ABSTRACT
After discussing three traditional Jesus figures, this chapter examines three unusual Jesus figures, characters who both conform to and subvert the Jesus figure typology. John Coffey is a Black Jesus figure in The Green Mile, a film based on Stephen King’s six novellas. The Green Mile illustrates a central invitation of James Cone’s The Cross and the Lynching Tree, to consider lynchings in the American south as crucifixions, and Jesus’ crucifixion as a lynching. In The Matrix, the main character Neo is a long awaited messianic figure whose coming has been prophesied. His death is predicted in the film’s opening scene. The film’s commitment to Neo as a Jesus figure runs deep. Denys Arcand’s Jesus de Montreal is a creative modernization of the Jesus story. The film focuses both on the portrayal of Jesus in this play, and on the many parallels that develop between Daniel’s own life and that of Jesus in the gospels.
