‘Passion’ featured in Vanderbilt class on Jesus in film
NASHVILLE — Susan Bond is a movie buff, but when she goes to see Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” it won’t be solely for entertainment.
She will be taking students from her class on Jesus films at Vanderbilt University Divinity School.
Bond, who normally teaches preaching and worship, said the big-budget release Feb. 25 gave her the idea for the elective class this spring.
“I knew there would be a lot of interest in it, and the students and I will go see the film and review it,” she said before the class began last month.
As they would in any film class, the students will look at the use of light and sound, but they also will study historical and biblical accuracy, the depiction of Jesus and the portrayal of miracles.
Bond said she expects Gibson’s Jesus, played by James Caviezel, to be holy, but human.
“The whole issue of the pain and the passion and all the blood is not significant unless we somehow identify with his suffering,” she said.
Many Jewish leaders who have seen advance screenings have complained the movie blames Jews for the death of Jesus. Gibson, who also funded and co-scripted the film, denies that charge.
The Vanderbilt class will watch about a dozen movies, including 1913’s “From the Manger to the Cross,” the 1979 satire “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” and the Y2k depiction of the Jesus story in 1998’s “The Book of Life.”
Films about Jesus typically reflect the contemporary culture, Bond said.
“When you get into the ’60s and ’70s, Jesus films are really making comments on politics and issues. ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ was very much a commentary on free love, the hippie lifestyle, and began to deal with some gender issues,” she said.
“You see the women followers of Jesus really taking on more responsibility, becoming more high-profile and more rounded characters.”
Some films portray Jesus as a social radical; others show him struggling with sexuality. Some Jesuses are dark-skinned (in one film, the Jesus figure is a black South African); others have blue eyes and blond hair.
“Sometimes the movies make him untouchable. They use lighting tricks that make it look like his head is glowing,” Bond said.
Bond first became interested in Jesus films after reading a book on Christian art that included a few references to movies.
A few years ago, she taught a summer class on Jesus in film and loved it. She was thrilled when some students decided they wanted to write a play or movie (complete with original score) instead of a regular research paper on the subject.
“I hope the students are able to reflect on contemporary culture and how it interacts with religious faiths,” Bond said.
Her favorite Jesus films include “Life of Brian,” the Monty Python spoof, which, unexpectedly, was among the most accurate historically. “And there’s a wonderful treatment of Judaism. This Jesus is possibly the most emphatically Jewish that we get.”
She also likes “Jesus of Montreal,” which centers on a contemporary drama group putting on the Passion Play, and “Greaser’s Palace,” an absurdist 1972 film in which the Jesus character parachutes into the 1880s wild West in a zoot suit.
Bond knows some movies may be objectionable to students, so she offers an alternative: They can watch a six-hour made-for-TV drama called “Jesus of Nazareth.”
“Some students think this is evil of me,” she said, laughing, but added it is much a more traditional portrayal of the Jesus story.
In the first class, no one declined to watch a movie. “Certainly some were disturbed. But it was honestly more disturbing to those were who were not theology students,” Bond said. “They’re used to pretty rigorous challenges. The whole process of theology pulls the rug out from under people and makes them rethink everything.”
Sherry Harris, a second-year theology student and associate pastor at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church in Decatur, Ala., said she is taking the class in part because Bond is an extraordinary teacher.
“She’s like a kaleidoscope, showing you how to look at the same old things in new ways.”
Also, the Chattanooga native said, “I’m always looking for new ways to tell the same good story. I’m hoping this class might enable me to do that.”
On the Net:
Movie site, http://www.thepassionofthechrist.com/