Anytime the word "accurate" is uttered in the same breath as Jesus, I always cringe.  "Faithful translation," now there's something I can get behind.  Any film can offer a "faithful translation" of the story surrounding Jesus of Nazareth; it simply depends on the works' ability to offer a cohesive line of thinking, usually based off of some previously constructed source material i.e. The New Testament, historical recreations, critical analyses etc.  These translations are not, however, accurate.  None of them can conform exactly to the truth for the undeniable certainty that, beyond the confines of faith, we don't have a strong grasp of who Jesus was.  What we have is an idea of what he represented based on violently skewed and spotty accounts.  The result of which is a two-thousand-year-old "guesstimation." 

Hollywood has always been fascinated with its most famous Hebrew; and so, in honor of Mel Gibson's latest "translation," let us take a brief look at how movies have perceived this icon over the last century.

In the beginning, there was blasphemy…

Fun with proofs:  1.) When the divine is even slightly misrepresented, it is blasphemous.  2.) Man can never truly understand divinity because man is not divine.  3.)  Any representation of the divine is blasphemous.

And so, playing Jesus as anything other than a man is sinful.  But of course, contradiction is the heart of religion.  So, let's move on.

The first well-known attempt at portraying the son of man comes in "The King of Kings" (1927) directed by Cecile B. DeMille.  Believe it or not, the production was so concerned that the actor playing Jesus (H.B. Warner) would be somehow punished from on-high that they tried shrouding his identity, transporting him in concealed cars, and denying the press any sort of information about the role before the film was complete.  

This was the time in movies of Jesus as God undeniable, and it includes such classics as "Ben-Hur" (1959), a movie still regarded as one of the most influential motion pictures of all time.  Heston plays a Jewish prince who rises from the depths of slavery to reclaim his heritage.  Here, Jesus is not much more than a clandestine image glowing onto the face of Judah Ben-Hur.  But, this effect was common to the period: reducing Christ to an overblown spotlight.

Too good to be true…

Slowly, but surely, the man from Nazareth found voices of dissent in Hollywood.   Both "King of Kings" (1961) and "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (1965) tried grounding Jesus in the effort to make his plight more realistic and thus more applicable.  Miracles were downplayed for everyday encounters and messages of political change. 

The biggest leaps in this wave of realism came in the rock operas "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1972) and "Godspell" (1973).  Here, Jesus is almost never seen as supernatural.  He challenges his fate and seems more interested in answering his fellow man than an ethereal father figure.  The landmark in this evolution of ideals came via "The Last Temptation of Christ" (1988).  Scorsese's Jesus was the epitome of authentic struggle in a time of intense social conflict.  This immature and temperamental Christ often became too human for most audiences to bear, so much so that many groups banned the movie and protested its release.

The way was now permanently paved for free interpretation of the "Christ-God."  But the route would not be pleasant.

Freak on a leash…

In light of such blatant depictions of Jesus in the first half of the 20^th Century, Hollywood seemed content on merely imitating him throughout the 1980s and 90s.  Since Christ is more a running theme than a creature of flesh and blood in most peoples' minds, it only stands to reason that the framework of his final days be transposed for the purpose of pathos and profit.  The examples are too many to list in entirety, but the biggest offenders include "Being There" (1979), "E.T. The Extraterrestrial" (1982), "Forrest Gump" (1994), "Powder" (1995), "Braveheart" (1995), "The Spitfire Grill" (1996), "Sling Blade" (1996), "Phenomenon" (1996), and "The Green Mile" (1999). 

In all of these examples, a genuinely compassionate and misunderstood character, usually depicted as apart or differentiated from the main, is persecuted by the status quo and eventually condemned for this separation.  Before their exile/death, however, the character either heals or redeems the very people that have forsaken him/her.  For example, Steven Spielberg later admitted that with "E.T.," he encouraged screenwriter Melissa Mathison to specifically map the adventures of the alien to the exploits of Christ. 

Most recently in this string of thematic steals is "The Matrix" trilogy (1999, 2003).  Creators Andy and Larry Wachowski unabashedly copied almost every detail concerning Jesus of Nazareth and applied it to a modern sensibility.  Neo, or "new Adam," is awakened to a world enslaved to a mechanized and brutal mentality, only to find himself the reluctant savior of the planet by means of voluntary death.  I wonder how devout fans of the series would react in discovering that the very film they worship embodies ideals they have vehemently resisted.

Resurrection…

The future for the onscreen savior is unclear.  I believe it will rest somewhere in between devout fellowship - "The Passion of the Christ" (2004) – and bitter suspicion – "Stigmata" (1999). 

A good example of this balance is "Hannibal" (2001).  Here, the character of Hannibal represents the mongoloid Christ.  His world is filled with a mindless populace more fit for consumption than companionship.  Those who would betray him are shamelessly murdered (The Italian inspector trades information on Hannibal for three million dollars – a multiple of the thirty pieces of silver Judas offered for his indictment – believe me, it is no coincidence) and seemingly left in a state of neither salvation nor condemnation, but that of everlasting death.  This is the same conclusion Jesus of Nazareth predicted for those who did not choose a spiritual leader.  As such, Hannibal believes he is saving his victims by offering them a more honest portrayal of their own life.

Believer or no, Jesus is a powerful metaphor for the brutality and beauty of humanity.  The intricacies of drama associated with this interplay are infinite and thus will undoubtedly provide the big screen with content for years to come.

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