How did reviewers from the New York Times to Christianity Today miss the obvious religious references in this Oscar-nominated hit? Did they blink and reach for popcorn at the images of a tattooed Jesus Christ on Randy’s back, or was it more about the myth of modern individualism and body-soul dualism?
S. Brent Rodriguez Plate
S. Brent Rodriguez Plate, is a writer, public speaker, editor, and part-time college professor whose books include A History of Religion in 5 1/2 Objects, Blasphemy: Art that Offends, and Religion and Film: Cinema and the Re-Creation of the World. His essays have been published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Christian Century, The Islamic Monthly, Huffington Post, Killing the Buddha, and elsewhere. He is a board member of the Interfaith Coalition of Greater Utica, NY, President of the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life/CrossCurrents, and managing editor of Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief. He holds a visiting appointment at Hamilton College, NY. Twitter: @splate1
