Kelly Moss Chitwood

Excellent interpretation of the gospels, augmented by the modern, theological understanding of Mary of Magdala as a true apostle of Jesus. She, and no doubt many other women of that time, have historically received short shrift in terms of their influence and importance. One can accurately put that down to legends that developed over centuries that undervalued and underestimated women. When even the Roman Catholic Church, which in antiquity started some of the misinformation, has openly admitted its error (Pope Francis, 2016), the rest of us can safely rethink our opinions of Mary Magdalene, the woman closest to Jesus in His adulthood. The character of Jesus as written in the script of the film and portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix may challenge traditional views of Him as an other-worldly being with no human characteristics. However, the Bible clearly supports an understanding of Him as a man, both human and divine. Indeed, the incarnation happened so that He could live among us, as one of us, so that we can approach Him as One who understands the tribulations of being human. I found this portrayal extremely moving, and it caused me to feel closer to Jesus and to revere Him more, not less. The film condenses the timeline of events of Jesus’s ministry, in order to focus on the most important ones. This improves what could be a plodding plot, such as we have seen in a number of other religious movies. Overall, “Mary Magdalene” does it’s subject matter proud. Open-minded Christians will likely find it inspiring. Those who insist on word-for-word perfection of the Bible as written, allowing no possibility that some events may not have made the cut or may not even have been known by those who wrote it, will probably cry,”Sacrilege!” Non-Christians may well find it interesting, while confirmed atheists won’t see it at all. The more things change, the more they stay the same.