I am not a religious person, but as a writer the messianic archetype or “Christ Figure” as it is more commonly called is a trope I find fascinating. I think a big reason for this is that it can either be done extremely well or incredibly wrong. It can either be done comfortably subtle or stupidly obvious. A character does not have to be religious and the body of work does not have to be religious to create a good solid Christ figure. The Christ figure actually predates the story of Christ, so it has been around for a countless number of years and it is something everyone is familiar with.
Most of the best Christ figures come from literature, Simon from Lord of the Flies being a staple of this. He is not the main character but he might just be the most interesting part of the story as his connections to Christ provide some of the most unforgettable moments of the novel, notably the confrontation with the title character. Most of the best Christ figures in movies were Christ figures in their original texts (novels, short stories, etc.). McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jim Conklin from The Red Badge of Courage, Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby, Jim Casey from The Grapes of Wrath, and countless others are among the classic Christ figures of literature that are also present on the big screen.
Billy Budd from the movie and book of the same name is an excellent example of how to correctly do a Christ figure, in my opinion. Most Christ figures have the author want to beat you over the head with the imagery just so you really get it through your head that they are trying to portray a Christ figure. This includes obvious allusions to the crucifixion and constant preachy behavior that no one would do in a modern or post-biblical setting. Billy Budd (as well as Simon from Lord of the Flies) does a grand job avoiding this in the 1962 film adaptation. Terence Stamp’s Billy Budd is well-liked by almost everyone and his connections to Christ are there but not to the point where it is awfully written. People could easily watch that whole movie and not pick up on the connections to Christ even though they are clearly, just not obviously, there.
Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still is a favorite of mine. While the connections are much more obvious (his alias is Mr. Carpenter, he is resurrected for a short period of time, and he gives a wallop of a speech towards the end of the movie) he is still done pretty well. One big reason for this is that his connections to Christ aren’t just there to be “artsy” or “different” but they are generally well-founded. Klaatu’s message of peace is a good one and his calm demeanor certainly cements his kindness and love for a group of people different from himself. Like Christ, he is not human, but of another world which humans cannot grasp and when it is brought up to them they don’t know how to deal with it so they hunt him down like he was a criminal.
Luke from Cool Hand Luke is another classic example, although not as well done as Billy Budd or Klaatu. The movie’s religious connections are so frequent that it is near impossible not to see the connection. The film even does the crucifixion shot as if you already didn’t pick up on it earlier. Don’t get me wrong, Cool Hand Luke is a great movie but the allusions to Christ lack the subtlety and the point of other better examples. Luke is persecuted like Christ was and like Klaatu is in The Day the Earth Stood Still, but his god-like demeanor doesn’t fit in as well as it would with Klaatu as a being from another world.
Despite this Luke isn’t necessarily a bad example of this trope, just a painfully obvious one to the point where you would swear the movie thinks you’re too stupid to pick up on the details. Lately, in Hollywood superhero movies have been the trend. I don’t think all superhero movies are bad (granted I hate some with a passion) but I wouldn’t consider myself a fan as some take themselves way too seriously and seem to go on forever. One thing that is really annoying with the recent superhero trend is that every single superhero has to be Christ nowadays. It wouldn’t be too bad if it was subtly done like Billy Budd but no, it has to really pound the message into your mind. There is crucifixion imagery in practically all of them and the obvious connections don’t stop there. I know movies today generally aim at a younger audience (and that follow the motto “viewers are morons”) than they did in 1962, but I mean come on, this is just too much. Again, one superhero movie doing it, okay, all of them doing it in the exact same way is a pain and completely unoriginal.
Again, I’m not religious so maybe I prefer seeing this trope done subtly and in a non-preachy way because that is the kind of person I am. I don’t have anything against a superhero movie doing it and I don’t want them to avoid it because I think of them as lower-brow than something like Lord of the Flies. Still Hollywood today should handle it in a more creative way. Just making your character stretch his arms into a wingspan as he is about to fly away can be done by a fifth-grade writer in Sunday school with the same effect. I would rather see filmmakers, who are given a lot more money than they once were, be more creative with a trope and story that is older than the bible itself. It can be done, we’ve all seen it, but it actually takes a bit more effort and thought to make it well-done. Give me Klaatu as Jesus over Superman as Jesus any day.
~Virginia
Here’s the TV Tropes article:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MessianicArchetype
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