What’s In A Culture? A Critical Examination of Culture and Faith Through a Cinematic Lens of Son of Man (2006)

ABSTRACT

In this paper, I explore the claim that the film Son of Man (2006) represents a story of “continuity between African culture and Christian faith”. While this statement implies a seamless connection between the two, I argue that the relationship is more complex and fluid. Rather than strict continuity, I propose that the film depicts a process of adaptation, where certain cultural elements are retained while others are discarded. Through analysis of cross-cultural audience responses to Son of Man, I investigate how faith meets with the South African landscape, considering historical and cultural contexts. This examination demonstrates that the film presents a complex relationship between culture and faith, challenging the notion of a straightforward continuity.

KEYWORDS:

• Jesus
• African
• culture
• Christianity
• Bible and film
• reception

Introduction

“If the gospel is not allowed to evaluate the tradition and seek ways of¹ either transforming it and/or discarding certain elements in it that are not congruent with its tenets”, then a true “vigorous” development of African theology and what that entails, becomes “impossible”.² This article will critically examine the relationship between culture and faith within the concepts of culture, such as ethnicity, faith, and identity by closely exploring these concepts within the cinematic framework of Son of Man (2006). The central claim from Gerald West that the film acts as a story of the continuity of African culture and faith lends itself to a question of what we mean when we attempt to perceive culture and faith within the South African context.

Thus, I aim to understand how these cultural features are utilised through the medium of film and how they are received by audiences to maintain elements of universality and particularity. Son of Man cultivates its particularity by situating its narrative within a specific cultural context both ethnically and theological– ethnically with the presence of the Xhosa in South Africa and theologically sustains elements of Black Christology. The rationale of this study aims to interrogate how these cultural and theological cultural dynamics are maintained by filmmakers and the subsequent ideologies that develop from cultural contexts.

This article is divided into two parts: the first half will examine and interrogate ideologies that emerge from Son of Man and the second half will provide an analysis of cross-cultural audience response to the film and ideologies. Son of Man’s lead character, Jesus, is a Xhosa man who is concerned for the liberation of the oppressed and marginalised. He is fashioned after the anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. Therefore, it is important to identify the particular elements that influence the construction of Jesus in Son of Man. By considering how (South African) theology is framed through Black Christology and the Black Consciousness Movement.

First, I aim to situate its cultural context within its ethnographic location by drawing upon its creative origins and influences. Second, I will provide a brief summary of the film, highlighting the important features of the film through which I will then adopt an interpretive lens. The final section will be primarily concerned with probing Gerald West’s statement that Son of Man emerges as a story of “continuity between African culture and Christian faith”.³

Culture has fluid and varied meanings and theories, and it tends to shift contexts depending on a collection of factors. Culture has been called “the way of life for an entire society”.⁴ It includes societal factors such as “codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, and norms of behaviour such as law and morality, and systems of belief”.⁵

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (2002) described culture as follows:

Culture should be regarded as the set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.

These two definitions provide a framework from which we can begin to locate culture, its meaning, and its implications within Son of Man. It is important to consider that there is no definite basis to determine what constitutes a specific culture. There are complexities involved in locating the relationships and links between Christianity and cultures in African ethnographies.

In conclusion, I will be focused on analysing the cross-cultural audience responses to culture and faith. I will critically interrogate to what extent the contextual location of the audience influences their responses. I will use the case study of the baptism and the Xhosa circumcision ritual of uKwaluka to framework the ideologies that emerge from the lived experiences of the audience.

Son of Man: An Introduction and Plot Summary

Son of Man (2006) debuted at the Sundance Film Festival acclaimed by critics and audiences alike.⁶ From its inception, the producers did not intend mainstream distribution and only in 2010, five years after its initial release, did most viewers get an opportunity to see the film upon its DVD release. It is modern and political thus leaving behind many questions for the role of Christianity in Africa. Gerald West asserts that Son of Man serves as a story of “continuity between African culture and Christian faith”.⁷ In order to understand the relationship between culture and faith, we must first situate the Son of Man’s world to draw out its meaning and significance. I will begin this section by providing a brief introduction to the origins of Son of Man and a plot summary. By making sense of the ideological origins of the film, it provides a gateway through which the lived realities become apparent. I propose that the lived realities of culture and faith take on a story of adaption.

Directed by English-born Mark Dornford-May, this South African retelling of the gospel story echoes the undying message of the gospel: a figure of hope in a violent stricken world. Submerged into this core are motifs that are anchored into Jesus’ sayings regarding human dignity, community development, and the rejection of corruption.⁸ Son of Man is invigorated by strong characters, namely Jesus, Judas, and Mary the Mother of Jesus. Mary gradually becomes the key figure at the forefront of Jesus’ story with his death and Resurrection. Perhaps, the most striking feature is the contextualisation of Jesus himself, who appears as a bald, beardless, young Xhosa⁹ man on a mission of social reform; this presentation acts as a counterbalance to the western film visual lexicon of a white, blue-eyed, English-speaking Jesus.¹⁰ The film also merges with the arts bringing to the helm strong song and dance ensembles from the cast highlighting the strong cultural context into which the film is situated. The opening scenes of Son of Man locate Jesus within a Xhosa society that places “Emphasis on the rite of passage, the importance of age-mates and the village community” which functions as signs of “continuity between culture and Christian faith”.¹¹

Son of Man is characterised by some Avant garde features that are unique whilst still drawing from the gospel traditions. The film merges the gospels cohesively, along with an emphasis on the Lukan and Matthean traditions with an extensive sequence of the Annunciation and Nativity narratives; by bringing the gospel narrative and situating it in modern day (South) Africa it blends different sources such as “medieval mystery plays, biblical gospels and motifs of the Anti-Apartheid Movement”.¹² Bringing the film into its South African context requires a host of historical and cultural perspectives and approaches towards what the gospels (and subsequently Christianity) mean in South Africa. Son of Man, thus, raises questions of Black Theology in South Africa which in turn is influenced by Black Christology and aspects of the Black Consciousness Movement.

