I rarely comment here on Bonhoeffer, but hey, I've been triggered by this new flick that I have yet to see!
My very sharp-eyed, opinionated take on the new Bonhoeffer movie’s release date right after the election:
Angel Studios bought the distribution rights and held the release of the film for a year until this weekend to take advantage of how Trumpism has aroused a passionate electorate, especially among evangelical Christians who have read the Metaxas biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy on which it is based.
The election outcome was intended to be a ‘kicker’ to promote the movie.
A Trump win would reinforce the “true believer” syndrome among Christian Nationalist Trump voters who could claim God’s blessing on a political victory that could justify their desire for “retribution” focused by the Metaxas' quote: “Biden is our Hitler”.
A Trump loss could lead to the misuse of Bonhoeffer to justify armed violence—an outcome specifically rejected by the movie’s cast who object to the political use of a false analogy to Bonhoeffer’s life.
Angel Studios also intends to attract some Christians to use the Bonhoeffer movie as their context to view Trump as “America’s Hitler” (in the words of J.D. Vance) or “the Anti-Christ” (in the words of Matthew Fox) and celebrate their ‘Christian’ victory over evil in case Trump lost.
Or to justify protesting or resisting another Trump administration or even to justify further political violence or assassination attempts.
Bottom line: Angel Studios appears to be exacerbating political divisiveness in the Christian community. As though they are more about profits than prophets.
I enjoyed reading the Metaxas Bonhoeffer biography.
Though I strongly object to Metaxas’ arrogant self-promotion among Christian Nationalists as a Bonhoeffer expert.
I’m obviously NOT a real Bonhoeffer scholar, though I did write a lot of theological papers on Bonhoeffer in the seminary where he paced the halls while making his fateful decision to leave his American ‘safe harbor’ and return to Nazi Germany in 1939.
I gave up on the idea of making THE Bonhoeffer movie myself after another filmmaker made a documentary about Bonhoeffer’s life in 1984.
Here’s what Wikipedia says about the new Bonhoeffer film:
“Bonhoeffer caused controversy before its release. In addition to numerous historical inaccuracies and misleading marketing, the film was accused of promoting viewpoints of the Christian right.
"Descendants of Dietrich Bonhoeffer distanced themselves from the film.”
Further,
“In the German weekly Die Zeit, experts on Bonhoeffer, including presidents of the International Bonhoeffer Society and the publishers of Bonhoeffer's work in German and English, accuse the movie of abusing Bonhoeffer's life in order to promote Christian Nationalism. The film's slogan, ‘How far will you go to stand up for what's right?’, is not a question Bonhoeffer asked, they write. On the same page of Die Zeit, Bonhoeffer's grandnephew Tobias Korenke calls ads for the film that depict Bonhoeffer holding a pistol an outrageous reversal of history.”
So I wonder whether this Bonhoeffer film is a real turkey delivered just in time for Thanksgiving.
Read these articles for deeper insights into how the Christian Nationalists have misrepresented Bonhoeffer's ethical perplexities and turned him into their cult figure:
The new Bonhoeffer movie isn’t just bad. It’s dangerous.
‘Bonhoeffer’ Bears Little Resemblance to Reality - Christianity Today
And feel free to share your own personal insights into how Bonhoeffer's ethics have informed your personal ethical perplexities.
Or just go ahead and see the movie.
While keeping your theological eyes open and with your critical intelligence intact.
Happy Thanksgiving!
With or without this turkey.
Marshall
