Rampage Magazine April 2022

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The Oh, God! Trilogy Despite being a massively successful franchise in the ’70s and ’80s, Oh, God! and its two sequels remain a mostly forgotten comedy relic, which is quite a shame considering how incredibly sincere and entertaining these three films truly are. George Burns stars in this trilogy as God himself, taking the form of a human on Earth in order to spread a message of love around the world in hopes that human beings begin to take better care of the planet. In the first film, he asks a man to tell the world that he still cares, in the second he enlists the help of a young girl to spread the message “Think God,” and in the final installment Burns plays both the role of God and the devil in a battle over the spirit of a struggling musician who accidentally sells his soul to the devil in order to become a success. All three of these films are incredibly-fun little comedy romps that offer a significant amount of sincerity and love in their messages. Although the third doesn’t offer as much of a message, and the first two aren’t entirely theologically sound, these films are incredibly touching and loving films that deserve to be remembered. Silence Silence is perhaps the most emotionally-powerful filmmade in the field of religion, faith, spirituality and Christianity. It is in no way an easy film to watch, as the audience is subjected to witness a near three-hour tale of Jesuit priests in Japan in the 17th century, a time in which Christianity was banned and punishable by death, and even worse, torture. Despite it focusing on a bleak subject matter, there isn’t a moment in this film without some level of hope. It is a movie filled with the love of God and devotion to faith. It’s brutal and raw and made me weep upon viewing it, but I would gladly watch it again for how immensely beautiful and powerful it is. There are few films better than this. Its harrowing and grounding just as much as it is beautiful and compelling. If you watch any film on this list, make sure you see Silence ; there’s not much else like it.

The Last Temptation of Christ Whenever writing about The Last Temptation of Christ , one must toe the line rather carefully. When this film came out it was easily the most controversial film of the time. People boycotted theaters, even some resulted in committing acts of violence due to their objection to the contents of this film. Looking back on this, many — including myself — wonder why exactly this happened and with such venom and bitterness. After all, director Martin Scorsese is a devout Christian. The most cited reasoning for this is due to the constant accusations of this film being sacrilege and the perception that it portrays Jesus as only human and a sinner. This film never once claims to be an accurate retelling of the Gospel, and in fact it opens with a disclaimer telling the audience not to take the film literally at all. It is by all accounts an allegory using the story of Christ to tell its message of love, care, and betterment for the human race. It is deeply spiritual and profound as an allegory, and one that made me weep deeply upon my first viewing of it. The film isn’t sacrilege and doesn’t portray Jesus as only human. He is expressly displayed as the son of God, and although the accusation that this film displays Jesus as a sinner is debatable, the film once again asks you before it even begins to not take it as a direct interpretation of the Gospel, but rather an allegory of human faith through the story of Jesus. I implore you to give this a watch if you haven’t; it’s truly beautiful. You can even check it I feel obligated to mention the name Paul Schrader at this point, seeing as this is the third film I’ve mentioned with his involvement. He directed Light Sleeper and First Reformed and wrote The Last Temptation of Christ . His films don’t always tackle spirituality, but when they do they are incredibly effective. Light Sleeper is no exception, although its use is much more subtle. While the story follows a drug dealer and former addict on the path to reform, the film focuses more on his pain and loneliness, while applying a heavy use of Christian imagery and symbolism that makes its story just that much more effective. Menace II Society Early on in Menace II Society , Cain (the protagonist) is asked by his grandfather a simple question: “Are you right with God?” Although he quickly answers, the question seemingly takes a hold of him, and throughout the rest of this beautifully tragic tale of crime, mistakes and struggle that question almost haunts him. It is likely no coincidence that he is named Cain, as the events of the story lead him down a dark and violent path at points that also haunt him. He wears a cross on his neck for most of the film, and he feels pain and regret where some of his friends don’t. Menace II Society is as much a film about Cain’s struggle with adversity, crime and life in a broken and mistreated neighborhood as it is about his struggle with faith. out at Easley Library. Light Sleeper