Theological Origins of Son of Man

The Jesus of Son of Man is fashioned after the anti-apartheid activist, Stephen Bantu Biko. The likeness of Biko’s activism, cause, and eventual death were woven into the characterisation of Jesus in Son of Man. In addition to the political and activist framework of the figure of Jesus, Jesus is a Xhosa man, as was Steve Biko. It bears significance in the formation of Black Christology and what that means theologically in South Africa. Hence, Jesus is overtly embedded into his environment making a strong case for the Incarnation. It is earthy, bloody, and human in its rawest form with sweeping images of the tin rooftops scattering the landscapes of the townships, sands, and seas.

The Jesus of Son of Man embodies the black South African human reality, it brings the message of the Incarnation closer. In the gospel of John, the Prologue provides an exposition of the Incarnation, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory”.¹³A key word here is “dwelt” Jesus entered the human condition and thus, with the Son of Man this dwelling is within a violent, poverty-ridden world. The “us” with whom he dwelt were black bodies; black bodies who were awaiting a change from their reality. The formidable theologian, James Cone, delicately articulates the idea of identifying Christ as black. Cone states “Until we can identify Christ with a ‘recrucified’ black body hanging from a lynching tree, there can be no genuine understanding of Christian identity in America”.¹⁴ The same identification can be transposed within the South African context; the disappearance of black bodies, such as Steve Biko, plays into the trope of Jesus identifying with the injustices perpetrated upon black bodies.

Thus, the Incarnation gathers a much heavier significance in the characterisation of Jesus as a black man, as a black Saviour. As Anthony Reddie defines that “through Black self-determination and Black power that God’s truest presence and activity was to feel”. ¹⁵ Son of Man uses the ideological significance of visualising the Godhead as black. More so, having Jesus feature as a black man highlights what it means to bear a black body within the context of South Africa.

Black Theology in South Africa

Son of Man’s Christ, as previously stated, emerges very much from the South African context. Understanding Black theology in South Africa also requires an understanding of the black political movement that marked the years of the early 1960s and 1970s in South Africa. Thus, the Jesus of Son of Man echoes the sentiments of a political activist, utilising non-violent methods to further enhance his message of hope in the violent-stricken world. The film uses Black Christology to navigate how Christ engages with his followers and audience.

The framework of Christ in Son of Man is fashioned after Steve Biko, the anti-apartheid activist and known as the Father of Black Consciousness. In order to quantify, the Son of Man’s Christ, it is important to highlight the features and iconography that emerge from a Black Christology. Son of Man reasserts Black Theology and its implications in South Africa. Black Theology in South Africa focuses on two main frameworks, (i.) Black Christology and (ii.) Black Consciousness Movement of the early 1970s. Thus, what emerged was a theology that was centred around an identity of “affirmative doctrine of oppressed humanity and a concern with human liberation”.¹⁶

levels.

Black Theology in South Africa Moves towards a praxis of liberation. As Tshaka and Makofane assert, “When the notion Black Theology is used, it must be understood that reference is made to Black Theology of liberation”.¹⁷ Hence, a theology of liberation, much of which had emerged from Latin America and the United States, was a focal point in the construction of Black Christology too. Liberation theology¹⁸ is primarily concerned with lived experiences. Black Theology, is "a direct and aggressive response to the situation where blacks encountered alienation at political, economic, and cultural levels.”¹⁹ Son of Man situates itself within certain aspects of liberation theology, highlighting a messianic figure who comes to lift the oppressed from their lowly states. Liberation theology in itself stems not only from doctrinal theology but also from lived experiences, and because of this, these experiences of “oppression, vulnerability or marginalisation have led to a sustained reflection on the Christian tradition.”²⁰ Historically, theology has, like the Church, represented “bourgeois theological and exegetical interests.”²¹

However, liberation theology has its origins in the reality of “the premature and unjust death of many people.”²² For liberation theologians, experience is what drives their theology. The starting place of liberation theology is not from a “detached reflection on scripture and tradition, but the present life of the shanty towns and land struggles.”²³ These provide a critical framework through which we can garner an understanding of liberation theologies in South Africa. In some sense, rather than being a rediscovery of theology, liberation theology, according to Allan Boesak, is “not a new theology; it is simply the proclamation of the old-age gospel … liberated from the deadly hold of the mighty and powerful.”²⁴ The Bible itself becomes central to the formation of the praxis of liberation. Beginning with the greatest liberator, Jesus Christ, he too, entered the human condition. As Vuyani Vellem asserts, Jesus came into an imperial world and his mission was “centred around a counter-imperial praxis”.²⁵ Rather than overthrowing material imperialism, there is cosmic imperialism which the film focuses on. This mission became a central focus in Son of Man and how Jesus navigates the cosmos through the realms of the community and the powers that be.

