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SYLLABUS: COMM 323/RELST
323: Christian Theology and Film |
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Terry Lindvall, PhD, Graybeal 3 757-455-3277; tlindvall@vwc.edu Office Hours T/Th 1:00 – 3:00 pm or by request COURSE DESCRIPTION: Christian Theology and Film is a class devoted to
exploring how the fields of Christian theology and film studies
cross-fertilize each other, with special attention given to the
ways in which film functions as religious discourse.
Students will investigate the historical evolution of film as a means
of communicating theological doctrines or Christian themes through its
narrative patterns and to analyze how religious and secular films have
been and are constructed as cultural texts that advise not only how
one should live, but what one should believe. In particular, we
will explore the sermonic nature of film, various hermeneutics of film,
and how audiences receive and appropriate both manifest and latent
religious meanings. The primary mode of focus for this course will be to
trace decades of faith, decades of doubt, exploring how cinema
reaffirms, subverts, or purifies one’s dogmas and one’s experiences. What that means is that we will investigate how films
tend to reaffirm one’s belief system or how they tend to provoke doubt
and questioning. Beyond this, we will also examine how each of us
responds to film; how we interpret films through our own lenses or basic
assumptions; and we fit their rhetorical messages into the web of
beliefs that we hold. In
particular, we will test the supportive or subversive impact of
religious films to sustain faith or advocate doubt and how such
encounters might encourage (or discourage) a discussion of such issues
and values.. Prerequisites: three semester hours in Communications,
English, History, Philosophy, or Religious studies. COURSE OBJECTIVES: The generating purpose of this course is to enable the
student to explore and analyze films that aspire to deal with religious
and spiritual themes, images and subjects.
The focus will be on those films that deal primarily with the
Christian message and iconography. In
aiding the student in sifting various hermeneutical approaches, we hope
to guide the cineaste
in watching, interpreting, and critiquing film as religious discourse,
as recommending particular ways of "seeing" God or His
competitors or those creatures made in His image, however smudged or
bent. SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: After completing this course, the student should be able
to Discuss
the nature, history, and scope of religious films and explain
the functions they perform for diverse audiences/consumers. Recognize,
analyze, and discuss religious symbols, images, myths, rituals, themes, and
codes as they appear and function in film. Demonstrate
an understanding of cultural variables (class, gender, and race) as they
play in recreating religious faith in their own images. Think
critically about the relationship of personal faith to cinema, and articulate
a theology, posture, and vision about the phenomenon of film. Explain
how
personal faith and doubt are aided and abetted by film watching
experiences; how film shapes, challenges, and disturbs one’s beliefs
about the world. REQUIRED TEXTS: Flesher,
Paul V. M. and Robert Torrey Film
and Religion
(Abingdon, 2007) Lindvall,
Terry Sanctuary
Cinema (NYU Press,
2007) Selected
Readings in Theology and Film
(VWC: Virginia Wesleyan College Library, 2006) and on Blackboard RECOMMENDED TEXTS: Johnson,
Robert: Reel
Spirituality (Grand
Rapids, Baker, 2006). Lindvall,
Terry “Religion and Film: Part I, History and Criticism” Communication
Research Trends
23:4 (Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture, 2004) and
“Religion and Film: Part II, Theology and Pedagogy” Communication
Research Trends
24:1 (Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture, 2005) Sanders,
Theresa Celluloid
Images: Images of Sanctity in Film
(Mercer UP, 2002) Schrader,
Paul Transcendental
Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer
(Berkeley: UC Press, 1972) Smith,
Joyce “The Ministry and the Message: What Americans See and Read about
their Leaders” Pulpit
and Pew: Research on Pastoral Leadership
(Durham: Duke Divinity School, 2003). Selective websites: http://www.cmu.ca/library/faithfilm.html#_blogs http://www.unomaha.edu/~wwwjrf/ http://www.artsandfaith.com/t100/ COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Each student is
required to read all assigned texts, articles and assigned materials
before the due date. Each
student is also responsible for all lectures and assigned media
viewings, which implies, none too subtly, that students should attend
all classes and participate actively in class discussions.
