The Null Device

Posts matching tags 'jesus'

2012/9/20

Life in the Galambosian age of intellectual-property maximalism: When Spanish octogenarian Cecilia Giménez took it upon herself to restore a crumbling fresco in a local chapel and, inadvertently made a monkey out of Jesus,the chapel was inundated with visitors who weren't leaving donations, and soon its owners, a hospital foundation, began charging an entry fee to see the newly famous work (dubbed “Ecce Mono”, or sometimes “Rhesus Christ”). Now, Giménez' family has lawyered up and are suing for royalties from her handiwork.

The Giménez family are not yet going after internet users reposting this meme for copyright infringement, but let's not give them any ideas.

art chutzpah copyright galambosianism intellectual property jesus spain 1

2006/1/21

The latest rebranding of Jesus Christ makes him a black revolutionary in Africa:

Instead of robes and homilies about turning the other cheek, this Jesus wears jeans and T-shirts and urges supporters to resist - peacefully - a tyrannical regime in an unnamed southern African country which resembles Zimbabwe. A collaboration between Spier films and the Dimpho Di Kopane, a theatre and film ensemble, the feature, made in South Africa, was shot in rural Eastern Cape and in Khayelitsha, a township outside Cape Town plagued by poverty and crime.
Son of Man, directed by Mark Dornford-May, depicts Jesus as a divine being who performs miracles. But it may prove contentious for switching the story from Roman-occupied first-century Palestine to misruled 21st-century Africa. "He gathers people around him to fight against poverty and political oppression," said Pauline Malefane, who plays Mary. "It feels a bit like apartheid, people living in fear that soldiers could come into the house at any time and kill children."
Compare and contrast with the hip Jesus-as-Che/Mao icons that evangelical groups around the world have been using in recent years.

africa blaxploitation christianity jesus marketing rebellion religion 0

2005/1/9

Somebody in Chandler, Arizona opened a packet of M&Ms, and found one where the logo had somehow been smudged into "a likeness of Jesus with a crown on his head" (though looks more like a foetus). Proclaiming it to have been a life-changing event, they then put the piece of candy on eBay where, to date, it has amassed 89 bids and exceeded US$3,000, and still has more than a week to go. Which is more proof that there are parts of America where the Enlightenment never happened and people, with quite a bit of money, who still live in the Middle Ages.

Something to think about: what would be a concise definition of the set of possible images which sufficiently devout/superstitious people will consider "Jesus-like", or for that matter, Virgin Mary-like? Could one devise an algorithm for evaluating the Jesus-ness of blobs of colour?

bizarre jesus m&ms religion superstition usa 6

2004/3/24

Headline of the day: Zombies defeat robot Jesus. Which is actually about film ticket sales. Meanwhile, zombies have also attacked the RIAA. (via jwz)

While we're on the topic, George Romero's classic zombie film Night of the Living Dead has, by some mysterious means, gone out of copyright (funny; I thought only works made before 1924 or sometime did that), and can now be downloaded here. Download sizes range from 4.1G for MPEG2 (which, I presume, is what you'd burn to a DVD) to a svelte 248.8Mb for MPEG4/DivX.

jesus riaa zombies 6

2004/3/2

Jesus Freakin: the first-person shooter coming soon to the PC. After 2,000 years, He's ready to cast the first stone.

With the Almighty Power of God, along with a 21st century arsenal, you - Jesus Christ - are sent back to earth to kick some ass and take names (resulting in a list that St. Peter would likely kill to get his hands on).

jesus videogames 3

2003/2/26

Two manifestations of the American Dream? The "What Would Jesus Eat?" weight-loss programme and the rising popularity of SUVs with built-in home theatre systems.

diets home theatre jesus suvs usa 1

2003/1/6

What would Jesus do? Marijuana, or so new research claims. The research by a professor of classical mythology, published in the scholarly journal High Times, claims that the oils used in the "miracle healings" attributed to Jesus contained a cannabis extract.

drugs jesus marijuana 0

2002/9/17

Nothing shows patriotism like having a photomosaic of Shrub made of Jesus images in your house, right next to the gun rack. Yeee-ha!

Now someone should make one of John Howard, Our Christian Prime Minister. (via bOING bOING, The Fix)

george w. bush jesus kitsch 1

2000/4/25

Whilst reenacting the crucifiction of Jesus, a 23-year-old Italian man got a little carried away with his role as Judas, and hanged himself. (Reuters)

jesus method acting suicide theatre 0

2000/4/19

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