Black Christology

As previously mentioned, Son of Man cinematically re-establishes what Black Theology means in South Africa through the framework of Black Christology. First, we should note that the notion of Christology deals with the person of Christ as a starting point. Whereas, Black Christology takes the reversal stance as Mofokeng’s construction of Black Christology; rather than asking “Who do you say that I am?”, Black Christology raises the question, “Who do you, those who are oppressed and marginalised, say that I am?”²⁶ Thus, the merging of both Black Consciousness and Black Christology formulates Mofokeng’s reversal of “how can faith in Jesus Christ empower black people who are involved in the struggle for their liberation?”²⁷

The theory or praxis of resistance is based on theology. This theology is realised through the struggle for liberation. Liberation is a major theme that continues throughout the film and relies on the history of Jesus, as a person through whom solidarity with the lived experience of the oppressed. As Mofokeng states,

The history of Jesus as the history of incarnation coincides as

living history with the history of the creation of the black

subjectivity and the end of alienation from the black self and

black subjectivity. In other words, the history of incarnation

serves as a paradigm for liberation and as a source of

dynamisation for the unfolding project of liberation which is

also, the actualisation of the gift of black subjectivity.²⁸

Perhaps, the biggest clue is in the film’s title itself, Son of Man, refers to the incarnation. Jesus into a particular African context. It provides a strong case for the incarnation in that Jesus enters the human condition and stands in solidarity with all those who have lived experiences of suffering, social injustice, and oppression that have been presented in the film.²⁹ It serves as a lens through which Jesus being re-contextualised as a black man reflects not so much a historical realism but rather a symbolic one. Whether it was the intention of the Son of Man to evoke certain familiarities with a black figure of Jesus remains unanswered for the time being.

However, as James Cone argues, there is room to theologically consider the blackness of Jesus, something the writers and director of Son of Man may be trying to emulate. Son of Man aims to reinforce the epistemological idea of the blackness of Christ. James Cone further addresses this idea in his influential book The Cross and the Lynching Tree (2013). Cone parallels the unsung tragedies of black bodies hanging on the lynching trees to Christ hanging on a Roman cross. In this, Cone reimagines the crucified Christ as black. Reimagining the blackness of the Incarnation fortifies the Black Christology that the film constructs.

Black Consciousness

As part of further understanding the construction of a Black Jesus in South Africa, I visited and interviewed Andiswa Kedama, who was the primary writer of Son of Man. When I went to visit her at her home in Khayelisha, Cape Town’s largest township, she expressed how the figure of Jesus was characterised.

Okay we were putting Jesus in our own context and if Jesus was living today how would Jesus what kind of a man would Jesus had been? We knew Jesus was fighting for the truth and was fighting for the poor and was fighting the regime of that time.

These characteristics functioned as important features to construct a Jesus that was socially and politically aware and active in the injustices taking place.

So much of how Son of Man fashions its Black Christology is after the life and politics of Steve Biko, who was known as the father of Black Consciousness (BC).

The writers of Son of Man identify Jesus through the lens ideologies of the Black Consciousness movement, alongside emerging themes of liberation, protest and resistance. Black Consciousness (BC) started in South Africa in the early 1970s and was first aligned with movements such as Pan Africanism. BC, like many other movements, is fluid and means different things to different people, however, as Shannen Hill asserts, BC is “consistent with the belief that self-realisation, a liberation of the mind is enhanced by identification with a particular history”.³⁰

The make-up of BC’s ideological framework consists of the identification of dignity, the human dignity. Although much of BC consisted of maintaining a resistance ideology, it moved beyond this to uphold the idea of dignity.³¹ Dignity implies a currency of value. It upholds the ideals of what it means to be human and thus, centres that value on the basic principles of human rights. Dignity was equal to self-worth. This was part of the fight for liberation and no doubt that these ideologies of BC had an impact on the liberation history and theology in South Africa. Liberation theology in South Africa emerges from these grassroots arenas from which BC gained traction. The film engages with various elements of BC including the iconography of a raised fist. In the film, the resurrection of Jesus is presented as Jesus going up a sand dune with children strapped with feathers on them.³² In the middle of the shot, Jesus turns around and raises his fist. And thus, the Resurrection, an event which “set the ultimate seal of approval on his life and work, Jesus was personally delivered from the state of death”, ³³ becomes embedded into the ideological significance of the raised fist. Shannen Hill documents how this iconography emerged as a symbol of the BC movement and gained further traction in the South African visual political culture.³⁴

Part of this visual culture was intended to cultivate a culture of resistance.³⁵ The original posters which aimed to solidify the mission of the movement, incorporated a fist thrusting upwards or breaking chains and this constituted to creating the resistance culture.

The symbol of the raised fist had long been associated with the act of solidarity amongst workers globally and became “the most prominent visual script of Black Consciousness”.

Even after Biko’s death, in the years following the Truth and Reconciliation agenda, the raised fist iconography became a national symbol of the African National Congress and emerged as a symbol of national unity.³⁶

As the film utilises the significance of the raised fist iconography of Jesus, it echoes Biko’s own words of the relationship and implications of a Black Christology embedded within the BC movement. As a portrait of “aggressive action”, Biko described

Christ as a fighting God, not a passive God who allows a lie to rest unchallenged. It grapples with existential problems and does not claim to be a theology of absolutes. It seeks to bring back God to the black man and to the truth and reality of his situation.³⁷

“Bringing back to the black man” requires an active undertaking of challenging powers that be and this serves as a foundation of the links between Black Theology, Black Christology and BC, and the figure of Jesus in Son of Man.

