"The Crossing" and Israel

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I recently watched the pilot episode of ABC's new sci-fi drama "The Crossing," created by Jay Beattie and Dan Dworkin. The show definitely holds some potential, and it will be interesting to see if it ends up being binge-worthy or a flop. However, I am intrigued to continue watching how the show develops because the opening episode seems to be developing some interesting themes. In particular, it seems to be setting the stage to use the Old Testament story of the people of Israel as a motif within the show.

If you haven't seen previews for the show or the pilot episode yet, the basic premise of the show is that a rural sheriff (played by Steve Zahn) discovers hundreds of bodies that wash up his Washington beach, including a few dozen survivors. Federal agents quickly gets involved and shut out local officials. As the story unfolds, the survivors disclose that they are refugees from the future. Fleeing war and an oppressive power, they utilized a new time travel technology, but something went wrong and they ended up underwater in the ocean instead of on land. Sheriff Ellis and some federal agents have safety concerns, especially since some of the survivors warn of "others" who have special abilities, some of whom may have crossed over earlier.

In watching the first episode, I couldn't help but notice a number of similarities between the story of these refugees and the story of Israel in the Bible. For starters, the show's title appears to reference the time travel event in which the refugees "crossed" back into the past by passing through the ocean. This event itself could be seen as a powerful biblical image, a group of oppressed people passing through the waters (Pacific Ocean/Red Sea) to escape their oppressors.

Furthermore, like Israel, hope they have entered a "promised land." One refugee describes the America of the past (our present day) as a much more ideal and free place than the one the left. For these refugees, 2000's America may seem like a land full of milk and honey. However, just as in the Pentateuch, the post-oppression journey is not an easy one. Those journeying to freedom find themselves to be small and powerless compared to their neighbors. And like Israel, the refugees in the crossing appear to be entering a wilderness period as the federal government only moves them into temporary housing in the middle of the woods.

I don't know if the show's writers are aware of these similarities or not, but one final piece makes me suspect they are. Less than five minutes into the show, Sheriff Ellis has a conversation with a little girl he pulled from the water a few hours earlier. When she tells him her name is Leah, the sheriff remarks, "That's in the Bible, isn't it?" Interestingly, the girl responds with a blank stare, confused about what a "Bible" is.

It is this line that made me start to pay attention to the biblical themes in the episode. Indeed, as I listened to the names, there definitely seems to be a pattern--all the refugees have biblical names: Leah, Hannah, Rebecca, Caleb, Thomas. Even the names themselves seem to be significant. For example, in the Bible Leah is the daughter-in-law of Rebecca, whereas the show's Rebecca takes on a mother role to the girl Leah. Likewise, the one refugee who seems to be skeptical, self-interested, and perhaps "doubting" is named Thomas.

The only exception to this rule (so far) is a refugee named Reece, who incidentally is different from the others, being the only one to demonstrate special powers and the only one not rescued on the beach. So perhaps her lack of a biblical name is also significant. In contrast, Sheriff Ellis also has a biblical name as his first name is Jude. Perhaps this is an indicator that he will be an ally to the refugees.

The show is clearly poised to deal with a number of social and political issues. For instance, the first episode already has touched on our treatment and views of refugees and immigrants, something our country has been dealing with in real life. Of course, it's hard to determine what directions a show will go and what themes will develop simply from the pilot episode, but if the above allusions are intentional, this show may end up conveying some really potent messages by way of biblical imagery. Perhaps these refugees will find themselves on a similar journey as Israel--oppressed and killed because of their identity, a miraculous escape through water to safety, only to face trials and tribulations in the wilderness as they journey towards a promised land of freedom and prosperity. And with superpowers apparently to play a role, one wonders what "giants" they may find in the land along the way.

Update:
Sadly, ABC recently made the decision to cancel the show after its first season. It would have been interesting to see how the show developed over time given that a number of biblical themes seemed to persist throughout the first season. For example, the trend with biblical names continued consistently, the city where most of the plot takes place is called "Port Canaan" (an invented city name), one character is healed with the blood of another character, and there are numerous references to religion or churches both in dialogue and architecture. Who knows? Perhaps another network will pick it up one day.

