Mary Magdalene (2018): Before We Watch
And the earliest-recorded mansplainer is….
A month of superhero blockbusters gave us fictional characters doing extraordinary things that nevertheless get us thinking about our own quotidian world. This week, we start the “genre grab bag” with a faith-oriented film. Mary Magdalene tells its version of a story believed by many to be very much true. We recalibrate our critical viewing posture accordingly.
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With Savor the View, we’ll watch, think, and talk about movies and the things that matter. A special welcome and thanks to our regular crew!
Each Monday, I share brief, spoiler-free remarks and questions to frame viewing a movie on our own.
Each Thursday, I share post-viewing questions to poke at the issues, ideas, quandaries, inspirations...whatever...that movie might have summoned (spoilers, ahoy!).
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Overview
Mary Magdalene (2018): Garth Davis, of Lion (2016) fame, directed this interpretation of a major figure in Christian theology and history. Rooney Mara plays the title character and Joaquin Phoenix, with whom Mara has been in a relationship in real life, plays Jesus. This is slightly weird. Why?
Well, for those not familiar with who this Mary might have been, I’ll sum up 2,000 years of varying perspectives (religious texts, paintings, books, movies, etc.) to say: she was a close disciple of Jesus in a time and place when women, unmarried and outside the domestic sphere, were not to be following anyone anywhere. One adventurous entry among the varying perspectives has envisioned Mary Magdalene and Jesus in a sexual relationship. But, no; in this film, only the actors – and not the characters – are romantically involved. This film is all about the deeply spiritual connection between the two.
Critics were not terribly kind. But the movie stands out, nonetheless, for centering attention on a prominent female figure in early Christianity. Jesus had many women followers – they were almost the only ones among his followers to witness his execution – and I’ll editorialize extravagantly by affirming the value of remembering them.
The universal/general
What does this film suggest about forgiveness? Faith? Compassion? What does each require or involve?
The specific/unique
What vibe and expectations does the movie’s beginning create?
This film envisions the first Christians as a multicultural cast of characters. How does this choice contour your understanding of these earliest disciples of Jesus (Joaquin Phoenix)?
What are each character’s unique expectations and understandings of what is happening around them? What do they each want and why does it matter?
The viewer is always present
If you had any expectations for this movie and its characters – all well-known in terms of religious and historical traditions – how are those expectations met (or not)?
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