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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: The Bible. A Bible-belt version?
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shamwari
Shipmate
# 15556
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Posted
I have been watching the first episode of The Bible. It is a much hyped TV production and is claimed to be huge success in USA. One pastor says he has baptised 3000 people as a result!
Anyone else seen it?
To my mind it is another Bible-Belt favourite. Produced with excellent photography in the fashion of Cecil B de Mille. Extreme literalism portrayed on screen as fact. A caricature of Christian belief.
Fortuately it is on Channel 5 which few people view.
But maybe I am biassed. Any shipmate approve of it?
Posts: 1914 | From: from the abyss of misunderstanding | Registered: Mar 2010
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Clodsley Shovel
Apprentice
# 16662
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Posted
I'm quite enjoying it!
It doesn't have the acting skill of say Breaking Bad, and it's belting through a huge chunk of Old Testament in about 90 minutes, but I'd far rather a literal retelling of the scripture account than some Hollywood producers 'interpretation' of it.
Posts: 41 | Registered: Sep 2011
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I am recording it, so will watch it later. The response from my US friends (i.e. twitter stream) indicates exactly what has been said - that it is a very conservative approach to the Bible. So I have lowered expectations.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
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Posted
The sets, costumes and accents were appalling - I tolerated about five minutes.
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All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
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Tortuf
Ship's fisherman
# 3784
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Posted
I tried looking for "The Bible" on Netflix and only found Veggie Tales - "Where was God when I was S-scared." I can recommend it, BTW. Good acting and marvelous sets. I can't imagine how they got an asparagus to act like that.
So, I went to the History Channel - home of The Bible television series to watch episode recaps.* It is exactly like I would expect. The stories in the Jewish Testament seem somewhat lurid and tend towards violence. Gosh, what a surprise coming from producers who would pick the Bible as a subject. Of course it is produced with conservative religious types in mind because that is exactly the audience most likely to watch it.
Beyond that though, the stories are written in bright primary colors instead of pastels or shades of grey because of the audience of the stories as originally told. The audience was a nomadic people who wanted something memorable and out of the ordinary as a story sitting around the fire at night; not some nuanced exploration of the human psyche.
As to the Gospels, well, same thing really.
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*Unlike good networks the History Channel does not have free reruns of their big shows. Which is a shame because the wife in the Vikings is some kind of sexy.
Posts: 6963 | From: The Venice of the South | Registered: Dec 2002
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Kwesi
Shipmate
# 10274
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Posted
How did they handle Abram pimping Sarai; Sodom and Gomorrah; Lot and his daughters; the rape of Dinah; and Judah and Tamar? I leave aside the unashamed nudity with which the narrative more or less begins!
The wholesale nationalisation of the Egyptian economy under Joseph must have been a problem for the bible-belt Tea Partyers.
Of course, the genocides of Judges and later would hardly be a problem for a nation built on that very principle; and I guess the stoning of homosexuals hardly turned a hair.
Posts: 1641 | From: South Ofankor | Registered: Sep 2005
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Kwesi
Shipmate
# 10274
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Posted
p.s. IMO there is no biblical film which remotely approaches the profound depth of Pasolini's Gospel According to St. Matthew.
Posts: 1641 | From: South Ofankor | Registered: Sep 2005
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Tortuf: quote:
The stories in the Jewish Testament seem somewhat lurid and tend towards violence.
That's how I took the written version. ![[Snigger]](graemlins/snigger.gif)
But I can't stand films with crappy production values, so I'll take a miss.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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quetzalcoatl
Shipmate
# 16740
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Posted
Never mind the stories; what I want to know is, are there men in mini-skirts, following the example of Brad Pitt?
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I can't talk to you today; I talked to two people yesterday.
Posts: 9878 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2011
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
Kwesi: I leave aside the unashamed nudity with which the narrative more or less begins!
Didn't God invent leaves for that?
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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Kwesi
Shipmate
# 10274
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Posted
Sure, LeRoc, but until they sinned A&E were too dumb to realise they had a sartorial problem.
Posts: 1641 | From: South Ofankor | Registered: Sep 2005
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Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kwesi:
Sure, LeRoc, but until they sinned A&E were too dumb to realise they had a sartorial problem.
Or too close to God to think of nudity as necessarily a problem...
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Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Thought it was more that they hadn't clued into what the naughty bits were for, so they were not yet considered naughty.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Honest Ron Bacardi
Shipmate
# 38
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Posted
Isn't that what pixellation was invented for?
