Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes Through the Lens of Contemporary Film

Currents in Theology and Mission, June, 2005

Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes through the Lens of Contemporary Film. By Robert K. Johnston. (Baker Academic, $17.99). J. argues: "Contemporary movies afford interpreters a deeper access to Ecclesiastes' center of power and meaning than does much of mainstream Old Testament scholarship" (ouch!) and "Conversely, the paradoxes and tensions found in Ecclesiastes can provide interpretive lenses for the viewing of movies." Films reviewed include, among others, About Schmidt; Liar, Liar; Magnolia; Pleasantville; My Name Is Joe; The Sixth Sense; and American Beauty.

J. seeks to explore what a reader/viewer-oriented criticism might contribute to an understanding of Ecclesiastes and to recover a concern for hearing God's Word anew. RWK