Screening The Sacred: Religion, Myth, And Ideology In Popular American Film [Paperback]

Joel Martin (Author), Conrad E. Ostwalt Jr. (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813388309 | ISBN-13: 978-0813388304 | Publication Date: March 30, 1995

What are the religious impulses in the 1976 film Rocky, and how can they work to shape one’s social identity? Do the films Alien and Aliens signify the reemergence of the earth goddess as a vital cultural power? What female archetypes, borne out of male desire, inform the experience of women in Nine and a Half Weeks?These are among the several compelling questions the authors of this volume consider as they explore the way popular American film relates to religion. Oddly, religion and film—two pervasive elements of American culture—have seldom been studied in connection with each other. In this first systematic exploration, the authors look beyond surface religious themes and imagery in film, discovering a deeper, implicit presence of religion. They employ theological, mythological, and social and political criticism to analyze the influence of religion, in all its rich variety and diversity, on popular film. Perhaps more importantly, they consider how the medium of film has helped influence and shape American religious culture, secular or otherwise.More than a random collection of essays, this volume brings to the study of religion and film a carefully constructed analytic framework that advances our understanding of both. Screening the Sacred provides fresh and welcome insight to film criticism; it also holds far-reaching relevance for the study of religion. Progressive in its approach, instructive in its analyses, this book is written for students, scholars, and other readers interested in religion, popular film, and the impact of each on American culture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joel W. Martin is associate professor of American studies and religious studies at Franklin and Marshall College. He is the author of Sacred Revolt: The Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World. Conrad E. Ostwalt Jr. is associate professor of religious studies at Appalachian State University. He is the author of After Eden: The Secularization of American Space in the Fiction of Willa Cather and Theodore Dreiser. Joel W. Martin is associate professor of American studies and religious studies at Franklin and Marshall College. He is the author of Sacred Revolt: The Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World. Conrad E. Ostwalt Jr. is associate professor of religious studies at Appalachian State University. He is the author of After Eden: The Secularization of American Space in the Fiction of Willa Cather and Theodore Dreiser.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (March 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813388309
• ISBN-13: 978-0813388304
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #512,756 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Review of "Screening the Sacred", November 25, 2000

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David B. Mccoy "dbmccoy" (Massillon, OH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Screening The Sacred: Religion, Myth, And Ideology In Popular American Film (Paperback)

Martin, Joel and Conrad Ostwalt Jr., Screening the Sacred: Religion, Myth, and Ideology in Popular American Film. Boulder: Westview Press, 1995.

In a general sense, Screening the Sacred, as indicated by the Library of Congress classification found on page iv, is a book about the religious aspects of motion pictures. More specifically, as the subtitle indicates, it is a book concerning religion, myth and ideology of popular American film.

The thesis of Screening the Sacred can be found on page 4 of the "Introduction" where Joel Martin writes that there needs to be a rethinking of "the relations of religion and film, of religious studies and film criticism, and of religion and contemporary culture" with the hopes that their anthology will convince, on one hand, "students of film that they should take religion seriously and, on the other, convince students of religion that they need to take popular films seriously."

As noted above, the book is subdivided into three thematic units, theological criticism, mythological criticism, and ideological criticism. At this point, I would like to explore the author's meaning and use of these approaches.

Theological criticism tends to analyze how religious texts and thinkers have talked about God and try to relate these representations to modern and postmodern realms. While primarily concerned with Judeo-Christian scriptures, theological criticism studies the "cathedrals" of classic religious concerns, sensibilities and themes and how they are expressed in films. The basic assumption behind such criticism is that certain films can be understood as an elaboration on or the questioning of a particular "cathedral."

The means by which to explore these "cathedrals" can occur in at least two ways. In the first, criticism draws on traditional concepts of good and evil, redemption, grace, home, forgiveness and uses them as windows to understanding. In the second, there is a reliance on allegorical interpretation where it is assumed that God has caused history to happen in a way that always points to Judeo-Christian traditions. In this type of interpretation, critics study and gloss for signs of the prophetic message.

Unlike the narrow scope of theological criticism, myth criticism employs a much broader definition of religion which asserts that religion manifests itself through cross-cultural forms, including myths, rituals, systems of purity and gods. Thus, it is possible to glean from any such film a culture's bedrock assumptions and aspirations. Myth critics, therefore, focus on our psychological quest for meaning and aspects of our world not normally accessible through the conscious mind. Or as Albanese might say, seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary.

Whereas meaning is an important focus of myth criticism, ideological critics study the relationship of religion and society, with the underlying notion that culture and art shape and are shaped by politics. These critics interpret film as a system of representations, and ask how films and film genres shape social subjects and reveal how the ideologies of social subjects shape films and their interpretations. To reach these ends, race, class, gender and the postmodern are some of the central interpretative categories explored. (Interestingly, while it may appear that this type of inquiry is rather weak in the analysis of religion--because religion no longer holds the power it once did to perform ideologically--the editors hope to call into question this assumption.)

The vehicle by which the authors explore the three themes of the book is through articles by different authors--approximately 3 to 4 per section. Articles run anywhere from 8 to 14 pages, with each author permitted liberal room for a complete listing of sources and needed additional notes.

Joel Martin and Conrad Ostwalt deserve praise for this book on three fronts. They have, as intended, produced a respectable academic book pertaining to religion and films, without embracing typical, emotional, Christian reactions. (I was particularly impressed that they had courage enough to include articles dealing with such sexually explicit films as Blue Velvet and Nine and a Half Weeks.) Second, the editors have a keen sense of what they wanted to do and obviously thought long and hard about the three themes they would explore. I liked very much how each theme was briefly discussed in the Introduction, and then in a short introduction leading into each section. It was also in those short introductions that the editors introduced the writers and a little about their philosophies--but not so much that it prejudices the reader from his/her own reactions to each article. Third, while I don't know how widely this book has been read by students of religion or film, the book, due to its well thought out and serious nature, should advance the primary goal the editors have of helping both groups of students rethink (or more likely the case, realize) the relationship between religion and film in their criticisms and writings.