Friday, January 27, 2006

what does jesus look like?

What does Jesus look like? by Rosa Clemente reflects on her own Catholic upbringing, the recent film Son of Man, and Kanye West doing impressions of Jesus on magazine covers.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What really interesting is that every culture produces art that portrays Jesus as "one of their own." I have a book of depictions of Jesus from all over the world. The (unrealistic) blue-eyed white Jesus that seems to have dominated in similar ways as the cultures it represents is only one example of the projection.

It's the reverse dynamic of epidemic naming, which never starts "here" but only "over there."

Jesus is claimed by believers all over the world. In a certain sense, if he was here to help everyone, he can be claimed by everyone. But all we really know is that if there was such a man, he is described as a strong and comely man with charisma who spoke with authority and was appealing to children.

But a focus on his appearance would probably be beside the point. Oftentime the iconography of Jesus as the Christ over a recognizable personage is used for editorial purposes.