To answer Cardinal Glick’s question, the 13th-century Smiling Christ “pops” more than Buddy Christ ever could. Despite the wink and the thumbs-up, death remains unconquered, ready to turn our grins into grimaces of despair. An uncrucified Christ cannot be the “Happy Savior” that Kevin Smith seeks. Toretta asserts that Christ’s death and resurrection are therefore the “perfect and final comedy,” since they release us from the bondage of sin.īy downplaying Jesus’ passion, we lose sight of Jesus’ true smile and his authentically joyous nature. In his article “The Laughing Jesus,” Dominican Brother Gabriel Torretta points out that true comedy is more than “a matter of cracking jokes.” Instead, comedy is “the dynamic realization of freedom and love, especially as they emerge from slavery or hatred.” That’s because Smith’s definition of comedy is far too narrow. So how do we reconcile the joy of the Gospel with the horror of the cross? Kevin Smith concludes that we can’t, and as a result, he struggles in presenting what he calls a “comedy parable.”
Hollywood still finds Jesus’ suffering relevant since 2004, Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” has gripped audiences with its graphic portrayal of the Lord’s torture and execution.
More than a decade after “Dogma” hit the screen, the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Agency banned a British retailer from using a promotion in which Buddy Christ touted “miraculous deals” on Samsung phones. Even a well-established film distributor like Miramax Pictures balked at Smith’s chummy treatment of the savior. And maybe if we focus on Buddy Christ, rather than on the “dour” and certainly confounding cross, we can draw others to Jesus. We say that he preached tolerance and seemed like an all-around nice guy. We like to remind ourselves that he ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors. We’re now accustomed to “kinder, gentler Jesus” in Christian art. Yet Christ largely remained unsmiling for another seven centuries, when Willis Wheatley, a United Church of Canada employee, sketched a guffawing savior titled “Jesus Christ, Liberator,” which quickly became known as “Laughing Jesus.” Wheatley’s 1973 picture spawned a genre of smiling Christs that circulate widely in both print and digital form. Named the “Smiling Christ,” the carving portrays Jesus as serene, even joyous, in the midst of his suffering. One notable exception is a 13th-century crucifix from the Castle of St. Until about 40 years ago, most depictions of the adult Christ were solemn, projecting divine majesty, agonized humanity, or a combination thereof. Smith’s vision, though unconventional, was sincere, and his desire to lighten the mood is understandable. But Smith insisted that his offbeat film was about “the importance of faith, rather than an attempt to ridicule it.” He described Buddy Christ as the “Happy Savior,” adding, “Seriously - doesn’t this beat seeing him nailed up? This is how I like to think of Christ - as a buddy.”
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Miramax Pictures dropped the movie before its release, leaving a more adventurous firm to distribute the feature. Proudly pointing to the statue, he exclaims, “Look at it doesn’t it pop?”įor this and other reasons, Smith’s film ruffled feathers. Cardinal Glick announces that the Church has decided to retire the crucifix, “a wholly depressing image of Our Lord,” and replace it with the “more inspiring” Buddy Christ.
Among the thousands of results was a picture of Jesus grinning broadly, pointing at the viewer with his right hand and giving a one-eyed thumbs-up of slick approval with his left.Īnd then I remembered - this was “Buddy Christ,” the pop icon introduced by director Kevin Smith in his controversial 1999 film “Dogma.” In the movie, the Buddy Christ statue is unveiled by Cardinal Glick (comedian George Carlin) as the face of “Catholicism WOW,” a public relations effort to reinvent the church. I had just run a Google search to find an image of Christ I needed for a design project. “Why is Jesus winking at me?” I wondered uneasily.
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