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Cinematic Childhood(S) and Imag(In)Ing the Boy Jesus: Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in Late Twentieth-Century Film

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Cinematic Childhood(S) and Imag(In)Ing the Boy Jesus: Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in Late Twentieth-Century Film CINEMATIC CHILDHOOD(S) AND IMAG(IN)ING THE BOY JESUS: ADAPTATIONS OF LUKE 2:41-52 IN LATE TWENTIETH-CENTURY FILM by JAMES MAGEE Master of Arts, Vancouver School of Theology, 2011 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN BIBLICAL STUDIES in the FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES TRINITY WESTERN UNIVERSITY May 2019 © James Magee, 2019 Cinematic Childhood(s) and Imag(in)ing the Boy Jesus: Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in Late Twentieth-Century Film Abstract Despite sustained academic examinations of Jesus in film over the past couple of decades, as well as biblical scholars’ multidisciplinary work in the areas of children’s and childhood studies, the cinematic boy Jesus has received little attention. This thesis begins to fill the lacuna of scholarly explorations into cinematic portrayals of Jesus as a child by analyzing two adaptations of Luke’s story of the twelve-year- old Jesus in late twentieth-century film. Using methods of historical and narrative criticism tailored to the study of film, I situate the made-for-television movies Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and Jesus (2000) within the trajectories of both Jesus films and depictions of juvenile masculinity in cinema, as well as within their respective social, cultural and historical contexts. I demonstrate how these movie sequences are negotiations by their filmmakers between theological and historical concerns that reflect contemporary ideas about children and particular idealizations about boyhood. ii For Michael iii Table of Contents Acknowledgements . v Abbreviations . vi Chapter 1 Searching for the Boy Jesus: A Neglected Area of Jesus-in-Film Scholarship . 1 Chapter 2 Viewing the Boy Jesus: Navigating the Intersections of Biblical and Film Studies . 9 Chapter 3 Deconstructing the Boy Jesus: Interrogating Idea(l)s of Childhood . 23 Chapter 4 Contextualizing the Boy Jesus – Part 1: Cinematic Boyhoods 1930-1979 . 37 Chapter 5 “Now you are truly a man!” A Boy’s ‘Coming of Age’ in Jesus of Nazareth (1977) . 65 Chapter 6 Contextualizing the Boy Jesus – Part 2: Cinematic Boyhoods 1980-1999 . 87 Chapter 7 “There are bad people here…” First-century ‘Stranger Danger’ in Jesus (2000) . 106 Chapter 8 Imag(in)ing the Boy Jesus: Conclusions and Areas for Further Research . 131 Appendices A. Cinematic Adaptations of Matthew 2 . 140 B. Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in World Cinema . 142 C. Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in ‘Silent’ Cinema . 144 D. Other Adaptations of Luke 2:41-52 in Cinema . 145 E. Greek Text of Luke 2:41-52 and English Translation . 147 F. Depictions of Juvenile Masculinity in Film: 1930-1999 . 148 Filmography . 162 Works Cited Primary Sources . 164 Secondary Sources . 169 iv Acknowledgements The research for, writing and defense of this thesis took place over a span of five years and its completion would not have been possible without the following people whose generous assistance I would like to acknowledge. Harry Maier suggested I turn a class presentation on Jesus as a child in film into something bigger and was an invaluable mentor throughout the entire process. Craig Perry introduced me to all the software required to insert movie clips into my related PowerPoint presentations and Hunter Mueller provided technical support at the annual Inter-Religious Studies conference at VST coordinated by Laura Duhan Kaplan. It was here and at meetings of the CSBS that I obtained helpful feedback on each section of the thesis as it developed. Zeba Crook and Agnes Choi ensured my AV needs were taken care of at the many CSBS venues. My employers Jan Ciarniello and Alan Pancha were flexible with my work schedule, allowing me to attend these conferences and meet writing deadlines. Jeff Courtney, Roger Danis, Elijah Buchan and Lucas Lima were engaging conversation partners, offering useful feedback on various aspects of my research from a lay perspective and Rob Cousland provided similar insight from within the academy. John Kloppenborg kindly gave me an advance copy of his essay on Lukan geography. Adele Reinhartz encouraged me in pursuing the project and graciously consented to be my external examiner. Jocelyn Chapman saw to my AV needs at the defense and met the technological challenges posed by having a remote examiner with calm poise. Tony Cummins chaired at short notice and Alethea Cooke handled all the administrative details, as well as being on hand to offer support. Shawn Brouwer and Abraham Brake kept their eyes open in the TWU library for pertinent books. Duncan Dixon researched copyright laws as it relates to the fair use of screen captures. Ken Pearson and Sharon Vose