March 17: Screen Adaptation of THE Book

From Charlton Heston (The Ten Commandments) to Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ), Gregory Peck (David and Bathsheba) to Val Kilmer (Prince of Egypt voice), the Bible has appeared famously and frequently in a multitude of dramatic settings. This month, the History Channel took on a whole new task: creating a cinematic narrative of the Bible, from Adam and Eve all the way to Jesus and beyond.

So far, two episodes have aired, three and a half total hours. The story has traversed the Torah or Five Books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Judges, Samuel I and half of II. What is most significant about the production, though, is what has been included and what has been omitted.

With any movie based on a book, it would be impossible to include all of the details of the story. That is especially true when the book is the most significant piece of printed material of all time. Whenever an adaptation occurs, it is up to the creator to add their own interpretations, adding significance where they see fit. It is truly impossible to give a totally “accurate” view without making some stretches from the text.

One notable omission was the story of Joseph, which is a very familiar story even to the least Biblically educated, because of the popularity of the Broadway musical. In the context of the text of the Bible, though, this is not necessarily a story that must be shared, because in many ways the story is just a transition: it is a description of the way that the early Israelites made their way from the land of Canaan to Egypt.

On the other side of the spectrum, the prevalence of the story of Samson and Delilah is an interesting choice, especially when evaluated from the perspective of Jewish viewers. Samson is a story found within the book of Judges, and takes up only four chapters of the book. The story is one that is far more prevalent in the Christian tradition than the Jewish one, predominantly because of the concept of Martyrdom, which is a key element to the story. For Christians, who believe that Martyrdom is a passionate demonstration of faith, whereas Jews see any form of death, especially a suicide such as Samson’s, as a destruction of God’s greatest gift: life.  The decision to give this story a significant chunk of time during the TV series was an interesting one, and one that gave clear insight into the religious background of the production team.

One error that occurred in the production of the film came during the story of the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. As Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, he is visited by an angel who tells him to stop and gives him a substitute animal to sacrifice. In the movie, this animal is a lamb, which does not jive with the Biblical account that says that it was a ram. While this may seem like a subtle difference, it does, in fact, give a great change to the context of the incident, especially in the symbolism of the animal. The ram has its horn stuck in a thicket of thorns, which later down the road is interpreted as a parallel to Jesus and his crown of thorns, and thus the sacrificing of Jesus as an offering for the sins of humanity. Lambs don’t have horns (I’m not a zoologist so I’m no expert), thus clouding the symbolism of the incident. Although there may have simply been a shortage of rams on filming day.

As I stated earlier, it is impossible to tell a Biblical story in this style without adding some sort of interpretive clothing. This is especially true in the depiction of women throughout the story. In the story of Samson, both Delilah and Samson’s mother are given significance that exceed that of the text itself. Most significantly, though, this is seen in the story of David and Bathsheba. Bathsheba has no speaking role in the Bible. She is, for all intents and purposes, an object of David’s fascination and pleasure. In the cinematic production, however, she is given a sense of honor, respect, and loyalty. This step toward feminism is not surprising in today’s social climate, but it is an interpretive decision that was made by the production team, and must be evaluated as such.

For much of the public, the Bible is a staple in society, but often without any real value to the individual's life. Therefore, a great many people are uneducated about what is actually contained within the Biblical text. This project by the History Channel is an entertaining and informative insight, and offers any and all people to get to interact with this often abstract book in a new and meaningful way never before experienced.