Anyway, about the literal interpretation thing - I'm straining to see how you can get around that with the medium involved. What other options did you have in mind? And no I'm not going to watch it - I've already seen the script.
Although just thinking about it a bit does suggest some ruminations on how choice of medium can skew the message.
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Anglo-Cthulhic
Posts: 4857 | From: the corridors of Pah! | Registered: May 2001
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
My problems with this series are many. Roma Downey produced and financed the whole shebang and she plays Mary, the mother of Jesus. I found that to bee a little arrogant on her part, plus she's not exactly a great actress. I wouldn't have been surprised if Della Reese had been shoehorned in somewhere. My other problem is that parts of it were just hokey and badly acted. Oh, and did I mention that Roma Downey (and her husband, Mark Burnett) produced it? Ugh.
Then, just the other day I read somewhere that she and Burnett are taking it on the road, on the advice of their bestest pal, Rick Warren. They're going to mega churches and playing the whole thing for mega church congregations because apparently, God told Roma and Mark that that's what He wanted them to do. I bet they're not doing it for free, but even if they were, it just smacks of vainglory to me.
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
I managed about 10 minutes of it. Then I decided it was just too much, too OTT.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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daronmedway
Shipmate
# 3012
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Thought it was more that they hadn't clued into what the naughty bits were for, so they were not yet considered naughty.
Sex predates the fall.
Posts: 6976 | From: Southampton | Registered: Jul 2002
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Tortuf:
I tried looking for "The Bible" on Netflix and only found Veggie Tales - "Where was God when I was S-scared." I can recommend it, BTW. Good acting and marvelous sets. I can't imagine how they got an asparagus to act like that.
It's celery with excellent costuming and make-up.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
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the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Honest Ron Bacardi:
Anyway, about the literal interpretation thing - I'm straining to see how you can get around that with the medium involved. What other options did you have in mind?
I agree. Some po-faced liberal theologian explaining that the stuff in the written version is just a metaphor probably wouldn't rate as well on TV, although it would be cheaper to produce.
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Tortuf:
I tried looking for "The Bible" on Netflix and only found Veggie Tales - "Where was God when I was S-scared." I can recommend it, BTW. Good acting and marvelous sets. I can't imagine how they got an asparagus to act like that.
It's celery with excellent costuming and make-up.
Blasphemy!
Next thing you'll be saying that wasn't actually Zombie Moses in The Ten Commandments but some American actor.
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If I give a homeopathy advocate a really huge punch in the face, can the injury be cured by giving them another really small punch in the face?
Posts: 4834 | From: Adelaide, South Australia. | Registered: Jan 2006
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HCH
Shipmate
# 14313
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Posted
There is an old film by John Huston titled "The Bible" which presents a number of vignettes from the book of Genesis. I rather like it.
Posts: 1540 | From: Illinois, USA | Registered: Nov 2008
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Thought it was more that they hadn't clued into what the naughty bits were for, so they were not yet considered naughty.
If you read Paradise Lost, you'll see that Milton had no doubt that the relationship between Adam and Eve was sexual. So they knew what the naughty bits were for, but did not think them naughty. And then there's the old limerick:
In the Garden of Eden lay Adam
Contentedly stroking* his madam.
And great was his mirth
For he knew that on earth
There were only 2 balls and he had 'em.
*Another version has "stoking".
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by daronmedway:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Thought it was more that they hadn't clued into what the naughty bits were for, so they were not yet considered naughty.
Sex predates the fall.
If you mean the act, we just don't know. We have no idea how long it took from creation to fall, and if we did, we still wouldn't know how the pair of them were, er, using their time. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Hairy Biker
Shipmate
# 12086
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kwesi:
How did they handle Abram pimping Sarai; Sodom and Gomorrah; Lot and his daughters; the rape of Dinah; and Judah and Tamar? I leave aside the unashamed nudity with which the narrative more or less begins!
The wholesale nationalisation of the Egyptian economy under Joseph must have been a problem for the bible-belt Tea Partyers.
Of course, the genocides of Judges and later would hardly be a problem for a nation built on that very principle; and I guess the stoning of homosexuals hardly turned a hair.
Um, they skipped all those bits. The actual destruction of Sodom was shown (without the troubling detail about Lot preferring his daughters to be raped rather than his guests). The rest of what you mention, including the entire Joseph story, were consigned to a couple of "40 years later" skips.