Destabilising Continuity

Son of Man is framed around its cultural context. As mentioned previously, the film focuses primarily on its particularity and yet aims to retain central themes of the gospel story. In light of this, I propose that although Christianity, with its central message of the good news, there is tension between what parts of culture are retained, what is excluded, and what continues to be internalised. First, I aim to situate the cultural context of the film. It is important to identify the particular culture and understand the framework through which Son of Man sets out to portray Christian themes. Second, I will map out the audience responses to how the film engages with issues of culture and faith. I will conclude with ideological themes that have emerged from the audience response.

With Son of Man, we see the merging of both concepts “African” and “culture” being at the forefront of the film’s plot. As I previously mentioned, culture is an amalgamation of societal factors, one important factor in highlighting a culture’s unique particularity is language. Language is the cornerstone of civilisation and one of the most distinguishable features for the identification of a culture. Language is identified as the gateway of a shared experience. Son of Man homes in this aspect of using language to locate Jesus within the shared experience of the Xhosa community. In Son of Man, the Story becomes situated within the Xhosa culture both linguistically and visually.

Xhosa Culture

The Xhosa are one of the major ethnic groups in South Africa. Predominantly located in the coastal provinces of the Eastern and Western Capes they are the largest indigenous group in South Africa after the Zulu. isiXhosa is one of the eleven official languages in the county. The Xhosa are distinctive in their cultural features, some of which were largely represented in Son of Man. Rituals, music, and the belief in the veneration of ancestors are key features of the Xhosa way of life. Major life events are marked by a ritual and conclude with the animal sacrifice. Jesus enters into a culture that is particularly unfamiliar to westernised forms of the visual cinematic retelling, namely Jesus is black, and he is Xhosa participating in the cultural norms of his environment. I believe that this is where Gerald West draws from with his statement of continuity: Jesus, the central figure of the Christian faith is being presented as becoming directly involved with the traditions of his particular (Xhosa) culture in Son of Man.

Giere (2013) states, “What is clear in the film is that the Jesus story is about this world with all of its cultural and political realities”.³⁸ Son of Man does not conduct its narrative as an authentic retelling of historical realism rather it complies with structural literacy forms of the canonical New Testament, remoulding the major events in the life and ministry of Jesus within a new culture and context. It is in these moments in the film that it directly engages with the Xhosa culture, adapting forms of this culture within Christian traditions. Although it may appear that continuity is taking place as the film merges aspects of its Xhosa culture with elements of the Christian faith, what is happening demonstrates a reality in which adaptation provides an ongoing process through which culture and faith are being lived out.

Adaptation of Culture and Faith: A Case Study of Baptism and uKwaluka

One of these key moments both in the canonical gospels and Son of Man is the event of the baptism of Jesus. Baptism is one of the key life events in the gospel of life and ministry of Jesus and features as one of the important sacraments of the Christian faith. Understanding the historical and symbolic significance of the baptism is meaningful to gaining further insight into how the Son of Man converges this Christian sacrament into the Xhosa ritual uKwaluka.³⁹ Whilst there are various forms of how baptisms are practiced amongst different Christian denominations, baptism overall involves the physical practice of being immersed in water before remerging. It has come to provide a symbolic and spiritual understanding of the “combination of cleansing away sin, granting salvation, publicly expressing one’s faith, conferring grace, commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus, and fulfilling the command of Christ to baptize”.⁴⁰ Furthermore, some denominations such as the Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church, believe that baptism is the Christian symbol of circumcision. ⁴¹ This concept of baptism in the Christian faith is critical to understanding how the Son of Man framed faith to be adapted within its cultural context.

The baptism becomes, “A translation of this liminal moment in the New Testament gospels into an analogous liminal moment in Xhosa culture”.⁴² The baptism signifies the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in the New Testament.⁴³ Christians conclude through these passages, after this public manifestation of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was enabled to begin his ministry. Likewise, the baptism in Son of Man becomes reconfigured into the Xhosa tradition of uKwaluka ⁴⁴ a rite of passage, which involves circumcision, that includes the physical and symbolic initiations as to what it means to be a man.

According to Nelson Mandela, the uKwaluka functions as the single most important event in a young male’s life, for unless a male adult undergoes the ritual, “He is not considered a man at all, but a boy … As a Xhosa, I count my years as a man from the date of my circumcision”.⁴⁵ The importance of uKwaluka as it coincides with the baptism is heightened. A Xhosa male adult does not become a man in the true sense of the cultural meaning. He cannot proceed to enter the next stages of his life, should he wish to buy a house, get married, or be considered as a participating member of the community. Similarly, Jesus does not begin his ministry until after his baptism. It is in this sense that Son of Man presents an adaptation between a Christian sacrament and a cultural tradition: Jesus (as a Xhosa man) cannot fulfil his mission unless he becomes a man.