Students should view at least one religious/redemptive film
outside class each week. Each student must
review a scholarly
article on religion and film, write one-page single spaced abstract,
make copies of the abstract for other class members, and present the
abstract orally. Articles
from the online Journal
of Religion and Film
are acceptable. Due
September 25. Group Projects: Students will form
groups around cinematic portrayals of Jesus, review the film for the
rest of the class, and discuss its basic theology and its impact on
faith and doubt. Due
September 18 Students will consult
in groups to research, script, and make presentations on alternative
visions of belief and doubt, exploring the faith systems of other
traditions as seen through films. Students will organize around Jewish,
Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist religions. Due
November 27 Historical Context
Essay: Each student will research and write a short critical essay on
how the films of a certain era reflected the religious climate of that
period. Due
October 2 Each student will write
a critical and historical research paper on some significant relation of
theology and film. For example, you may examine the film contributions
of a particular denomination (Roman Catholic, Methodists, Baptists,
etc.), analyze the treatment of film by a particular theological
periodical (e.g. Christian
Century, Christianity Today,
etc.), explore the theological worldview of a certain director and its
impact upon his/her films, investigate a particular theological doctrine
or concept (e.g. transcendence vs. immanence) as it is imaged in film,
or explore key religious themes in specific genres like the western or
horror film. Your article should be designed for publication in a
specified journal (such as the online Journal
of Religion and Film),
usually around 6-12 pages, following the rubric of an academic style
sheet (e.g. MLA). Presentations may be done with PowerPoint or clips. Due
November 13. A quiz (September
11),
a mid term (October
9) and a final
examination (TBA)
will be administered on readings, class lectures and discussions, and
assigned films. Six key films (on Library reserve) must be viewed by the
semester’s end for the final examination.
Half of the final examination will be an answer to the following
questions: How do issues of personal faith and doubt (your own, your
peers, your professor) shape your learning of a course on Theology and
Film? What films challenge your beliefs or confirm your beliefs? What
films provoke doubt or raise other questions for your own life? Or do
they? TENTATIVE SCHEDULE August 28
Prolegomena: Targum, Quadraga, and Finding Faith and Doubt in
Films
Preview of Sanctuary Cinema
Toward the Kinetic Graven Image: St Augustine &
St. John of Damascus The Icon and the Drama:
Precursors to the Religious Cinema
Scenes from La
Dolce Vita,
Andrej
Rublev, and Home Alone
Case Study: The Seventh Seal (Bergman, 1956)
Raising questions on issues of Faith and Doubt—in class essay September 4
The
Silents of God
& the Modern History of Film How
Early Silent Melodrama Films Propagated Victorian Values and How
Westerns Transmuted Calvinist Doctrines
Scenes from Hollywood
Chronicles &
A
Drunkard’s Reformation
Case Study: Broncho
Billy’s Sentence
and Hell’s Hinges
(Hart, 1916) READ:
Lindvall, Sanctuary
Cinema
(Chapters 1-2), Flesher “Intro” & Chapter 1
DUE: Quiz QUESTIONS:
What two primary influences does Sanctuary Cinema examine as sources of religious responses to film?
How did Bergman’s film (Seventh Seal) reflect the ambivalence
of the church toward these two forms? What is Targum? What
were the dominant representations of religious groups during the first
two decades of silent American film (1896-1916)? How were clergy
portrayed? What views of human nature appear in the character of the
Western “good/bad” men like Broncho Billy and William S. Hart? What
roles do the Bible and women play in their conversion narratives? What
tropes do these films share? September 11
Progressive Era and the Transfer of the Sacred Presbyterian Elder,
Roman Catholic Imagination, and Visual Faith
Scenes from Easy
Street (Chaplin,
1916) and Sparrows
(Pickford, 1926) CASE STUDY: The
Gaucho (Fairbanks,
1928) READ:
Kuntz, Maria Elena de las Carreras, “Catholic Vision in Hollywood” Film
History 14 (2002),
121-135; Shafer, Ingrid “Introduction: the Catholic imagination in
popular film and television” Journal
of Popular Film and Television
19: 2 (1991), 50-57; Blake,
Richard “From Peepshow to Prayer: Toward a Spirituality of the
Movies” Journal of Film and Religion 6: 2 (2002) http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/peepshow.htm QUESTIONS:
What do you see as the major differences between Roman Catholic and
Protestant imaginations? On what side do you fall? What three
considerations does Richard Blake want us to consider in reflecting upon
religious films? Who is Andre Bazin and what did he see as the three
types of religious films? What does he mean that films tap into our
sense of myth? What does Blake mean by religious voyeurism and by a
spirituality of the movies? Do you believe his statement: “Look at a
movie, really look, and you will see the face of God?” Why or why not?