They've only got as far as Exodus, so can't comment on the rest yet. Certainly homosexuality has not been acknowledged in any way, so no call for any stoning yet.
Apart from the fact that it presents Genesis to the Exodus as a single, coherent story, I wouldn't call it particularly literal. Very little of the dialogue has been used and rather a lot of detail has been added, or at least read from between the lines.
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there [are] four important things in life: religion, love, art and science. At their best, they’re all just tools to help you find a path through the darkness. None of them really work that well, but they help.
Damien Hirst
Posts: 683 | From: This Sceptred Isle | Registered: Nov 2006
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LeRoc
Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216
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Posted
quote:
Lamb Chopped: We have no idea how long it took from creation to fall, and if we did, we still wouldn't know how the pair of them were, er, using their time.
They couldn't have been studying the Bible. It would have been awfully short at that time.
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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)
Posts: 9474 | From: Brazil / Africa | Registered: Aug 2002
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daronmedway
Shipmate
# 3012
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
quote:
Originally posted by daronmedway:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Thought it was more that they hadn't clued into what the naughty bits were for, so they were not yet considered naughty.
Sex predates the fall.
If you mean the act, we just don't know. We have no idea how long it took from creation to fall, and if we did, we still wouldn't know how the pair of them were, er, using their time.
I'm pretty sure that Genesis 1:28, "be fruitful and multiply" means "make babies".
Posts: 6976 | From: Southampton | Registered: Jul 2002
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Honest Ron Bacardi
Shipmate
# 38
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Posted
Daronmedway wrote: quote:
I'm pretty sure that Genesis 1:28, "be fruitful and multiply" means "make babies".
Difficult to see what else it might mean.
"One of you can blow raspberries out of your bottom, while the other one learns your times tables". Perhaps.
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Anglo-Cthulhic
Posts: 4857 | From: the corridors of Pah! | Registered: May 2001
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trouty
Shipmate
# 13497
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kwesi:
p.s. IMO there is no biblical film which remotely approaches the profound depth of Pasolini's Gospel According to St. Matthew.
Pretentious,moi?
Posts: 205 | From: Somewhere out there | Registered: Mar 2008
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Kwesi
Shipmate
# 10274
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Posted
Touche, Trouty! I guess I'd better wear a cap that fits! ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
It's just that I'm so embarrassed by the plethora of naff tosh which characterises the genre in general. Pasolini, at least, is engaged with the subject and makes a challenging statement rather than offering pap to the faithful.
Posts: 1641 | From: South Ofankor | Registered: Sep 2005
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by daronmedway:
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
quote:
Originally posted by daronmedway:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Thought it was more that they hadn't clued into what the naughty bits were for, so they were not yet considered naughty.
Sex predates the fall.
If you mean the act, we just don't know. We have no idea how long it took from creation to fall, and if we did, we still wouldn't know how the pair of them were, er, using their time.
I'm pretty sure that Genesis 1:28, "be fruitful and multiply" means "make babies".
I'm pretty sure that with several hundred million years of animals reproducing sexually, we can safely say that sex predates the Fall.
And, for what it's worth, I agree with Kwesi - the Pasolini is one of the very few "Bible" movies I have any time for. It's a great film, and remarkably true to the text.
The problem filming the Bible is that you can't do it and still call it the Bible. The Bible is the text. Any attempt to film the gospels becomes itself a fifth gospel. Any attempt to film Genesis becomes a second Genesis. The text is the text: film adds a visual dimension, and therefore visual meaning. It reshapes text to harmonise, gloss, and add dramatic shape. It extrapolates and interpolates, and people can get taken in by it and come to the Bible expecting a novelisation of the film. IMO, every Bible based film should flash the message "THIS IS NOT THE BIBLE" on the screen for a second every minute.
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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trouty
Shipmate
# 13497
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kwesi:
Touche, Trouty! I guess I'd better wear a cap that fits!
It's just that I'm so embarrassed by the plethora of naff tosh which characterises the genre in general. Pasolini, at least, is engaged with the subject and makes a challenging statement rather than offering pap to the faithful.
Thanks for taking it in that spirit! I think I know what you mean, although I tend not to watch any religious films at all, so I can't really express a proper opinion of them.