Here the uKwaluka is used as an interpretive lens ⁴⁶ to enable both viewers of Son of Man to acknowledge the importance of the sanction of the baptism in the life of Jesus whilst understanding the significance of uKwaluka within this contextualised retelling. Echoing Larry Krietzer’s “reversing the hermeneutical flow” ⁴⁷, Son of Man identifies this important Xhosa ritual as being synonymous with the baptism of Jesus in the canonical gospels, indicating how both these events carry weight in the formation of Jesus' ministry both in the cultural context of film and the Christian symbolism gospels. The entire ritual of uKwaluka is fairly long and complex. Although it includes the physical process of the removal of the foreskin, it also includes

the passage from boyhood into manhood, both in the eyes of the initiate (self-identification) and in the eyes of the community (corporate identification) and initiation into the oral histories of the Xhosa, including what it means to be a man.⁴⁸

In Son of Man, we see Jesus with a group of young men setting out to begin their initiation process. This community of men assemble by the river where they wash themselves from bodily clay to signify their new entry into a new life. It showcases strong themes of community, ritual, what it means to enter Xhosa manhood and for the cinematic narrative how the gospel is adapted and grafted into these themes.

Christianity in various countries of the African continent has seen what is best described as adaptations to respective cultures rather than continuity. For instance, among the tribe of the Zulu,⁴⁹ the women’s traditional dress in the culture showcases them to be topless with their breasts exposed. But Zulus, who now become Christians, forgo the traditional norms of dressing. Here is an example where the relationship between culture and faith is discontinued. There is a balance that needs to be realised between the relationship of culture and faith and its varied realities. Recent criticisms Mcotheli, N (2006); Myemana, A (2004) have called for the ritual to be abolished. However, scholars such as Luvuyo Ntombana, have advocated that rather the ritual should be redefined in its meaning for the current social milieu.⁵⁰

Once again discontinuity with another aspect of culture is manifested, rather adaptions of cultures are infused within the practice of Christianity. People take what they are familiar with and adapt to new forms of Christianity. Culture and religion are not synonymous but separate entities. In reality, the relationship between aspects of culture and forms of Christianity is complex. There is no one definite stance on the matter, as certain aspects of culture are either abolished, adapted, or co-exist alongside forms of Christianity. Christianity in the African continent is not defined by “African" cultures. In other words, what it means to be Christian and an “African” cannot be restricted to one definite model; it is adapted and fluid rather than maintaining continuity between the two. If Gerald West speaks of Son of Man as a continuity between African culture and Christianity, the idea of “African culture” does not exist! There is no categorical definition of what “African culture” is. “African” has often been substituted as an umbrella term to refer to the accumulation of distinct ethnographic entities. This misleading term subsequently provides a false perception of an undifferentiated identity. Therefore, the premise that Son of Man provides an exposition of “African culture” is inaccurate and misleading, inhabitants of other African countries may not notice many of the cultural cues in the film, because of the fact that it is drawing from a South African culture, more specifically a Xhosa culture. There are traditional nuances that may display a shared experience across the African continent in that particular frameworks or worldviews are understood within various African communities. Despite the fact that Son of Man is presenting the gospels through the lens of a Xhosa identity, there are various points in the film that are familiar to a wider African audience. In the film, the concept of a supernatural world is a popular trope in many African communities. In Son of Man, the visual motif of Satan being present in the midst of the earthly violence and bloodshed provides a supernatural explanation for the chaos. This supernatural reality is vivid. Africa shares a communal belief as a “ … nature of reality … . where people’s material and spiritual worlds merge.”⁵¹ This collective belief of that the supernatural and the natural coexist within a shared reality. Yet, certain structures of neo-colonialism transpire into “African” stereotypes; standardising Africa as being the unruly, uncivilised, violent continent, with beliefs and realities that are deemed dark and superstitious feeding into a (western) perception of chaos that must be ordered. This merging of the two worlds is highlighted extensively throughout Son of Man. The Satan figure stands as an entity in the supernatural world⁵² of the Son of Man and from the beginning of the film, the cosmic battle between Good and Evil becomes a constant reality. Satan is seen not only as an “invisible” character, for which only Jesus has direct contact and conversations with, but also the same actor who plays Satan is used when Jesus is encountering the material world of his community as an opposing force in the material world. Perhaps, it is symbolically relevant to situate the links between the two worlds. These encounters presented in Son of Man play on the idea of a collective shared religious culture in Africa.

Drawing from all directions of the continent, religious traditions are heavily incorporated within this supernatural world, and the implications of the events and decisions that take place are made manifest in the everyday lives and occurrences of people living in the material world. As Ellis and ter Haar contend, “Relations with the supernatural are an extension of the social fabric into the realm of the invisible”.⁵³ This configuration of the character of Satan in Son of Man manifests itself as “An abundance of African popular genre on human involvement in the spirit world”.⁵⁴ Therefore, the spirit world becomes seen as an integral part of a physical reality. Understandings of human surroundings, including concepts of human suffering and prosperity have their origins in the spirit world.⁵⁵ In the same manner, the manifestation of angels in Son of Man also reflects a shared collective reality in the affirmation of the presence of the Holy Spirit, something which is widely observed particularly in African independent churches. This belief is not limited to just Evil but also Good, as celestial beings are evidently recognised through the idea that human ailments are brought about through the Evil forces of the supernatural but can be overcome by the Good forces, i.e. angels as messengers and agents of good fortune and healing through the working of the Holy Spirit. Across the continent, there are vast amounts of religious plurality with individuals holding multiple positions. “Plural religious allegiance is a common factor throughout Africa”.⁵⁶ This presents itself, as I have mentioned previously, within the framework of adaptation of cultural traditions grafted into Christian practices. With all this plurality, we must ask the question of whether one can be a true adherent of Christianity. This question was presented in the midst of the audience response to the film Son of Man.

