Are you a Christian? Jewish? Buddist? Muslim? Aetheist? Whether or not you believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ, you’ve probably heard the story of Jesus. After all, it is called “The Greatest Story Ever Told” (at least, in the West, by those of us who were raised as Christians!). But in fact, many world religions celebrate the death and rebirth of a god, or god-like figure. In our modern appreciation of traditional storytelling, we can draw a parallel between the journey of Jesus and the journey of the classic protagonist.
As we discuss in The Art of Story course, all heroes of all stories share the same four classic character traits. These traits are also shared by Jesus. Jesus embodies the heroic traits we seek in a hero: He cares about others, He never gives up, He is flawed, and He is capable of transformation.
Yes, I know, I have been challenged already by my Christian writing students.
“Jesus is not flawed. He’s God. He’s perfect,” the say.
Well, yes and no. He is God, partly, but he is also Man, and in that aspect he is far from perfect. He loses his temper at the money-changers in one example, and in one of the most compelling turns in the story, he doubts his faith when he is dying on the cross.
“Father, why hast Thou forsaken me?” he cries out in his agony.
Doubt is a particularly human trait. When we suffer through our trials, we tend to doubt the existence of God. Doubt makes Jesus quintessentially human, and in his humanity, He makes us empahize with him. Through empathizing with Jesus’ journey through the crucifixion and his subsequent doubt, we understand this great story. It holds resonance for us. If Jesus were only a God, if he did not suffer or experience doubt, his life would not hold the same meaning for us now. And so it is in Story. We must go on the journey with the main character, and the main character must be flawed.
In the story, Jesus suffers, dies and is buried. On the third day, he rises from the dead. Many of our stories today follow this narrative line. We go into the Dark Night of the Soul in Act 2B; we suffer and we face death, sometimes literally. Sometimes we face the death of a dream or the death of a love. Like Jesus, we lose our way and we wander in the desert. Ultimately, however, we experience an epiphany. We see the light. We are reborn, ready to return to the world, capable to face our troubles.
In Jane Eyre, Jane experiences humiliation and defeat at the hands of society. She must wander the moors and abandon all claims on love, and even life itself. Only when she does good works for the church in anonymity is she able to reclaim her life.
In Grand Torino, Kowalski sacrifices himself to save the lives of others. Only through this act can he be redeemed himself.
In The Godfather, Michael Corleone is exiled and wanders in Sicily, much like Christ when he wandered in the desert for forty days.
Even in comedy: In Little Miss Sunshine, only the death of Richard’s dream can make it possible for Richard to recommit himself to it, only this time on a deeper, more conscious level.
These are only a few samples and they represent the most recent films I’ve screened. What examples can you share?
Tags: Christian, Jesus, Resurrection, Screenwriting, Writing
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