Before you read this commentary, make sure you’ve read Nick Hornby’s “Nipple Jesus” which I’ve posted here. After, leave your thoughts.
Isn’t this story unbelievable? There are so many different things you can take away from each and everything that the narrator says. The first thing I want to highlight is on page 115. A well-meaning religious person comes in and starts praying, but the narrator cannot tell if he is praying to Jesus or praying for the sin that is in the picture. What an interesting dichotomy going on there. The guy could just be bowing before his Lord and worshipping, but instead is praying for the sin of someone else and smashing it in his face. This goes back to the narrator’s earlier comment of “I just thought: religious people. Nutters. ‘Cos they are most of them, aren’t they? I mean, to each his own and everything, but you wouldn’t want to marry one, would you” (106)?
He goes on in page 115 to say that he would not want to end up like the religious person. “It’s not very…cheerful, is it? I mean, what must it be like to be this geezer? …Does he spend all his time wandering around Soho and King’s Cross? Because if he does, then no wonder he’s a nutter. If you don’t spend any time playing with your kids, …or drinking with your mates, or watching Frasier . . . you’re going to end up like him, aren’t you?” How often do we get caught up as followers of Christ in the “law” and miss just enjoying our day-to-day lives. It’s about enjoying our kids, friends (yes…even with a beer), and television. We must remain focused on the Big Picture.
“How can anything made out of pornography be made beautiful” (116)? a viewer of the collage asks the narrator. Truth is, that literally speaking, nothing that comes from porn can be good. It is destructive in all sorts of ways. However, in this case, an incredible piece of artwork is created that took unbelievable thought and something beautiful was born. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection on the cross is the cornerstone to faith of a Christian. Yet what happens when it is not a symbol we can wear as a bracelet or a necklace, or even a spectacle on our church’s wall? We tear it down and miss the beauty. “What they’d done was much more blasphemous than anything Martha had done” (122). Sounds like a Pharisee story to me…
I was talking to a friend yesterday about Mel Gibson and my distaste for him after his anti-semitic comments, D-U-I’s, other antics, and exploiting the Gospel for 612 million dollars. However, my friend challenged me to think beyond that and think how I would react living with the pressures of Hollywood. I took it a step further and am applying my own challenge to you as a reader, to myself.
You see, Mel Gibson has done some very stupid things, and I do not like him for that. However, in the midst of his terrible antics, he still has made the most compelling film about Christ EVER. From historical accuracy to making Jesus no longer look like a gay guy, Gibson creates a masterpiece. I get so caught up in not liking someone for their past mistakes, that I miss the beauty they’ve created despite their nonsense. The narrator would say: “So everyone’s a prat [in the story], aren’t they” (124)?
He’s right, we all are. Sometimes each and every one of us needs to step back and see the beauty in people rather than go tearing down God’s creation: mankind. “Christ is where you find him” (121).
Related Posts:
Well, this fantastic little story could be taken lots of places. Two highlights for me that I can still remember (read it last night):
1. When the preachermanthing refused to view it as a beautiful thing from a distance and insisted on seeing the porn in it…I don’t really know why but it seems like the typical christian thing to do and that bothers me.
2. “Everyone’s a prat”. How true.
I would love to see this painting. Not to hang it on my wall or anything, but just so it could make me smile.
Am I missing out that I have only seen 2 minutes of the passion of the christ?
@eldon – You are definitely missing out if you have not seen the Passion. It is unbelievably intense, so watch it in a time when you are ready for it. I’m sure you’ve seen the other attempts to make movies of Christ’s crucifixion on tv and they are painful to watch (because of the low quality, not the ridiculous nature of a Roman crucifixion). Maybe around Good Friday we could watch it. It’s not the kind of “popcorn and a movie” night I’m accustomed to, but we could look at watching it around Easter time if you are interested. Either way, go see it, or be a “prat”!
How would u characterize Dave?
I find that they would see something as ugly that the Lord found beautiful enough to create interesting. The nipples and breasts are God’s creation. How can one say that the old pictures of women completely nude are beautiful but the breasts cut out of a magazine are ugly? Breasts are God’s creation (I already said this…)… anyways, Thank you for posting this story. Blessings