Opinion Articles

SOUL MATTERS: Easter television needs to be born again
By Tracey Edstein

Despite not intending to spend a lot of time viewing during the recent Easter break, I studied the TV guide closely. I like to know what I’m missing.

The Easter offerings were, in the main, disappointingly conventional. Judy Garland and Fred Astaire took well dressed part in Easter Parade (again) and The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima and Lilies of the Field had an airing. Sadly, The Passion of the Christ is now available for free to air viewing, for those for whom graphic crucifixion depiction is more palatable than the gospel accounts of Jesus’ death.

Other offerings included Miracle in Lane 2 and Angels Fall, clearly chosen because of their titles.

While these choices are perhaps understandable, there are so many richer possibilities that would make satisfying viewing for all, as opposed to the narrowly religious requiring predictable plots, women in habits and injunctions uttered in solemn tones. After all, there is little evidence that Jesus spoke in olde English.

For the Christian Churches, Easter lasts fifty days, until Pentecost. In fact, every Sunday is a celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, ‘a little Easter’.

So there is no need for Easter movie fare to be restricted to the days surrounding Easter Sunday. Characters who experience awakening and insight, who embark on a new way of life, who ‘die to’ an element of their lives so that they might embrace another way, are ‘Easter people’, although they might never be seen to pray, to quote the scriptures or to wear white robes.

Life is Beautiful (1997) deservedly received seven Academy Award nominations. It is an engaging and confronting story of the strength and imagination of a father’s love for his son during the Nazi Holocaust. Roberto Benigni shines.

The Spitfire Grill (1996) tells the story of Percy, a young woman released from prison after ‘doing time’ for manslaughter. Hardly promising, but all is not as it seems, and redemption emerges as a central theme.

War of the Buttons (1994) depicts two gangs of Irish children from neighbouring towns. Their ongoing feud involves capturing the enemies’ buttons as trophies, but in the process the children (and their parents) learn that what they share is more significant than their differences. Generous helpings of Irish magic add to the flavour.

The ABC earned an “Alleluia” for Belonging, an English gem screened on the evening of Easter Sunday. The marvellous Brenda Blethyn portrayed Jess, an abandoned wife who continues to care for her husband’s elderly (and demanding) relatives while he establishes a new family with nary a backward glance. Eventually, and with a remarkable lack of bitterness, she recognises the goodness which she has been hitherto unaware of and embraces the future with enthusiasm.

For those who still welcome a gospel narrative, the challenging and unorthodox French Canadian film Jesus of Montreal (1989) might be granted a spot for Easter 2009 – although it’s not too late for Easter 2008!

Tracey Edstein

Tracey is the editor of Aurora, the magazine of the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle.