John Kariuki
20 June 2006
Nairobi — AFTER YEARS OF SEEING images of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed Jesus Christ, Africa is now staking its claim to an undeniably the most controversial figure in history.
Two movies, Son of Man by South African film maker Mark Dunford-May and The Colour of the Cross by Reverend Cecil "Chip" Murray both feature a black Christ.
In Son of Man, Jesus is a black African born in the violence-riddled shantytown of Soweto, Johannesburg South Africa. Dunford-May made his debut with the award winning U-Carmen eKayelisha, winner of the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film festival last year. Son of Man is already a major success on the overseas film festival circuit, which traditionally serves as a marketing platform ahead of a movies's general release.
In his version of Christ's story, Dunford-May uses modern references and draws parallels between the socio-politicol realities of Africa and those of first Jerusalem to sharpen the political context of the Gospels.
The South African producer says he does not believe that Jesus is the son of God - hence the title of the movie - but that his teachings are universal. He also believes that the Gospels were written by "spin doctors" and he therefore chose to use only what he believes to be the truth.
Dunford-May believes that Jesus was born in an occupied state where there was no equality and his film challenges the Western perception of a Christ who was meek and mild.
"It is a fact that Europeans hijacked Christ and portrayed him in their likeness," he says. In Son of Man, Mary, the mother of Jesus is not the voiceless woman portrayed in the Gospels, she is feisty enough to argue with the angels.
In Colour of the Cross, Rev Murray is more assertive about Christ's black roots. Says he: "It is more likely that Jesus was black than white. It is not an assertion that is a difficult one."
Son of Man and Colour of the Cross come at a time when Hollywood is looking to the Bible for inspiration in the wake of the success of Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ, and currently Ron Howard's Da Vinci Code, which show the commercial viability of controversial but Bible-inspired scripts.
But from an evangelical perspective, both Son of Man and Colour Of The Cross fit in with the new "political correctness" gaining currency among churches that encourage acculturation of the faith.
Speaking on the change, Rev Timothy Njoya of Kenya's Presbyterian Church of East Africa encouraged people of various walks of life and political inclination to adopt Christ as their own.
While this may appeal to liberals, the threat of conservatives rooted in strict teachings could still derail this broad-based approach of the subject of Christ by filmmakers. Already, the popular overseas movie industry's Empire magazine has predicted a heated debate over the casting of a black Christ in major movies. Historically non-traditional Christian movie themes have ran into a wall of resistance by conservative Christians opposed to what they consider attempts to "rewrite" the Gospels. There is apprehension among distributors especially for the Murray film.
According to Empire magazine, the movie has no distributor for theatre release although Warner Bros has signed up for home video rights. Without a major distributor, the film will most likely be on limited release, seriously restricting its reach in Africa where it could have the greatest impact, but where theatres rely solely on international distributors.
THIS DISTRIBUTION REST-riction is the reason the Oscar award winning Tsotsi has not been screened in East Africa months after it was internationally acclaimed, while Da Vinci Code premiered worldwide, including in Africa, in the same month of its release.
So far, all the controversial movies that have dealt with the relationship of Christ and Mary Magdalene, have succeeded, with the exception of Kevin Kline's 1990s movie The Dogma, which caused an uproar over its attempt to repackage the story for the MTV generation.
In the movie, Christ gives a thumbs-up sign to symbolise triumph over evil. Christian groups not only organised protests but also called for the ex-communication of Kline, a devout Catholic. But there are emerging trends in Africa seeking to counter the Western use of the Gospels.
Son of Man and Colour of the Cross may hence become the medium for a New Age Christian evangelism in Africa, with the "right" images and a message reflecting social realities of modern Africa. The question is whether African viewers will get to see such movies.
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