filled my unprecedented number of ILL requests with remarkable speed and efficiency. The translators of the NETS Tetrateuch – Rob Hiebert, Larry Perkins, Dirk Büchner and the late Peter Flint – all provided encouragement and expert feedback at different stages. Dirk, as my supervisor, was an unwavering source of inspiration during the inevitable ups and downs, twists and turns of a project of this size. My mom hunted down copies of most of the modern fiction in my bibliography and Radyn Ryx obtained them from libraries spread throughout the Greater Vancouver area. Finally, my sister Elizabeth not only sourced the video-editing software used in the preshow at my defense, but was a sounding board for my ideas about and interpretations of movies, as well as an all-round rock of emotional support from start to finish. v Abbreviations 1895 Mille huit cent quatre-vingt-quinze: Revue de l’association française de recherché sur l’histoire du cinéma AAJ The American Art Journal AAP Associated Artists Production AARCC American Academy of Religion Cultural Criticism Series AB The Anchor Bible ABC American Broadcasting Company Abot R. Nat. Avot of Rabbi Nathan ABRL The Anchor Bible Reference Library ABS Archaeology and Biblical Studies ACH American Communist History ACR American Cinema Releasing ACSS Adolescent Cultures, School & Society Acts Pet. Acts of Peter ADC Archives of Disease in Childhood AE Australian Encounters AFD Associated Film Distribution AFI American Film Institute AFR AFI Film Readers Ag. Ap. Against Apion (Josephus) AHC American History and Culture AIP American International Pictures AIP-TV American International Television AJHB American Journal of Human Biology Alex. Life of Alexander (Plutarch) ALR American Literary Realism Am. Cult. American Culture Am. Lit. American Literature AMEK Arthur Mayer-Edward Kingsley AMP AltaMira Press Ant. Jewish Antiquities (Josephus) Ant. Class. L’Antiquité Classique Anth. Children Anthropology of Children APA The American Psychiatric Association APC Astor Pictures Corporation Apoll. Life of Apollonius of Tyana (Philostratus) ARAD Advancing Responsible Adolescent Development ARC Atlantic Releasing Corporation ASCSA American School of Classical Studies at Athens ASJC Attitudes towards Sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic Greco- Roman Era ATL America through the Lens AUP Amsterdam University Press vi AV audio-visual AYBRL Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies b. Babylonian Talmud B. Bat. Baba Batra B&S Body & Society BAC Bible in Ancient Christianity BAM Boys Advocacy and Mentoring BBB Bonner biblische Beiträge BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BC British Columbia BC&C Belford, Clarke & Co. BCLC Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture BCR Blackwell Companions to Religion BDAG A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature Ber. Berakhot BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridium Theologicarum Lovaniensium BFC BFI Film Classics BFI British Film Institute BGP Broadgreen Pictures BHV Brentwood Home Video BiAS Bible in Africa Studies Bib. Biblica BibSem The Biblical Seminar Bio. Biography Bio. Quar. Bioethics Quarterly BJS Brown Judaic Studies Bkb Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature BMPA Bureau of Motion Picture Affairs BMSEC Baylor-Mohr Siebeck Studies in Early Christianity BMW The Bible in the Modern World BNC Barnes & Noble Classics Bookman The Bookman Boy St. Boyhood Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal BPHUP The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press BRA Boy Rangers of America Brian Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) BSA Boy Scouts of America BSM Bedford/St. Martin’s BSNA Biblical Scholarship in North America BSSS Biosocial Society Symposium Series, The BTP Boys Town Press BTS Biblical Tools and Studies BUP Baylor University Press BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die altestamentliche Wissenschaft C&S Cinema & Society C&S Children & Society CACL Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature CAFTS Contemporary Approaches to Film and Television Series CAP Carolina Academic Press vii Carleton Carleton University (Ottawa) CBC Canadian Broadcasting Company CBR Currents in Biblical Research CBS Columbia Broadcasting System CC Cross Currents CCC Collection des Cahiers de la Cinémathèque CCC Communication, Culture & Critique CCJ Criminology & Criminal Justice CCSA Corpus Christianorum Series Apocryphorum CCT Communication, Culture, Theology CEG Cinedigm Entertainment Group CESFF Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy CFD Cannon Film Distributors CFF Children’s Film Foundation CFP Cinépix Film Properties CG Critical Geographies CGD Citizenship, Gender and Diversity CHCF Cultural History of Childhood and Family, A Childhood Childhood: The Series CIFF Chicago International Film Festival CIP Crown International Pictures CJ Cinema Journal CJAS Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity Series CJC Canadian Journal
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