RELG 2260 Faith and Film

In 21st century America, movie theatres draw higher attendance, produce better income, and generate more discussion every weekend than most houses of worship do, leading some observers of American culture to say that moviemakers have taken the lead in shaping/reflecting/challenging America's values. This class explores the use of religious themes, symbols, images and scripture in contemporary cinema, especially as they relate to the role of savior figures in various film genres. After a brief introduction to the ways Jesus has been portrayed in film over the past forty years, students will acquire the skills to evaluate the use of Jesus or Christ figures in relatively recent dramas, comedies, westerns, fantasies, and sci-fi flicks, with the goal of becoming better able to recognize and respond to a film's implicit or explicit message about how human beings act redemptively in one another's lives. (The content and subject matter may vary based on the person teaching the course, for example movies that explore the nature of evil or social injustice or theodicy may be required viewing for the course, and therefore required textbooks might well change.)

Credits

3

Typically Offered

Demorest Campus: fall odd years

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon the completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the following outcome-based learning skills:

1. Use the basic vocabulary of film and filmmaking.
2. Identify a film's genre, theme, moral vision and social context.
3. Contrast and compare the approaches of different writers on film.
4. Examine film as a visual theological text & respond to a film theologically.
5. Discuss a filmmaker's implicit or explicit use of religious themes, myths, symbols, images and/or scripture as they appear and function in a particular film.
6. Enter into dialogue with a film's religious world view even if it is different from their own.
7. Think critically about how film shapes, challenges, disturbs and transforms their beliefs about the world.
8. Be able to distinguish between popular and scholarly sources of film criticism.