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"Son of God" movie

Many of us have probably seen previews for or heard news about the upcoming film "Son of God," due to release Feb. 28. As the title clearly implies, it is a movie chronicling the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The movie employs scenes from "The Bible" miniseries that aired last year and will include deleted and additional footage. If you haven't heard anything about the film, check out one of the trailers below:

 

Thinking about this release reminded me of a project I did my senior year of college. In this project I explored the interplay between the biblical Gospels, "Jesus films," and culture. My underlying thesis was that any film, TV show, etc. depicting Jesus better reflects the producing culture than it does the actual, historical Jesus. For the project I studied the films The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) and Jesus (TV movie, 2000). 

What I concluded by the end was that each film clearly reflects the cultural times, trends, and tendencies of its era. For example, the Jesus of Greatest Story is a Jesus for the 1960's. This Jesus is stoic and removed from earthly life (a "heavenly" being if you will); the type of Jesus "needed" to combat the revolutionary movements of the 60's. This film's Jesus is also depicted as a hero in the style of an American Western, a popular film genre of the era. Meanwhile, Jesus offers a more "modern" Jesus fitting with the culture of the early 2000's. This new and improved Jesus is an "earthy" Jesus trying to discover his identity. He even briefly considers a romantic relationship. If it weren't for the ancient garb, 2000's Jesus could easily be mistaken for any young millennial searching for their identity and meaning in a complex world.

 

Now that we face a new Jesus film, I am fascinated by what kind of Jesus will be depicted and how he will reflect our culture in 2014. When the film comes out I hope to analyze it for myself, but first I'd like to explain how I went about studying each Jesus film so you can join me in better understanding our cultural Jesuses from the Jesus presented in our Scriptures.

To study each film, I applied a method of biblical interpretation called "redaction criticism." This method compares biblical texts with their source materials and notes how the author "redacts," or changes, the original text. Changes might include additions, deletions, or word and stylistic alterations. For example, it is commonly assumed that Mark was the first Gospel written and that Matthew and Luke both used material from Mark as well as from other sources in compiling their gospels. We can compare the passages in Matthew or Luke that clearly borrow from Mark and observe how Matthew/Luke make changes. From there we develop theories on possible theological or artistic motivations for making those changes.

For instance, compare Matt. 16:13-23 and Mark 8:27-33. Both stories are almost identical (even word for word) with the exception of a few places where Matthew changes the story. Two changes stand out. First, whereas Mark 8:33 says that Jesus "rebuked" Peter (same word for rebuking demons), Matthew 16:23 changes "rebuke" to the weaker verb "said." It's just a statement, not a rebuke of a demon. Second, Matthew adds an entire section of praise for Peter from Jesus in 16:17-19. In Mark's version, Peter says "You are the Messiah" and immediately gets "rebuked" (the first of 2 times). In Matthew, Peter receives praise from Jesus and only gets "told" off later when he tries to convince Jesus not to die.

Biblical scholars note these changes (along with many similar changes in Matthew's Gospel) and conclude that Matthew tends to portray the disciples as constantly improving in their faith. Meanwhile, Mark holds a negative view of the disciples, observing their faith shrinking and increasing thickness with each chapter. The reason for this is because Matthew and Mark are emphasizing different aspects of discipleship to best convey different messages for different audiences.

I suggest we can treat Jesus films as a "cultural text" and apply the same method. In the case of such films, we know the primary source material--the biblical Gospels. However, no film uses the Gospels as its only source. Jesus films also borrow from pop culture, Christian (and cultural) tradition, and the director's imagination/experience. Even films with dialogue taken only from the Gospels (such as The Gospel of John) still use other sources in what they visually depict on screen.

So, as we watch any Jesus film, we need to note what is borrowed from the biblical Gospels, what is added to the Gospel narratives, and what is left out. These places in the dialogue and plot that differ from the biblical narratives are crucial for understanding the cultural Jesus being presented in the movie. When we note these changes, we need to ask, "Why present Jesus in that manner? Why make that change?" Even noting camera angles and music can tell us about what kind of Jesus we are seeing on screen.

I'll explain more of how this can work in my next post and will maybe even throw out of few ideas based on the trailer. Until then, let me know what you think about approaching Jesus films in this way.