Screening The Sacred

Introduction: seeing the sacred on the screen. Part 1 Theological criticism: shall these bones live?; the problem of bodies in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and Joel Coen's "Blood Simple", Larry E. Grimes; angels in the primum mobile - dimensions of the sacred in William Kennedy's "Ironweed", novel and film, Ted L. Estess; the Christian allegorical structure of "Platoon", Avent Childress Beck; Hollywood and armageddon, Conrad E. Ostwalt, Jr. Part 2 Myth criticism: "Star Wars" - a myth for our time, Andrew Gordon; with eyes uplifted - space aliens as sky gods, Caron Schwartz Ellis; mythic evolution of "the new frontier" in cinema - the feminine strikes back, Janice Hocker Rushing. Part 3 Ideological criticism: redeeming America - "Rocky" as ritual racial drama, Joel W. Martin; from relevation to dream - allegory in David Lynch's "Blue Velvet", Elizabeth McLemore; women spoken for - images of displaced desire, Irena Makarushka; conclusion - religion, film and cultural analysis.