“Hollywood” in the Gospels: Sitz im Leben and films with a historical basis

As I mentioned in a previous post, it often pays to capitalize upon a student’s prior exposure to visual media in order to teach a reading strategy for the NT narratives.  Since many students have spent a lot more time watching television and movies than reading good books, alluding to things they have viewed can help to create a critical link to their understanding the nature of the gospels. In the past I have used movies like “Braveheart” and “Titanic” (movies with some kernel of historicity) to explain the stages of gospel development. In particular I point out anachronisms in the films (like William Wallace’s very American vision of “freedom” or post-modern dialogues in the beginning of Titanic) to help students understand the concept of a Sitz im Leben. In other words, there must be something in a historical film that resonates with a modern viewer just as there are things in (for instance) the Gospel of Mark that resonated with a post-70 CE audience. I usually conclude the lecture by telling the students, “There’s a little Hollywood in every gospel.”

 This is not a perfect illustration but it does serve as a helpful heuristic device when introducing students to the stages of gospel development. If anyone out there has other helpful examples of this kind, I’d love to hear them.