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How religious figures are depicted in films
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Set in 1950’s France, Chocolat is a film centred on the Catholic virtue of temperance, or rather the struggle to achieve temperance when the church is faced with the temptation of a 2000 year old chocolate recipe. Temperance is defined in the catholic encyclopaedia as “the righteous habit which makes a man govern his natural appetite for pleasures of the senses in accordance with the norm prescribed by reason”, and in Chocolat it is the Comte de Reynaud, the major and self appointed moral authority for the whole community, that attempts to keep check of the villager’s carnal passions and temptations. There is an obvious conflict between the Comte and Vianne Rocher, the single mother who arrives in Lansquenet bringing a splash of red to the dreary black and white town, who eventually through her chocolates breathes life into the town’s dead system that the Comte had gone to great lengths to preserve. Religious themes such as temperance, penance and reconciliation are central to how the film works as a film, and clearly demonstrate how it is highly conducive to theological exploration. The theological theme that I am going to explore in more detail is the Catholic sacrament of Confession and Penance, taking into consideration the relationship between the traditional Catholic view of confession and the ideas of the sacrament that I bring to the film as a viewer. As the story opens, Vianne and Anouk are carried by a strong north wind to a small, quiet village in France around the year 1959. Possibly the wind motif, that is constant throughout the film, is a parable for the theological theme of the Holy Spirit, acting as the principle force that has drawn Vianne to the village. The wind could also be perceived as representing the... ... middle of paper ... ... life” , and as a result of the Comte’s oppressive code of moral conduct, the people of Lansquet had forgotten the final part of this statement, the importance of living. Vianne and her chocolates remind the villagers of what their faith and lives really mean. Temperance is certainly an important virtue, people must restrain from temptation in some aspects of their life, but Vianne and her chocolates teach people that in the pursuit of temperance one must not forget the most important virtue, love . Bibliography The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version (1995) New Catholic Enclopedia, Volume III and Volume IV, McGraw-Hill Book Company (1967) Walsh, Michael J, COMMENTARY on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Geoffrey Chapman (1994) Barsotti, Catherine M and Johnson, Robert K, Finding God in the Movies: 33 Films of Reel Faith, Baker Books (2004)
Some works show their true colors right away. Gene Edward Veith’s book, Reading Between The Lines, addresses philosophical ideas, literary sub genres, and reader criticisms in order to ascertain a Christian’s role in literature. He also goes through various historical periods and examines their more prominent works and schools of thought. While a select few of his conclusions about Christianity in relation to the arts have merit, others contain more damaging implications. Specifically, his statements regarding television represent inaccurate and offensive thinking.
The novel which we are reading in class is “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. The main idea of the novel is to portray the story of Janie Mae Crawford’s development to finding her identity, through love. Both the book and the movie depict different pictures for the audience. Although the movie is very similar to the book, it has multiple different scenes that help the audience connect more to the charaters which the book may not, but it’s also missing deeper layers that were covered in the book. In this essay I will compare the two mediums and which I identified more with.
Jeanne de Jussie, a dedicated Catholic nun, recorded events that took place in Geneva during the Reformation as the official chronicler for the Saint Clare convent. Although littered with biases, Jeanne de Jussie’s experiences reflect broader trends during the Reformation; therefore, The Short Chronicle is a valid source and not merely a personal attack against the Protestants. Her experiences and beliefs, including those concerning celibacy, reflected those of many members of the Catholic Church during the Reformation. Also, her categorization of Protestants as ‘heretics’ was consistent with the practices of the Catholic Church. Although biased, her fears about Protestant views on celibacy and marriage were legitimate and consistent with
We can understand this theme by using character. In paragraph 3, Petry states, "The wind lifted Lutie Johnson's hair away from the back of her neck so that she felt suddenly naked and bald, for her hair had been resting softly and warmly against her skin. She shivered as the cold fingers of the wind touched the back of her neck, explored the sides of her head." This quote shows that the wind was so raw that it "ripped the people's hair off." This contributes to the theme by stating the wind is the struggle that people must get through to get to their next destination. Another way we can find the theme is through events. Petry writes in paragraph 3, "Each time she thought she had the sign in focus, the wind pushed it away from her so that she wasn't certain whether it said three rooms or two rooms. If it was three, why, she would go in and ask to see it, but if it said two - why, there wasn't any point." This quote is saying that the wind was blowing so hard that the character could not read the sign. By showing the difficulty in visualizing the sign, creating struggle, we develop a further understanding of the theme. Another way we can portray theme, is through setting. Paragraph 2 states, "Fingering its way along the curb, the wind set the bits of paper to dancing high in the air, so that a barrage of paper swirled into the faces of the people on the street. It even took time to rush into doorways and areaways and find chicken bones and pork-chop bones and pushed them along the curb. It did everything it could to discourage the people walking along the street. It found all the dirt and dust and grime on the sidewalk and lifted it up so that the dirt got into their noses, making it difficult to breathe; the dust got into their eyes and blinded them; and the grit stung their skins." This quote portrays the setting clearly by explaining what the wind did to the
In chapter 5 of Candide, the Enlightenment and the birth of tolerance were on full display. In Candide, the Enlightenment thinkers’ view of the optimum world is challenged through the shipwreck and the satiric explanations of the Lisbon Bay and Lisbon Earthquake. Voltaire continues to use ironically tragic events to test Pangloss’s optimistic philosophy, which attempts to explain evil. The use of grotesque and naive behavior between individuals in this chapter makes the reader question Pangloss’s irrational thinking with the cause and effects of the events.
