A religious studies professor at Hamilton College says Mel Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, portrays Jesus as "triumphant action hero" for the first time in film history. Steve Humphries-Brooks, associate professor of religious studies, says "Because of the cinematic style you vaccilate between seeing Jesus as an action hero or as a Caravaggio painting come to life." In addition, said Humphries-Brooks, "No mainstream film on Jesus has pushed the envelope toward anti-Semitism as far as this one. The Passion goes as far as possible and still maintains plausible deniability."
Humphries-Brooks teaches a popular course at Hamilton, "The Celluloid Savior," that shows how Hollywood movies have created an image of Jesus that is sensational and false. He said, "While public furor has always been over the 'authenticity' of the Hollywood Jesus, the overlooked issue is really what this Jesus says about America, where we are and where we are going."
Humphries-Brooks said The Passion shows a "downtrodden, suffering, bloody Jesus who rises triumphantly to lead us muscularly into the 21st century. Every Jesus movie out of Hollywood since 1927 has projected a different Jesus image for America, while claiming to be authentic, pious and historically true," he said. But, he added, "The best place to learn about Jesus is still the Bible."
Humphries-Brooks questions whether films about Jesus are an attempt to be true to the look and people of Palestine in the first century, or simply a way to feature well-known caucasian actors because Americans identify with superstars. "We envy them and want to live like them. So they're very appealing and influential," he said. "In looking at Jesus movies, what are viewers going to look at -- how closely the movie follows the Gospel, or who's starring in it?" As a result he says that many people incorrectly base their knowledge of Jesus' life on those films, not on the Bible.