Furthermore, Fleming states, “A context of religious pluralism is nothing new to the church. The apostolic community proclaimed the finality of Jesus Christ within a Greco-Roman world of many gods and many lords”.⁵⁷ Hence, the early Christians did not stand for religious plurality as a part of the Christian faith: there was a discontinuity in their religious culture and Christian faith.

Audience Responses

In order to fully understand the relationship between cultural traditions and the Christian faith, I intend to present a conversation with the audience groups from South Africa, forming a continuing dialogue whilst highlighting important themes that arise. The audiences were shown parallel scenes of “the Baptism of Jesus” as portrayed in The Lumo Project and Son of Man. I then proceeded to ask the audience groups which of the scenes they preferred. Through this discussion, the issue of how traditional cultural forms are perceived began to emerge within the borders of cultural imagination. Below are some of the initial responses of the South African groups,

SA (2) r2: I don’t know, for me, having a little background on the culture, since I was in PE [Port Elizabeth] for about 4 years. I do not like the Son of Man, simply because what happens in initiation is a little spiritually disturbing, especially if you are a Christian.

SA (1) r1: And most of the Indian and the African tribes are born mainly on the ancestral, except those that now became Christian who gave up the past, but the majority are still following the first clip according to the second clip’s standard. That is why the white man is blessed, because he is born on great foundation, there’s no ancestral touch in that.

There is a mounting suspicion about Son of Man amongst the South African group. The majority found the merging of the Xhosa initial ritual with baptism problematic for Christians. There may be a discrepancy undergoing cultural rituals if one is an adherent of Christianity. Evidently, the audiences state that something can be said about the relationship between culture and faith in that, within the border of culture, there are certain rituals that may reflect themselves as contrary to an individual’s faith.

SA (3) r1: I prefer the normal one [the baptism scene from The Lumo Project], the reason being, because as a Xhosa girl there’s not much that you can do with – like with initiation, like you are not allowed – so we don’t know much about it. So, for me as a Christian I prefer the normal one.

SA (3) r2: For me also, I prefer the Lumo one, the reason being, it makes more sense and more meaning to the Christendom, whereas the other one it doesn’t have the connection with the Christendom or the Christian understanding of things. And also, the fact that, in our Xhosa culture, initiation is associated with rituals, with, you know, all of those things where you worship the ancestors and all of that, unless you are a Christian.

Additionally, ideas of culture and its relationship to the Christian faith begin to emerge across the groups. As the audiences view the baptism scenes, particularly for Son of Man, they start to pick apart the complexities involved with culture and the Christian faith, and so if culture and ritual reinforce an ethnic identity, to what extent does that relationship begin to undermine the faith element? It was an interesting dynamic to observe, specifically with the South African audiences, as ethnic identity is so strongly bound up within rituals and cultures, and for some Christians, it may be difficult to intertwine ritual, culture, and faith. The continuous tension creates what Pauw refers to as a “double life”: a double life in which “the church which is regulated by Western Christianity, and one in the homestead, which fits in with the African tradition”.⁵⁸ Nevertheless, a few South Africans were able to merge the idea of cultural rituals and the Christian faith as an alternative to perceive how the ethnic identity of the figure of Jesus is constructed. Continuing on with the opening discussions, some participants from the South African focus group maintained a position that supposed that the complexity of culture, ritual, and faith could be resolved.

SA (1) r2: I will go with the first one as well, because relating to how it’s written, it actually fits into what we know, what I’ve read in the Bible. But I would not totally ignore the second one, which is if it were to be indeed that Jesus was to be an African, the description and the plot of the second film actually shows the tradition relating to the South Africans, Xhosa to be precise, and possibly, maybe that is how it would have been done if he were to be baptised.

SA (3) r3: Both of them, they make sense to me. You said the Lumo one is more showing from the western side of the world, and the one of Son of Man, as a Xhosa person, yes, we are seeing it. As a Xhosa man you are given words, you are told that now you are entering into a new level in life, old things have passed away, old characters have to pass away, old behaviours have to pass away, you are getting into a new stance now, you are getting into being a new person altogether, you cannot enter at a certain time, you cannot do certain things that you used to do, because now you are setting an example.

For this particular section, participant 3 from the Xhosa group concludes:

So, it makes sense in that extent, that Son of Man, that now old things have passed away, you are a new creation. I can say the one of Son of Man is more metaphoric by relating to what is happening in this part of the world. And also, in the Western part of the world to show them that, in Africa, things are like this.

Each individual interpretation is influenced by a specific context, their specific context. Given South Africa’s religious plurality, in relation to the cultural religious landscape is dominated by Christianity and African traditional religions, the South African participants⁵⁹ identified a dichotomy between elements of their culture (traditional customs) and their faith. They expressed that, as Christian South Africans, their faith was placed higher than cultural rituals. One may conclude that this Western-influenced perspective of Christianity undermines forms of cultural traditions that have been established within communities for centuries. While it is difficult to determine the direct circumstances, part of the Western influence is merged with the colonial agenda and ideologies, that would deem traditional African practices as “evil”. Western missionaries had defined the ritual as pagan and had called for the practice to be abolished.⁶⁰

However, Christianity, for South African audiences, becomes more significant for them than participating in traditional cultural practices.