What Catholic visions does Kuntz see in the Roman Catholic film
directors? Reform
movements, from Child Labor laws, Sabbatarianism, Temperance, and
Women’s Suffrage were tied to religious movements throughout the
teens. How did the films of the day connect religion and such social
reforms? How were cults and sects portrayed throughout the era? In what
ways did films reaffirm the values of the Progressive reformers and in
what ways did they subvert their motives? What impact did the Hollywood
scandals have on religious responses to the film industry? Who was Will
Hays and what were the prevailing attitudes towards him and the Jewish
leaders of Hollywood? Was there any effect of the
Fundamentalist/Modernist theological controversy on the film industry?
How and in what ways did the Roman Catholic Church make its presence
felt in the film industry? How was it able to become such a major force
in censorship and industry guidelines? September 18
The Shroud of Hollywood: Cinematic Faces of Jesus Split God: The
Divine/Human Tension
CASE STUDY: Scenes
from the Eucharist from Hollywood Jesus films READ:
Matthew
26: 20-30; Mark
14: 12-26; Luke
22: 14-30; John
13-14; Flesher
5-7; Mahan’s “Celluloid Savior” http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/celluloid.htm
DUE:
Group Reports on a Jesus film QUESTIONS:
How do the films about Jesus treat his divinity and humanity? How do
they address issues of faith? In what ways do we see the beliefs or
doubts of the filmmakers in their films? How do these films shape your
understanding of Jesus and His ministry? Is faith or doubt dominant in
your reading of these films? What similarities and differences do you
see between the biblical texts on the Eucharist/Last Supper and the
cinematic representations? September 25 Faith
and Doubt in the Great Depression The Coming of the Code, Quenching of
the Spirit, & Women in the Pulpit Scenes
from Theodora Goes Wild (Richard Boleslawski, 1936) and Strange Cargo (Frank Borzage, 1940) The Miracle Woman (Frank Capra, 1931) READ:
Tibbetts, John “The Wisdom of the Serpent: Frauds and Miracles in
Frank Capra’s The Miracle Woman” Journal of Popular Film and Television 7 (1979), 393-407 DUE:
Abstracts QUESTIONS:
What religious roles did women play in the cinema of the Golden Era? How
did the legal codification of morality effect the representation of
religious characters and issues? Did the law quench the Spirit of
American cinema? Does Capra present a genuine miracle worker or a fraud?
How were belief and doubt part of the suffering of the Great Depression?
Do you think one or the other became dominant? October 2: The Spectacle of Civil
Religion in American History Why
We Believe and Fight CASE STUDY: Sgt
York
(Howard Hawks, 1941) DUE:
Historical Context Essay QUESTIONS:
As American cinema began to emphasize historical dramas, how did
religion fit in with American patriotism? How was Alvin York’s
conversion scene instrumental in preparing Americans for war? How was
Capra’s dark Christian allegory of John Doe helpful in establishing a
realistic attitude toward life and death? In a time of war, how did
Hollywood commodify the values of religion to bolster and uplift
Americans at home and abroad? How did we discover that God was on our
side? After the war, darker notions of human nature infiltrated
Hollywood films. Not only were institutions corrupt, but all people were
characterized by a moral ambiguity. What theological elements of
darkness do we find in Capra’s Christmas movie? What aspects of
theological doctrine correspond to the genre of film noir? October 9: The Fifties and Biblical Blockbusters in the
Secular City Aliens, Religious Spectacles, and Covert Politics CASE
STUDY: On
the Waterfront
(Elia Kazan, 1954) READ:
Flesher Chapter 2-4; Ruppersburg,
H “The alien messiah in recent science fiction films” Journal
of Popular Film and Television
14: 4 (1987), 159-166;
Tomasulo, Frank
“The Gospel according to Spielberg in ET”
Quarterly Review of Film and Video
18: 3 (2001), 273-282 DUE:
Midterm QUESTIONS:
How did biblical blockbusters and films like The Robe point to cultural and political issues? Were true
religious issues crowded out of the cinema? In what ways did the Social
Gospel make a revival, even if as an allegory, in On the Waterfront? In
what ways were aliens viewed as divine figures? Did they bring hope or
judgment? October 16: Hypocrisy and Deconstructing the False
and Fear in Faith CASE STUDY: Elmer
Gantry
(Richard Brooks, 1960) READ:
Flesher, Chapter 11; Steiner, M. “The Humiliation of the Faith:
Representation and Evangelical Christianity in The Apostle” Journal of Communication and Religion
24: 1 (2001), 94-109 QUESTIONS:
In what ways did the prosperity of the 1950s lead to a crisis of faith?
