Religion, Media and Hollywood
School of Communication
USC Annenberg School for Communication
COMM 499 Religion, Media and Hollywood
Professor: Diane Winston
Telephone: 213-821-5388
Emails:
Office and Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description: The course will explore the ways in which representations of Jesus reflect social and cultural tropes. It will use a range of media (film and literature) and methodologies (history, communications and cultural studies) to examine how religion is communicated to mass audiences. Although our primary focus will be 20th century American film portrayals, we also will consider earlier print depictions. We want to counterpoise the Jesus of history with the Christ of faith, asking by why and by whom are these images championed or rejected. We will end our explorations by turning our focus from the Jesus story to the messiah myth in popular culture.
Required Purchases:
The following books are available for purchase at the university’s bookstores. Alternatively, copies of each are on reserve at Leavey Library.
Lloyd Baugh, Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ Figures in Film (Franklin, WI: Sheed and Ward, 1997)
Philip K. Dick, Divine Invasion(New York: Vintage Books, 1991)
Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Grand Inquisitor and Related Chapters from the Brothers Karamazov(Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1993)
Bart Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium(New York: Oxford University Press, 1999)
Spencer Lewerenz and Barbara Nicolosi, eds.Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film and Culture (Grand Rapid, MI: Baker Books, 2005)
John C. Lyden, Film as Religion: Myths, Morals and Rituals (New York: New York University Press, 2003)
Miramax, Perspectives on the Passion(New York: Hyperion, 2005)
Stephen Prothero, American Jesus(New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2003)
James Shapiro, Oberammergau: The Troubling Story of the World’s Most Famous Passion Play(New York: Vintage, 2000)
Course Goals:
1. Understanding how religious ideas are expressed in and transformed by media representations
2. Reading widely about historical representations of Jesus
3. Gaining experience in archival research
4. Analyzing the function of religious imagery in particular social locations
5. Thinking critically about the role of the news media in religious controversies
Course Requirements:
Paper #1:
How do reviews of films, publicity campaigns, or news articles about interest groups complaining about historical inaccuracies, doctrinal errors, etc., change the way we read a book or watch a film or a television show? Please choose a film, novel or other media example in which the Jesus story was the center of controversy and then read the subsequent press coverage. Your paper should discuss the substance of the coverage and how it may have affected audiences’ perception or experience of the work. Please consider using not only online sources, but also a variety of libraries and archives to gather information on media controversies and produce a report on the impact of the media coverage.
You will be graded on two aspects of your report: first, on the number, depth, and quality of the sources you were able to gather, exhibiting diligent, painstaking, and laborious research; and second, on the essay you produce which discusses and analyzes the impact of media coverage on the critical and popular reception of the artifact in question. Copies of all articles,
reviews, and other press materials, as well as the best student analysis of this material, will be posted to the class website for everyone to share.
Examples:
The Da Vinci Code, book and movie, has provoked a small cottage industry of books by scholars seeking to refute the purported “facts” in author Dan Brown’s occult thriller. What are the facts anyway? Can we establish them? How might journalists cover them, and how have they covered the argument among those who claim to know them? How will this press coverage affect the way we read the book and watch and interpret the movie—as fact, as fiction, as dogma, as blasphemy?
Monty Python’s Life of Brian caused a firestorm of controversy before its release and provoked, as one might predict of any film that satirized the life of Jesus, a campaign of negative publicity including boycotts. How successful was this campaign? What did reviewers say, and how did the reviews affect the film’s box office receipts? Does a comedy receive
different press treatment than other types of films which spark religious controversy?
Paper #2:
There are two options for this paper, each pursuing themes explored in class. Expectations for either option are identical. You are to turn in a research paper of approximately 10 to 12 pages in length, due on the day of the scheduled final exam for the class. This paper will involve an extended analysis of a major media artifact, such as a film, book, television show or series, web site, media campaign, etc., that is directly related to course themes and content. All topics must be approved in advance by one of the instructors. A one-page (ungraded) description of your topic, plan for achieving research goals, and request for approval will be due in the twelfth week of the semester. Failure to turn in the project description by the due date will result in a 10% reduction of the assignment grade. All
papers must be supported by substantial research into primary and secondary sources, including relevant discussion by literary, film, television, or applicable media critics, scholars, and historians discussing the media artifact(s) you have chosen for your analysis.
Option 1: The story of Jesus has been told in countless media renditions: gospel, sermon, play, novel, film, television mini-series. There seems to be no medium into which this tale has not been translated, including cell phone text messaging. Whether or not one accepts Christianity, every retelling of this story is of historical interest for the way each artist and storyteller seeks to rediscover the Jesus of history, redefine the Christ of faith, and embody the ideals of divinity and humanity in word, in the flesh, and on screen. For this assignment, you must choose a significant retelling of the Jesus story not covered in this class’s lectures and assignments, and focus on one or more aspect of this retelling that makes it of historical interest. What theological, social, or political agenda does it serve? What controversies and social movements in its time can it be read within and against?
Examples: The Gospel According to St. Matthew, a critically acclaimed film by a controversial Italian Marxist film director Pasolini.
Option #2: The Jesus story is one version of an even older tale, which we might call the messianic archetype or the hero myth. Many stories that are not about the historical Jesus are patterned to contain echoes of his story or to activate a primal response to the story of a hero who is divinely sent to defeat the powers of darkness and redeem humanity. Choose a media artifact that reflects upon this archetypal pattern and analyze it as a mythic narrative. What communities or groups are served by this myth or have adopted it as their own? What evidence is there, in the text and in the critical and historical discourse about its reception, that the narrative assumed this mythic status?
