I recently saw the trailer to the film Mary Magdalene. The movie was planned for release in late 2017 but was repeatedly pushed back after The Weinstein Co. shuttered in the wake of multiple accusations of sexual assault against power producer Harvey Weinstein. (link) It actually just was released this weekend, 4/12/19, in the USA.
After reading a few articles about the film, I am coming to the conclusion that the film had no intention to accurately portray the story of the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ by how it is in the scripture. Even though I haven’t seen the entire film (as none of the local theaters have it showing for some reason), it seems as if the film will be more of a fictional drama of a Biblical biopic with a feminist perspective.
Here’s a post I saw online of the main actress of the film smoking a cigarette while leaning on the cross of Jesus. When I first saw this Facebook post, I asked myself, “Why do you care that the actress is smoking beside the cross?” Then I thought to myself… the image of her represents a complete disrespect and dishonor to my God. To me it takes a special person to share an image which degrades the holiness of the God that nearly one-third of all the people on earth worship.
I know that America as a nation is truly going through a female power revolution, which a lot of people often refer as the #MeToo movement. Though the #MeToo movement initially started to help bring justice to minority women who suffered from sexual abuse, the movement has also helped to promote sexism in various ways. It has also promoted a justice system culture where slander is legalized and men are “guilty before proven innocent“. Well, let’s not get into that to much :). Ultimately I feel this film will take a truthful historical Biblical story out of context and make it into something else, with the sole intention to give it a contemporary feminist perspective.
I often wonder how many Christians of today actually read the Bible. I feel today’s generation of believers are more susceptible to believe what they see in a film (or on TV) than they are to believe the Bible.
Now, I’m all about equality, whether it’s about gender, race, or whatever else. And, I’m proud to live in one of the most diverse nations in the world, where I can be a minority and still also have the opportunity to live my dreams.
This film just offends me and has rubbed me the wrong way. Not just as a Christian, but as an artist who respects the sacred beliefs of others. But, hey… this film probably won’t be the worst film I’ll ever see, as I eventually want to see it. So… whatever, I’m not going to protest it. Just wanted to share my thoughts. It is what it is.