crucifixion and the uses of enchantment
I was just corresponding with an acquaintance who'd just told her children the story of Jesus: the whole story, including the crucifixion, which bummed them out so much that, at least in her telling, the resurrection part didn't lift their spirits too much.
Bruno Bettelheim would point out that, even if it bummed them out, their wheels were turning, and it was a good thing.
Many of the religious stories are unbearably sad. Balder and Hoder! I weep every dang time! But they're worthy nonetheless. Disney is regularly vilified for confronting issues of parents and death and sadness and loss and all that, but they're right on the mark. They simply know how to tap into powerful currents that our current make-all-Earth-kid-friendly ethos doesn't allow for.
I remember being taught all about it in Sunday school and VBS and Mission Friends and RAs. (Oh yes, my friends.) And I don't remember that it scarred me — but it did give me a vocabulary for such things.
I remember then, as a teen, seeing "Last Temptation of Christ" when it came out, and, because of my frank religious education, coming to the opposite conclusion of some of my religious friends: no, it wasn't sexy enough. Scorsese, Italian that he is, gave us a Southern Renaissance view of the crucifixion and therefore a Southern Renaissance view of the final temptation itself (which was to come down off the cross and lead a normal life).
A Northern Renaissance guy — Vermeer, maybe — could paint a glowing portrait of everyday life, doing laundry, fixing dinner, playing with the kids. But old Scorsese just couldn't make it look as beautiful and in fact tempting as the crucifixion. After all, who wants to be an ordinary schlub with love and happiness, when you can sacrifice it all to die alone for the sins of all mankind on a windswept hilltop, bloody-faced, with an orchestral score?
That vision of the crucifixion, and in general of Jesus's death at the hands of everyone (hypocritical religious leaders, craven politicians, occupying soldiers, the fickle crowd screaming for blood — we're all there), is a vision that is central to our understanding of Western culture. It's a foundation for everything from "Harry Potter" and "His Dark Materials" to "Speed" and "24," and on and on.
All this is something that, by necessity, a child can't articulate, and wouldn't find any value in articulating, but that's Bettelheim's point: it's in there.
Bruno Bettelheim would point out that, even if it bummed them out, their wheels were turning, and it was a good thing.
Many of the religious stories are unbearably sad. Balder and Hoder! I weep every dang time! But they're worthy nonetheless. Disney is regularly vilified for confronting issues of parents and death and sadness and loss and all that, but they're right on the mark. They simply know how to tap into powerful currents that our current make-all-Earth-kid-friendly ethos doesn't allow for.
I remember being taught all about it in Sunday school and VBS and Mission Friends and RAs. (Oh yes, my friends.) And I don't remember that it scarred me — but it did give me a vocabulary for such things.
I remember then, as a teen, seeing "Last Temptation of Christ" when it came out, and, because of my frank religious education, coming to the opposite conclusion of some of my religious friends: no, it wasn't sexy enough. Scorsese, Italian that he is, gave us a Southern Renaissance view of the crucifixion and therefore a Southern Renaissance view of the final temptation itself (which was to come down off the cross and lead a normal life).
A Northern Renaissance guy — Vermeer, maybe — could paint a glowing portrait of everyday life, doing laundry, fixing dinner, playing with the kids. But old Scorsese just couldn't make it look as beautiful and in fact tempting as the crucifixion. After all, who wants to be an ordinary schlub with love and happiness, when you can sacrifice it all to die alone for the sins of all mankind on a windswept hilltop, bloody-faced, with an orchestral score?
That vision of the crucifixion, and in general of Jesus's death at the hands of everyone (hypocritical religious leaders, craven politicians, occupying soldiers, the fickle crowd screaming for blood — we're all there), is a vision that is central to our understanding of Western culture. It's a foundation for everything from "Harry Potter" and "His Dark Materials" to "Speed" and "24," and on and on.
All this is something that, by necessity, a child can't articulate, and wouldn't find any value in articulating, but that's Bettelheim's point: it's in there.
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