Posts: 205 | From: Somewhere out there | Registered: Mar 2008
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tclune
Shipmate
# 7959
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
I'm pretty sure that with several hundred million years of animals reproducing sexually, we can safely say that sex predates the Fall.
Mixing our metaphors a bit, aren't we?
--Tom Clune
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This space left blank intentionally.
Posts: 8013 | From: Western MA | Registered: Jul 2004
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Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by tclune:
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
I'm pretty sure that with several hundred million years of animals reproducing sexually, we can safely say that sex predates the Fall.
Mixing our metaphors a bit, aren't we?
--Tom Clune
What metaphors?
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"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
IMO, every Bible based film should flash the message "THIS IS NOT THE BIBLE" on the screen for a second every minute.
Please do not attempt a career in the making of movies. Unless you wish to be the Yoko Ono of film
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Bob Two-Owls
Shipmate
# 9680
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Posted
Watched it last night and quite enjoyed it in a strange sort of way. Who knew that Angels were Kung Fu experts? The kind of TV that should be enjoyed while wearing a vest (US:tank top) and drinking lager from a can.
Posts: 1262 | Registered: Jul 2005
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seekingsister
Shipmate
# 17707
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Posted
I like the ethnic diversity in the cast, it's definitely the least white Bible dramatization I've seen. In the first episode we had the one black and one Asian angel in Sodom, and I'm excited to see the guy from "Game of Thrones" as a black dreadlocked Samson.
It's not high art but it's entertaining enough.
Posts: 1371 | From: London | Registered: May 2013
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Laurelin
Shipmate
# 17211
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Posted
I enjoyed it. ![[Smile]](smile.gif) No, it's certainly not high art. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) And it's not Breaking Bad. Or even Game of Thrones.
But I don't care. I enjoyed it. As for it being too 'conservative' ... well, people have been merrily deconstructing and demythologizing Scripture for decades and it's actually refreshing to watch a portrayal that takes the stories pretty much at face value, even if sometimes admittedly the interpretation could do with more nuance and not rely on unbiblical additions, e.g. I did NOT like the silly ninja angels in Sodom actively slaying people with swords. ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
Yet the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, is full of sex, violence, passion and high drama and any half-decent dramatization will at least try to reflect that.
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"I fear that to me Siamese cats belong to the fauna of Mordor." J.R.R. Tolkien
Posts: 545 | From: The Shire | Registered: Jul 2012
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Kwesi
Shipmate
# 10274
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Posted
Laurelin quote:
I did NOT like the silly ninja angels in Sodom actively slaying people with swords
........but did they like it "up em"? ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
Posts: 1641 | From: South Ofankor | Registered: Sep 2005
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The5thMary
Shipmate
# 12953
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Tortuf:
I tried looking for "The Bible" on Netflix and only found Veggie Tales - "Where was God when I was S-scared." I can recommend it, BTW. Good acting and marvelous sets. I can't imagine how they got an asparagus to act like that.
It's celery with excellent costuming and make-up.
Did you hear about the great vegetable detective? His name was Celery Queen! Ba-dum-bum! I'll be here all week, folks!
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God gave me my face but She let me pick my nose.
Posts: 3451 | From: Tacoma, WA USA | Registered: Aug 2007
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
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Posted
hosting/
The hostly consensus is that the conversation has taken a decidedly Heavenly turn, so that's where this thread's being moved to.
/hosting
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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by shamwari:
I have been watching the first episode of The Bible. It is a much hyped TV production and is claimed to be huge success in USA. One pastor says he has baptised 3000 people as a result!
Anyone else seen it?
To my mind it is another Bible-Belt favourite. Produced with excellent photography in the fashion of Cecil B de Mille. Extreme literalism portrayed on screen as fact. A caricature of Christian belief.
Fortunately it is on Channel 5 which few people view.
But maybe I am biassed. Any shipmate approve of it?
I saw it and it kept me watching. I saw the episode with Abraham intending to sacrifice Isaac, and where Moses got his people out of Egypt – I was curious to know how they'd handle the Red Sea scene. (I'd been taught at school that it might have been the Reed Sea and events consequently somewhat less spectacular as they parted a curtain of reeds to pass through the waters, but who knows.)
It was quite interesting to watch, though a bit depressing how often it seemed to degenerate into fighting, and how Pharaoh seemed to spend most of his time roaring. However, I would watch further episodes, though it wasn’t something I’d make a point of staying in for.
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