Movies/Scenes
Representing
Cleansing/Destroying the Temple
- Erin Brockovich (2000)
- The movie is based on a true story. Erin is a young woman with little education attempting to find a job after six years at home with her children. She worms her way into a job at a law office. There she deals with what on its surface is a routine, pro bono, real estate case; her curiosity exposes the reality of the case ? a toxic poisoning of a small town's ground water by the power and light company. She digs deeper and is moved by the stories of the people who have been affected by the situation. Her compassion, her love for these people drives her to seek justice. Her means are uncouth and unschooled but she makes fools of those the world sees as powerful and successful. Through her passion she drives home the need for justice; turning the tables of corporate power upside down. (submitted by Judson Baptist Church)
- Natural Born Killers
(1994)
- The prison riot - the prison "temple" (society's place of sacrifice for their own safety) is exposed for what it has become. Prisoners riot and put the head of the warden on a pole in a sort of ultimate sacrifice.
- Strictly Ballroom
(1992)
- Scott and Fran dare to improvise their dance steps at the Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Amateur Championships.
- Jesus
of Montreal (1989)
- This is a film that is so rich it could illustrate any number of themes: discipleship, temptation, redemption, etc. Jesus of Montreal tells the story of an actor hired to help update a parish's annual Passion Play. He gathers a group of actors around him and in interesting ways the actors lives mirror the stories of Jesus and his followers from the gospels. Memorable scenes for me include the gathering of the actors (Jesus calling his disciples); the actor destroying a television studio (Jesus destroys the temple); a lawyer trying to get the actor to sign a contract (temptation in the wilderness); and the dead actor's organs being donated so that others can have life. (submitted by Rev. Maria Nightingale)
- The
Color Purple
(1985)
- "All my life I had to fight. I had to fight my daddy. I had to fight my uncles. I had to fight my brothers. A girl child ain't safe in a family of men, but I ain't never thought I'd have to fight in my own house! I loves Harpo. God knows I do. But I'll kill him dead before I let him beat me."
- Cool Hand Luke
(1967)
- "Conflict with the prison establishment is inevitable and the last straw comes when Luke encourages his fellow inmates to complete, with enthusiasm, the arduous task of repaving a highway well before five o?clock. The road paving episode is the equivalent of Jesus cursing the Jerusalem Temple. Luke is seen as a dissident and the ruling authorities plot to humiliate him." ("The Messianic Figure in Film: Christology Beyond the Biblical Epic," Matthew Mc Ever, Journal of Religion and Film, 1998)
