Historically, meaning in the
history of cinema, perhaps too much effort or attention initially went into fidelity
to doctrine, especially in Christianity. Heavily stylistic, unrealistic epics
could be said to merely illustrate doctrines. Then as filmmakers began to think
in an open-ended way concerning how to depict the transcendent both visually
and ideationally (i.e., as an idea), the dominance of the earlier
control-orientation slipped away to be replaced by innovative ways of
understanding how the transcendent may relate to the realm of our daily mundane
existence in the world. The extraordinary potential of filmmaking to tap into
the human imagination without necessarily providing definitive answerers could
be seen. I submit that this historical trajectory is a positive development. This
does not mean that heterodox belief has or should win out; in fact, religious
practitioners, including the clergy, can help filmmakers to depict the
transcendent and its relationship to our existence in novel ways that do not
seem so formulaic as to be easily brushed aside as less than credible. Old wine
can indeed go into new jugs, and even new wine may be tasted without the world
collapsing as a result.
The full essay is at "Religion in Film."
