Hi, Many Moons ago, in a Galaxy Far Far away- oppss that one has been done before…
A few years ago- well last decade, I started to write my PhD, my thesis was titled The Characterisation of Mary the Mother of Jesus, in Contemporary Film,[c. 2000].* I was/am fascinated by the image of the Virgin Mary, and at that time particularly of her in contemporary and religious films.
The fascination of the image of the Virgin Mary and other religious female icons still interests me.
So I have all this ‘stuff’ stored on my hard drive, which I keep adding to and nowhere to talk about it, or to share it with.
So I decided I would jump on the bandwagon and blog – initially I started with Blogger and started putting up the images that I had collected, but I want to do more.
I want to ‘talk’ about it. I want to write about it. I want to see it out there!
Now it’s been a while since I did any academic /serious writing, and this is not likely to be that either – I just want a place where I can put my thoughts, ideas down. I may be a little rusty, and you may not agree with my arguments but that’s half the fun…. hey it maybe it will be just me and the ‘tinternet’.
My initial thesis looked specifically at contemporary film, but I realise that unless you are able to watch the films or are a religious film buff[nut] *whistles innocently* then much of what I would have to say would have little relevance for you, so I am going to widen the project to look at many different kinds of images of not only Mary, but also other Goddess and how they can be seen to correspond with her and visa versa.
I’m going to look at images of Mary and other Goddess,**from Art, classical and contemporary; from film and popular culture.
I want to talk about how I believe that the image of this iconic 1st CE Woman were used initially to replace the female aspect of the Divine, of pre-Christian Goddess[ess] , and how the images were used , in my opinion to attempt to wipe her face from the map, so to speak, particularly in Western Culture.
I also want to discuss how those images of an untouchable and unobtainable idealised woman were used to keep women in a subservient place in what was and still is to some extent, an Andocentric society, but also I want to try and show how they were and can be subverted and somewhat reclaimed, to show how they were used to veil, conceal and keep secret what has continued to be the worship of a hidden Matriarchal within a Patriarchal society.
I am really interested in how the representation of the Goddess of the pre-Christian era can be seen to be traceable in these images and what I believe that says about the need within ‘our’ Western psyche to attribute to a Divine a female aspect and personality.**
I want to look at how the image of The Virgin Mary in popular and contemporary culture, as well as within sub cultures, is used to hold fast and to challenge popular concepts
I am a Feminist, and therefore shall be looking through a feminist lens at these images, and while I can understand and at times appreciate the initial/historical idea behind them, it will of course be filtered by my own experiences and life choices.
I don’t want to make it too wordy- I can talk believe you me… and so to spare you to many words… an what could be my incessant waffle – I shall use lots of images, and hopefully video to make my point.
I don’t expect people to agree with me, and would be great if people that don’t tell me why [as long as it’s not abusive], as that’s how we learn. Well that’s how I learn… I love to discuss!
I know that some of the images I have may be somewhat disturbing to some… but again I value and welcome discussion.
There are as always a few logistics to sort out – i.e. how I footnote/reference etc., I find Harvard way of referencing really annoying and it interrupts my flow, so I shall use numbers in brackets [1], and then pop the info on the bottom of the blog if that is ok. –
That’s enough of this for now….
** I have a particular infinity to Hekate/Ekate and have been recently working with her in my own personal devotions- so please expect quite a lot of images and maybe, if your lucky, some words around her. As mentioned above, I believe that many pre Christian Goddess and their Aspects were ‘hidden’ within the image, character and epitaphs of the Christian Mary- and so I may pick and poke at a few of these to see if I can get down to the bones.
*Oh and I have to add – sadly that all work here is under copyright [c] to myself – Shullie H Porter. Please don’t borrow/ steal etc. Where I have used other people’s work, ideas and images I will always note and give references etc. If I do miss some information and you do know who the work belongs to, please let me know as soon as possible and I will make sure that it is amended and the proper copyright given
If you want to use my work, please let me know, you can always link to me… *
The Delightful Mrs P 