The relationship between culture and faith was a theme that was consistently apparent amongst the South African participants. Firstly, I want to expand on my previous definition of culture and how it interplays with faith. Culture is defined as “The arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.”⁶¹ A further definition states: “The ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.”⁶² Therefore, for the purpose of this article, I use the latter and when referring to faith I allude to Christianity⁶³ with the inclusion of its practices, traditions, and beliefs.

Culture includes a set of practices and traditions based on collective beliefs. These practices and traditions sit within the parameters of ritual. John S. Mbiti describes rituals as encompassing “a lot of religious meaning and through their observation religious ideas are perpetuated and passed on to the next generation.”⁶⁴

This is true for various indigenous cultures and in a South African context, these rituals encounter controversies with the Christian tradition. Christianity in South Africa has two main traditions: the first is known as the Mission Churches (MC) and the second is the African Independent Churches (AIC).⁶⁵ The MC were introduced by the Christian missionaries and they are presently maintained by the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches. The stance of the MC places Christianity and cultural rituals at opposing ends while the AIC believes that the two can co-exist. Ntombana explains that, because of Western missionary influence, the MC regarded “all forms of African practices and rituals as ancestral worship.”⁶⁶ When the missionaries arrived in South Africa in the nineteenth century, it was part of a colonial agenda. As Nmah affirms, “missionaries were part of a larger programme of European colonisation of Africa and their beliefs and actions must be seen in the light of their connection with the European trader, diplomat and settler.”⁶⁷

As a result, the missionary agenda brought about a demarcation between the African converts and those who were still deemed as heathen. It is a delicate and multifaceted relationship since the practice of rituals enhances a sense of cultural identity. There is a pride of heritage that takes place which, since the nineteenth century, has undoubtedly been undermined by colonialism. Furthermore, the idea of cultural ritual being seen as “evil” or, rather, “problematic” has been retained by MC congregants. For individuals who are part of the MC, there is constant conflict with reinforcing a cultural identity through these rituals whilst maintaining a Christian identity as a reference to previously by Pauw with the reality of the “double life”. Under these tensions, the central premise of continuity between culture and faith continues to be destabilised. The South African group who participated in the fieldwork are all part of the MC tradition, and for the black South Africans within the group, they struggled the most with the idea of ritual and how ritual is portrayed in the film Son of Man.

To return to the South African audience responses to the relationship between culture and faith, as one viewer commented:

I do not like Son of Man simply because what happens in initiation is a little spiritually disturbing, especially if you are a Christian.

Another viewer expressed,

That is why the white man is blessed, because he is born on a great foundation, there’s no ancestral touch in that.

It would appear that most of the participants in the South African group concluded that mixing ancestral veneration with Christianity was “evil”. Consequently, because the white race does not practice ancestral veneration, they were deemed as blessed by God. What is evidenced here is how cultural ideals shaped the audience responses to how Son of Man merges points of the gospel narrative into its cultural context. I propose that there is a dichotomy between a true process of continuity between culture and faith. It is fluid and nuanced and continues to shape practices and beliefs across the continent.

Conclusions

This article critically explored how Son of Man emerges as a story of adaptation rather than a “story of continuity” as Gerald West states. I examined the nuances through which culture and faith function in the lived realities across varied African traditions, cultural practices, and the Christian faith. I utilised this understanding as a framework to determine how the Son of Man constructs their cinematic gospel narrative through the lens of their South African context. Thus, I divided this article into two parts. The first half of the article examined briefly the origins of the film. I then looked into the ideological features that were significant in the formation of the film. Black theology, particularly within the South African context, is informed by a Black Christology and Black Consciousness movement. Therefore, it was imperative to fully understand Son of Man’s cultural and theological contexts through the fabric of these movements and ideologies.

The second half of this article focused on reiterating Son of Man’s fluidity between adaptations of culture and faith. I proposed that, in light of the sheer diversity and complexity of the African continent, there cannot be a definite form of continuity between various cultures and Christianity, rather I argued that there exists a relationship of adaptability. It is this relationship of adaptability between variant ethnographies in Africa and the rise of Christianity that creates a unique reality that is shared. The final half of this article further examines this unique reality through an analysis of cross-cultural audience reception. I demonstrated how colonial ideologies have seeped within a cultural subconsciousness in which the constructions of a “story of continuity” between culture and faith. Son of Man finds itself as an example of a tension that is pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an individual set within these two paradigms of (African) culture and faith. The film has a unique method of advocating these messages, whether or not it is intentional. Returning to the idea of audience reception within cultures, it is the culture of the audience that informs the meaning and message of the film; filmmakers offer an agency as to what claims they seek to maintain, however, as this article has demonstrated, these claims can be destabilised once an exploration of the subjective processes of film making becomes apparent.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Victoria Omotoso

Victoria Omotoso is London born, of Nigerian ancestry, and raised in South Africa. Her cross-cultural intersectionality influences her research on the reception of the Bible and film.

Notes

1 West, “The Son of Man in South Africa?”, 4.

2 Edward Rommen quoted in Hesselgrave 1991:109,110.

3 West, “The Son of Man in South Africa?”, 4.

4 Kyeyune, “Shaping the Society”, 27.

5 SAHO, “Defining Culture, Heritage and Identity”.

6 Son of Man is described by Thabang Nkadimeng and Lloyd Baugh as being a “revolutionary text” that stands out in the115-year history of Jesus films.