Examples: ET the Extra-Terrestrial
Take-home Mid-Term:
The exam will be short-essay in format, with at least one required essay that all students must answer and one to two essays questions that will offer students some choice among questions. The total length of the exam should amount to no more than six double-spaced typed pages.
Class Participation:
Students are expected to participate with gusto—they should have read and reflected upon the assignments and be ready to discuss the readings. To facilitate this outcome, students will turn in a paragraph each week on an aspect of the reading that was particularly interesting/appalling/significant. Students will be asked to read their comments during the discussion period. Students are expected to attend class. The only excused absence is illness or family emergency. For every unexcused absence, 2 points will be deducted from the final grade.
Grading:
First paper (4-5 pages): 30%
Final research paper (10-12 pages): 40%
Take-home mid-term (short essay format):20%
Class Participation: 10%
Grades will be assigned as follows: A's are reserved for outstanding, thoughtful, and enthusiastic work that reflects mastery of course concepts and methods; B+ and B are given for work that is above average, demonstrating effort and some developed understanding of course materials; B- and C+ will be given for work that shows little effort and a passable level of understanding, but needs substantial improvement in ideas and argument; C and below are given for work that fulfills the bare minimum of specified requirements, demonstrating both little effort and little understanding of the material.
Civility:
- Questions and discussions are welcome. The only requirement is that the questioner respects the opinion of others and not monopolizes class time.
- Early Departures. If there is a special circumstance that requires you to leave early, please notify one of the instructors before class so we can make sure that you get all the appropriate information concerning any upcoming test or quiz.
- Please turn off all cell phones and pagers.
Academic Integrity
The Annenberg School for Communication is committed to upholding the University’s Academic Integrity code as detailed in the Scampus guide. It is the policy of the School of Communication to report all violations of the code. Any serious violations or pattern of violations of the Academic Integrity Code will result in the student’s expulsion from the Communication major or minor.
Don’t even think of it. Plagiarism is defined as taking ideas or writings from another and passing them off as one’s own. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course.
Academic Accommodations
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSPO. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The phone number for DSPO is 213-740-0776
Stress
Students are under a lot of pressure. If you feel overwhelmed, contact the USC student Counseling Service office at 213-740-7711. The free service is confidential.
COURSE SYLLABUS
Part One – In the Flesh
Week One:
Course Introduction
Review Syllabus and readings
Communications Theory, Religion and Popular Culture
Reading:
Ehrman, 3-103; Lyden, 1-35
Clips: South Park, The Book of Daniel
Week Two: The Historical Record
Guest Lecturer: Ron Hock, USC, School of Religion,
“Jesus in the New Testament”
Film: King of Kings (DeMille), 112 minutes
Reading:
Synoptic Gospels and Gospel of John
Ehrman, 104-246
Week Three: The Passion Play
The history of Passion Play from medieval era to modern-day
Issues of anti-Semitism, interpretation and authenticity
Class Discussion on readings
Readings:
Shapiro (all)
Week Four: February 6 American Jesus
Guest Lecturer: Richard Fox, USC History,
“A History of the American Jesus”
Clip: King of Kings,
Reading:
Prothero, 19-86; Baugh, 7-32; Lyden 36-55
Week Five: The American Jesus II
Media images of the American Jesus and how mediated
representations change over time, influence of popular culture
Class discussion
Reading:
Prothero, 87-157; Lyden 56-107
Week Six: February 13 Counter-Culture Jesus
Jesus as a Counter-culture Figure, 1800-1950
Clips: Life of Brian and Jesus Christ Superstar
Readings:
Baugh, 33-71; Prothero, 200-267
Week Seven: Un-American Jesus
Lecture on Jesus as a Counter-Culture Figure, 1950-present
Focus on print as well as media depictions
Class Discussion
Reading:
Prothero, 267-291; Lewerenz, 25-72, 83-91
Week Eight, March 6 Revisionist Jesus
Film: The Last Temptation of Christ, 164 minutes
Class Discussion
Reading:
Baugh, 48-72; Lewerenz, 115-198
TAKE HOME MIDTERM
Week Nine
Spring Break, No Class
Week Ten: Culture Warrior
Hollywood and the Culture War
Jesus as captive or captor?
Film: The Passion of the Christ, 130 minutes
Reading:
Miramax: 31-80, 95-110, 127-165, 197-224, 225-254,
Take Home Midterm DUE
Part Two: In Spirit
Week Eleven, March 27 The Hero
How Jesus becomes the Jesus-Figure
Iconic power of the savior, messiah, healer in the arts
Class Discussion
Reading:
Prothero, 267-303; Baugh, 109-112, 205-225
Week Twelve The Alien
Jesus figure as extraterrestrial
Power of the supernatural
Film: The Day the Earth Stood Still, 92 minutes
Reading:
Dick (all)
Week Thirteen The Other
Guest Lecturer: Michael Renov, USC, SCTV
Film: Au Hasard Balthazar, 95 minutes
Reading:
Baugh, 185-204; Dostoevski (all)
Week Fourteen The Messiah
Class Discussion
Clips: The Matrix, Superman
Reading
Lyden 137-178, 191-225,
Week Fifteen The Last Supper
Lecture: Media critiques of Jesus and Jesus figures (specifically how secular movie reviewers write about religious themes)
Film: Babette’s Feast
Week Sixteen: The Auteurs Speak
Panel of Writers and Directors:
How Hollywood writer and authors depict Jesus in their work
Barbara Hall, Joan of Arcadia
Thom Parham, Professor Theater, Film and Television, Azusa Pacific University
Craig Detweiler, City of Angels Film Festival and author, A Matrix of Meanings
Barbara Nicolosi, Founder, Act One
Evaluations
Final Exam Date: Projects Due
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