Hamilton College
198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323
For Immediate Release
May 1, 2000
Contact: Holly Foster
315-859-4068
[email protected]
"Multi-Media Jesus" Coming to Hollywood, says Hamilton College Expert
Clinton, N.Y. -- TV's May sweeps are coming and so is the Multi-Media Jesus.
Steve Humphries-Brooks, a Religious Studies professor at Hamilton College, studies the portrayal of Jesus in films and is calling the CBS mini-series Jesus (May 14 and 17) "the most amazing and startling selling of Jesus by Hollywood that I have seen. Jesus has become a commodity for the marketing of CDs," says Humphries-Brooks. "He truly is the multi-media Jesus. And, CBS is doing it all while promising a spiritual Jesus. "
Humphries-Brooks, who teaches a course at Hamilton called "The Celluloid Savior," visited the CBS website for a preview of the mini-series.
"What I see so far is that the Jesus of the new millennium according to Hollywood is the Jesus of American globalization of market economies and all that that carries with it," says Humphries-Brooks. "Not since Cecil B. DeMille's silent version of Jesus' life, King of Kings, has there been such a clear, unabashed tie between the selling of American culture and the man from Nazareth."
Humphries-Brooks wonders if films about Jesus are an attempt to be true to the look and people of Palestine in the first century, or simply a way to feature well-known caucasian actors because Americans identify with superstars. "We envy them and want to live like them. So they're very appealing and influential. In looking at Jesus movies, what are viewers going to look at -- how closely the movie follows the Gospel, or who's starring in it?" As a result he says that many people incorrectly base their knowledge of Jesus' life on those films, not on the Bible. These misconceptions among students led him to create his Celluloid Savior course, in which students view all the popular "Jesus movies."
Humphries-Brooks says that students who take the course come away with a different view of Jesus' life.
"To borrow H. Richard Niebuhr's term, the 'Christ of Culture' has become indistinguishable from either the Christ of faith or Jesus of Nazareth. Depending on your point of view this is either the apex or the nadir of Hollywood myth-making and theologizing," Humphries-Brooks says.
MEDIA CONTACT: Holly Foster, Hamilton College, (315) 859-4068; [email protected].
NOTE TO EDITORS: Humphries-Brooks is available for interviews, photo available. He can be reached in his office at 315-859-4280; by e-mail [email protected]; or at home, 315-853-3020.
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