7 West, “The Son of Man in South Africa?”, 4.

8 Ibid.

9 The amaXhosa are an indigenous tribe of South Africa, located in the Eastern Cape Province. IsiXhosa is also one of eleven official languages of South Africa.

10 Eklund, “Hot Jesus, Black Messiah”.

11 West, “The Son of Man in South Africa?”, 11.

12 Zwick, “Between Chester and Capetown”, 4.

13 John 1:14.

14 Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, xv.

15 Reddie, Black Theology, xii.

16 Forrest, M. 1987. Christology from below: an examination of the black Christology of Takatso Mofokeng in the context of the development of black theology in South Africa and in critical relation to the Christological ethic of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. University of Cape Town.

17 Tshaka and Makofane 2010: 532.

18 Although Black Theology and Liberation Theology demonstrate varied ideologies, Black Theology in South is informed by a praxis of Liberation Theology. Scholars such as Simon Maimela, Robert G.Crawford, and Itumeleng Mosala critically highlight the nuances between the two.

19 Ibid: 536.

20 Rowland 1999: xiii.

21 Mosala 1987: 55.

22 Rowland 1999: 2.

23 Ibid.

24 Boesak 2015: 10.

25 Vellem 2017: 17.

26 Mofokeng, The Crucified Among the Cross bearers, op.cit., p20. 2. x

27 Ibid; x.

28 Ibid 34-5.

29 Kebaneilwe identifies how the commencement of Jesus' ministry functions for those who face challenges in society. 2016.

30 Ibid.

31 Maganizer 2010: 7.

32 Throughout the film this imagery of children with feathers are represented as angels or symbolically as the souls of the children who have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

33 O’Collins 1997: 5.

34 Hill 2017.

35 Ibid.

36 Ibid.

37 Moore 1991: 43.

38 Giere, “This Is My World!”, 25.

39 For more of the relationship between Christianity and this Xhosa ritual see Thandisizwe R. Mavundla, Fulufelo G. Netswera, Brian Bottoman, & Ferenc Toth. ‘Rationalization of Indigenous Male Circumcision as a Sacred Religious Custom: Health Beliefs of Xhosa Men in South Africa.’ In. Journal of Transcultural Nursing. (Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publication), Vol. 20,Iss.(4). pp.395–404; Natasha Erlank. ‘‘Brought into Manhood’: Christianity and Male Initiation in the Early 20th Century.’ In. Journal of Southern African Studies. (Abingdon: Routledge, 2017), Vol.43,Oss. (2). pp.251–265; Luvuyo Ntombana. ‘Should Xhosa male initiation be abolished.’ In., International Journal of Cultural Studies. (London, England: SAGE Publications, 2011), Vol.14, Iss. (6). Pp.631–640.

40 Salem Press Encyclopedia 2020. Available from: https://eds-s-ebscohost-com.uoelibrary.idm.oclc.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=96328636-0079-4b4a-8156-9988875721f3%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=87321097&db=ers.

41 Ibid.

42 Ibid., 27.

43 Matthew 3:13-17; cf. Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21–23.

44 uKwaluka is the Xhosa ritual of adult male circumcision. The ritual lasts anywhere from a few weeks to six months; it includes the removal of the foreskin as well as the passage from boyhood into manhood. The process is both a form of self-identification for the initiates and corporate identification of the community (Giere: 2013: 26).

45 Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, 22.

46 Giere, “This Is My World!”, 29.

47 Krietzer, Gospel Images.

48 Van Wyk 2002: 31.

49 The Zulu are the largest ethnic group in South Africa. With IsiZulu being South Africa’s most widely spoken language.

50 Mcotheli, N (2006) Ban circumcision schools. Daily Dispatch (East London), 4 September: 14; Myemana, A (2004) Should Christians undergo the Circumcision Rite? East London: 3 Eden Ministries; Luvuyo Ntombana. ‘Should Xhosa male initiation be abolished.’ in., International Journal of Cultural Studies. (London, England: SAGE Publications, 2011), Vol. 14, Iss. (6). pp.631–640.

51 Ellis and ter Haar, Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa, 51. In Ellis and Ter Haar (2004), they interview an Evangelist Mukendi, who tells of his encounters with the spirit world, stating that the spirit world is a mirror of the material world.

52 Here “supernatural” and “spirit” are used interchangeably as referring to the invisible forces and worlds discussed in this section.

53 Ellis and ter Haar, “Worlds of Power: Religious Thought and Political Practice in Africa”, 51.

54 Ibid. 54.

55 Ibid, 50.

56 Ibid. 50.

57 Ibid, 44; cf. 1 Cor. 8:5.

58 Pauw 1975: 66.

59 The participants who responded were mostly black South Africans, many of whom were closely familiar with the traditional coming of age ritual as displayed in Son of Man.

60 Laidler, P.W. (1922). Bantu ritual circumcision. Man 22: 1–30.

61 Definition available from: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/culture

62 Ibid.

63 Due to the nature of the audience’s context, Protestantism is used as the default in this chapter when referring to the Christian faith.

64 Mbiti 2015: 20.

65 These churches are ethnically mixed (black and white) and include denominations such as Presbyterian churches, Methodists, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Charismatic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal Churches. The AIC is predominantly black and includes Ethiopian churches, the Presbyterian Church of African, the African Methodist Episcopal Church and various Zionist churches (Ntombana 2015: 105).

66 Ntombana 2015: 106.

67 Nmah 2010: 490.