Jesus at the Movies

Dear St Andrew’s,

This week I went to the movies and saw The Devil Wears Prada 2. So, as a change from my usual note, I want to be a little light-hearted and reflect on the film from a Christian standpoint, hopefully without giving away the plot. The film is now out in cinemas, and Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci are all back, almost twenty years after the original film.

There is one scene in particular that caught my attention. Miranda Priestly and Andy Sachs are standing in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Miranda observes that, in other versions of the same scene, Jesus is often depicted with a halo. But in da Vinci’s painting, he is not. Miranda suggests that this is da Vinci’s way of saying, “We are human. No one is perfect.”

Then comes the classic Miranda flourish. Humans, she says, are “glorious and fallible.” We deceive and betray one another, let each other down, and then comes the chilling conclusion: “It’s what we’re built to do.”

There is something very perceptive about this. We are “glorious and fallible.” The French Christian thinker Blaise Pascal famously described humanity as “the glory and refuse of the universe.” We are capable of astonishing beauty, creativity, courage and love. We make music, paint masterpieces, build friendships, raise children, care for the vulnerable, and even make blockbuster movies.

And yet we are also deeply broken. We lie. We envy. We flatter. We wound those we love. We betray. The Bible is not naïve about this. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

But Miranda is wrong about one crucial thing. Betrayal is not what we are built to do. It is what sin has bent us to do.

We were not created for deceit, but for truth. Not for betrayal, but for faithfulness. Not for self-worship, but for the worship of God. We were made in the image of God, made to know him, love him, and reflect his goodness into the world.

And this is where da Vinci’s painting is more powerful than Miranda realises. At the centre of The Last Supper is Jesus: the one who will be betrayed, denied and abandoned. And yet he goes to the cross not to confirm that betrayal is normal, but to bear it, forgive it, and undo it.

So perhaps this scene is a gift. Many of our friends will see this movie. Some may even talk about that moment. What an opportunity to say: “Yes, we are glorious and fallen. But no, betrayal is not what we were built for. We were built for Christ.”

Lights, camera, action!

James