…but, again, I find the film powerful and enjoyable on many different levels.

And maybe that’s the biggest thing: It’s different.

Victor Garber...then.

Side note: After watching it one time I researched out the cast only to find a couple of them had died of AIDS. Victor Garber, who played Jesus, has had an amazing career beyond this film (128 credits according to IMDB) – even designing the “Titanic” in James Cameron’s Best Picture winner. He still shows up in multiple films or TV shows and I always compare him now to the frizzy haired Superman T-Shirt overall wearing Jesus and laugh.

Victor Garber...now.

Lenten Blog – Day 30 – Christ on Film - “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988)

I remember the petition well.  In 1987 I was shopping at a Family Christian Book Store in Lynnwood and there was a petition for me to sign wanting ban or stop the film “The Last Temptation of Christ.”  Seemed a script had gotten leaked out to the public and a number of evangelical or fundamentalist Christians or churches had gotten up-in-arms about it.  The script, the petition said, had scenes of Jesus having sex, getting married and other such blasphemous things.  Knowing full well that scripts change all the time and that the final product was probably nowhere near as oogy-boogy scary as this petition was making it out to be, I didn’t sign it.

Jesus and the Boys

When the film (based on a 1955 novel) was finally released, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding it.  Part of it was that in the film Jesus encourages Judas to betray him and then there are the scenes where Jesus comes down from the cross and lives his life as if he never was crucified, died and was buried.  Including getting married, having sex(!) and being a parent and a father.

It was banned in Australia, many places in Europe, the Catholic Church came out against it and, of course, Evangelical and Fundamentalist churches had issues with it.

At least this Jesus smiles.

It’s been years since I saw the film and I should really give it another look.  Sure, I’m not that thrilled that another white actor (Willem Defoe – a good ol’ Wisconsin boy) plays a middle-eastern Jew and even Martin Scorsese favorite Harvey Keitel shows up as a Ginger.

Does Harvey Keitel have a soul?

But why the controversy?  Is it not possible to wonder what would have happened IF Christ had not taken the cup that was his?  What if God had let the cup pass him by:

Matthew: 36-44

36Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”  39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter.  41“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  42He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.”  43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy.  44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

THREE TIMES Jesus asks not to partake in this cup or this journey through torture, death and resurrection.  Isn’t it possible that during any one of those three times he thought about the life he could have if the cup were to pass him by?

 Going back to one of my early blogs, I talk about the duality of Christ and the devil tempting him with great power and wealth and notoriety.  I mean he’d be bigger than the Beatles!

But what if there was a third choice that didn’t involve power and ruling nations and control and hanging with the devil on steeples?  What if there was the option that Christ could fall in love, get married (and all that that entails) and have children and teach them how to live a good and Godly life and deny his path to Calvary.

Jesus much older than 32 or 33 years of age.

Doesn’t staying on the cross mean that much more if that option is placed in front of him?  How many of us would make that choice?  What does it mean to be fully human and fully God?

The irony of “The Last Temptation of Christ” is that many of the organizations that rejected the film or script outright have now embraced the film and show it and discuss it.

Wonder if they had actually seen the film?

In some countries, including Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, the film was banned or censored for several years. As of July 2010, the film continues to be banned in the Philippines and Singapore.

I think your eight marriages were a slap in the face of Christians everywhere, Mick.

Lenten Blog – Day 29 – Christ on Film - “Greatest Story Ever Told” aka “Dead Christ Walking” (1965)

Finally we get to a film where Christ is the star. Not a glowing arm, not a character way off in the distance and used for a joke. But actually and for true, HE’S THE MAIN CHARACTER! And what a character he is!

“Greatest Story Ever Told” starring Swedish Actor Max Von Sydow as the main character is the one we all grew up watching. Like “The Ten Commandments” or “Ben-Hur” or “Sound of Music” these were once or twice-a-year events where the family would sit around the 19” color RCA and let the beauty of pan-and-scan cropped films awash us in biblical glory while advertisements for Tang or the AMC Gremlin or Ovaltine came at us every 15 minutes or so - making these event evenings go to 11 p.m. and, sometimes, well past which made it all the more fun to stay up late and watch Jesus get crucified.

Chuck Heston from Moses to John the Baptist

 “Greatest Story Ever Told” certainly fit into that category and nothing like a Swedish actor known more for working with Ingmar Bergman (and lately seen in “Star Wars - The Force Awakens”) to play a middle-eastern Jew.

 Did you know Jesus was in "Force Awakens?"

But why do I refer to this film as “Dead Christ Walking?” It’s simply because Max Von Sydow played Jesus as a dour walking death sentence. I don’t even think he smiles once in the film. When talking about Christ in films I remember someone (maybe a priest) say that there was nothing remotely human or even likable about this portrayal of Jesus.

 Is that a smile?  Sort of?

No charisma, no joy, no...nothing. Just. There.

Certainly the film’s 3 hour plus running time and John Wayne’s stunning appearance when he shows up at the end to recite just one line are selling points to the epic-ness of this film, but I left the film wanting. Wanting more passion in the passion.

Probably took him 1000 times longer to get in his costume, than it took him to say his line.

The all star cast included Biblical Epic Icon himself Charlton Heston. Telly Savalas, Roddy McDowell, Angela Lansbury and many others added to the credibility to the production but it was casting Max Von Sydow as Jesus the Christ that was, in my opinion, the weak link in the production.

Sidney Poitier shows up to help.

Still - as Jesus biblical epics go. This was the cream of the crop.

NOW he smiles?