“How did reviewers from the New York Times to Christianity Today miss the obvious religious references in this Oscar-nominated hit? Did they blink and reach for popcorn at the images of a tattooed Jesus Christ on Randy’s back, or was it more about the myth of modern individualism and body-soul dualism?”
But Plate’s not done yet. He’s just getting started.
“That many major US film critics (Ebert, Turan, Hoberman, Scott, et al.) praised Rourke’s performance and ignored the religious dimensions shows how little, again, the news media has any clue about religion, except when something like Mel Gibson’s Passion is stapled to their foreheads. Stranger still, even reviews published in explicitly religious venues – Christianity Today, Hollywood Jesus, Catholic New Service, and Plugged In – scarcely noted the religious symbolism teeming in the film.
“Catholic News Service seemed more concerned about the blood and pole dances than anything else, while Focus on the Family’s Plugged In review was also startling in its absolute devotion to the sex, violence, and drugs of the film. Christianity Today‘s review makes one wonder why they even reviewed it in the first place, as it seems to indicate the film has nothing to do either with ‘Christianity,’ or ‘today’ for that matter.”
Plate goes on to call Wrestler director Darren Aronofsky “one of the greatest living religious filmmakers.”