Why did films seem to portray the darker, more fraudulent and
hypocritical side of religion? How does one respond to the dominant
sense of religious corruption on the screen? October 23: Race and the Religious films of the Civil
Rights Era Issues of Representation CASE STUDY: Clips of African-American films READ:
Lindvall, Terry. "Holy Architecture: Cinematic Images of the
Church" Beyond
the Stars, Volume
4 (Paul Loukides & Linda Fuller, eds.) (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling
Green State UP, 1993), 136-171; Reinhart’s “Scripture on the Silver
Screen” http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/scripture.htm QUESTIONS:
How do the images of African-American Christianity differ from other
portrayals of the church? In what ways is sex a key part of these
representations? Why? October 30: All Hallows’ Eve Eve: Evil, Theodicy, and
Blood Scenes from The
Exorcist, The Omen,
Left Behind CASE
STUDY: The
Exorcism of Emily Rose
(Derrickson, 2005) or Signs
(M. Night Shambalya, 2002) READINGS:
Blake, R. A. “Redeemed in Blood: the sacramental universe of Martin
Scorsese” Journal
of Popular Film and Television
24: 1 (1991), 2-9 “Sanctification of Fear” http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/sanctifi.htm “Religious
Film Fears” http://www.quodlibet.net/kozlovic-fears2.shtml QUESTIONS:
What is the face of evil in film? What is its source? Do cinematic
representations of the devil and the demonic persuade of their existence
or cast doubt on the whole realm?
How did the existential crisis of the Death of God slip into mainstream
movies? In what ways did religious faith creep into other genres,
particularly horror? What is the religious significance of blood in
Scorsese’s films and in horror films? November 6: Hagiographies and Saints of Sports Scenes from Amadeus,
Bull Durham,
Saving the Giants, Amazing Grace CASE STUDY: Chariots
of Fire
(Hugh Hudson/David
Puttnam, 1981) READINGS:
Steiner, Mark “The Humiliation of the Faith: Representation and
Evangelical Christianity in The Apostle” Journal of Communication and Religion
24: 1 (2001), 94-109 QUESTIONS:
The latter parts of the 20th
century and the early 21st
century have been friendlier to religious movements as a whole? Why
might this be? What films have captured your religious imagination? Do
you distinguish between spirituality and religion? Does film help you do
this? November 13: Transcendental Style and the 1980s CASE STUDY: Ordet (Carl
Dreyer, 1955) Robert Bresson’s Diary
of a Country Priest;
Tender
Mercies
(Beresford, 1983) READ:
Desser, David "Transcendental Style in 'Tender Mercies'" Religious
Communication Today
(September 1985) 21-27; Hagen, W. M. “Shadowlands and the redemption
of light” Literature/Film
Quarterly 26: 1
(1998), 10-15; Solomon, Martha “Villainless Quest” Communication
Quarterly 31
(1983), 274-281; Review http://www.artsandfaith.com/t100/ DUE:
Research Papers and Presentations November 20: Research Day November 27: Faith through Divine Comedy; The faith of
children in the 1990s Scenes from Ponette,
Simon Birch,
Evelyn, Winn-Dixie, Millions CASE
STUDY: “Hollywood,
Teach us to Pray” READ:
Crouse, Edward E. “We Are Family--Perry Tyler” Film
Comment
(March/April 2006), 42-45; “The 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2006”
ChristianityToday.com; Detweiler, Craig “Divine Comedy at the
Cineplex” Books
and Culture (February
27, 2006), Christianity Today.com; Moring, Mark “Make ‘Em Laugh”
(June 25, 2007) Christianity Today.com QUESTIONS:
What is the relationship between religion and comedy? Can one laugh in
the presence of God? Should one? Are certain religious traditions more
open to various forms of laughter? How have various rituals (e.g.
prayer) and characters (e.g. children) been represented in films? December 4: Other
Faiths, Other Films READ: Flesher, 12-15 CASE STUDY: Babette’s
Feast (Axel, 1987) DUE: Group Projects on films of Different Religious
Traditions Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist TBA:
Apocalypse Now: Last Judgment and Final Examination |
