When Jesus Came to Hollywood

'When Jesus Came to Hollywood' investigates how movies have helped shape our perceptions of Jesus. Take a close look at some of the dozens of interpretations of Jesus, from the sugary Victorian to the angst-ridden postmodern. The New Testament has provided rich fare for moviemakers for well over a century now. While France led the way in early religious movies, Hollywood soon took over and has remained the single most important producer of Jesus-movies ever since.

Author Leslie Kendall highlights the strange relationship between church and Jesus-movies: As religion has declined in significance in Western society, particularly since the mid-20th century, so the number of Jesus-movies has grown and grown. On average, a movie ‘starring’ Jesus has been made every two years for a century-plus, but the majority of them have been produced since 1950. Whatever deep collective psychology is at work here, it is clearly true that Hollywood is not about to give up on Christianity – it’s too rewarding at the box office for that! Whatever your take on Jesus is, you’ll get some surprises in When Jesus Came to Hollywood.