Lukes the Prodigal Son and Hollywoods Perception of the Gospel Essay

Lukes the Prodigal Son and Hollywoods Perception of the Gospel - Essay Example Here, at his execution, Jesus is tempted by an alluring image of a peaceful and pleasant life with Mary Magdelene to try to get him to refuse the sacrifice he must make. The carpenter Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for him. But as his mission nears fulfillment, he must face the greatest temptation: the normal life of a good man. This movie is actually not based on the Gospels, but on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name. But in a sense, whether it is a movie or a novel, this ideology of a common and insignificant life is more of modern conception of self-help motives driven by (apparently) hazard free market economy. Jesus is shown at the outset as a lonely, masochistic soul full of self-contempt, tempted to leave the cross for the life of an ordinary man who knows the felicities of marriage, sex, and family: this is th e "last temptation" that nearly wrenches away the meaning of his sacrifice. But here is a perception that invokes the feeling of a common man who wants the world to be ideally trouble free and simple. Alternately, Godspell (1973) written and directed by David Greene based on the novel by John-Michael Tebelak is a modern-day version of the gospels, opening with John the Baptist