highlights the importance of the sacraments and the clergy, can be seen as a response on
To live is to experience the good and bad. For our characters in Candide, their experiences are largely negative. As the novel progresses we see through the eyes of Candide that everyone suffers, as noted by the old woman, "Just for fun, why not get each passenger to tell you the story of his life, and if there is one single one of them who hasn’t often cursed the day he was born and hasn’t often said to the himself that he was the most unfortunate man alive, then you can throw me into the sea head first." As Candide goes on his journey throughout the novel in search of Cunegonde the words of the old woman are confirmed by the tales of the injured slave outside of Surinam, the crowd of applicants within the city, Martin, the man of learning in France, Paquette, Brother Biroflee and the six kings. The words of the old woman to Candide directly show the connection between suffering and how it is unique to life. "This ridiculous weakness for living is perhaps one of our most fatal tendencies. For can anything be sillier than to insist on carrying a burden one would continually much rather throw to the ground? Sillier than to feel disgust at one’s own existence and yet cling to it? Sillier, in short, than to clasp to our bosom the serpent that devours us until it has gnawed away our heart?" Bearing and holding on to that suffering is holding on to that which makes us human.
Jean Valjean understands the deep emotions felt when the desire to love others persists in one’s heart. Valjean originally felt this desire specifically within his own family. Though during his years in prison, he lost it. In striving to feed his starving family by stealing a loaf of bread, Valjean earned himself “nineteen years” in prison. “He entered in 1796 for having broken a pane of glass and taken a loaf of Bread” (Hugo 86) Valjean loved his family so dearly that he risked rotting in jail rather than seeing them starve. He demonstrates pure charity in this act, for no sane person, would risk his life for others, unless his motivations lie in love. Then love “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7) Valjean perfectly demonstrates the infinite measures people will take out of l...
Each chapter of Candide is a part of the story which Voltaire carefully expresses his concerns and criticism of 18th century society. Chapter 11 “The History of the old women” in particular criticises the pre-modern era in regards to religion. The enlightenment period called for freedom of religion from many philosophers ...
The Lais of Marie de France is a compilation of short stories that delineate situations where love is just. Love is presented as a complex emotion and is portrayed as positive, while at other times, it is portrayed as negative. The author varies on whether or not love is favorable as is expressed by the outcomes of the characters in the story, such as lovers dying or being banished from the city. To demonstrate, the author weaves stories that exhibit binaries of love. Two distinct types of love are described: selfish and selfless. Love is selfish when a person leaves their current partner for another due to covetous reasons. Contrarily, selfless love occurs when a lover leaves to be in a superior relationship. The stark contrast between the types of love can be analyzed to derive a universal truth about love.
Megan Sweas. “Sporting Faith at the Movies: A Review of Soul Surfer.” US Catholic. n.p., 8 April 2011. Web. 23 Nov. 2011.
Christ, as the ultimate sacrifice in Christianity, gave his own life for the benefit of others. His self-sacrifice continues to this day to be celebrated in the Catholic Mass. Through communion, or receiving the Eucharist, one is able to actively partake of the fruits of that sacrifice. But how does one follow Jesus’ example? One surely cannot strive for the same kind of physical death that Jesus experienced. Thus, practice of another form of self-sacrifice becomes necessary.
“It is precisely of him that I wished to speak. Dispose of me as you please; but help me first to carry him home. I only ask that of you.” Upon examination of Les Miserables, it is clearly evident that the elements of Forgiveness, Self – Sacrifice, and Courage are only a few of the main themes Hugo wanted to develop.
In this attempt to put the critics of religious morals to the acid test, Johnson begins with Rousseau, highlighting his self-centeredness, sexual perversity (“liked to be spanked” and was a public exhibitionist of his “bottom”), his ironic abandonment of his own children at birth, and his naive political status.
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. 2nd ed. New York City, NY: HarperOne, 2010.