The difference between its depiction of her life as a prostitute, with super-sexualized clothing and a zebra chariot, and The Chosen's depiction of her life is emblematic of changing views of prostitutes between the 1920's and today. She is clearly sleeping with a man out of wedlock when the episode begins and they are sleeping together in "the Red Quarter" - a sleazy part of town. In The Chosen, Nicodemus meets Mary Magdalene in Season 1, Episode 1. Why do you think the creators added them? When Nicodemus encounters her, we discover that the evil spirit that is possessing her is named Lilith. In The Chosen, Nicodemus meets Mary Magdalene in Season 1, Episode 1. In The Chosen, during Season 2, Episodes 5-6, Mary Magdalene briefly leaves Jesus and falls back into sin, before being sought out, forgiven, and restored to ministry. Instead of being a femme fatale that Jesus needs to resist and tame, Mary Magdalene the prostitute is seen as an object of compassion and pity that Jesus needs to provide acceptance and safety. They were fully engaged by the show on the level of entertainment but also seemed solidify their understanding of important gospel events and figures, as well as the cultural context. I would have introduced her PTSD much earlier in the season, giving her more space to try to struggle with it on her own before eventually falling back into her old life. /r/Catholicism is a place to present new developments in the world of Catholicism, discuss theological teachings of the Catholic Church, provide an avenue for reasonable dialogue amongst people of all beliefs, and grow in our own spirituality. I take comments made by The Chosen Twitter account with a grain of salt, especially since they are most likely made by digital marketers and not the actual creators of The Chosen. Season 2 Reflection P2: What was The Chosen Season 2 about? What distinguishes Mary from the other women, however, is her association with prostitution. I thought Mary's storyline in Season 2 of The Chosen had a lot of potential but it was unfortunately not given enough room to breathe. Although The Chosen is still a few seasons away from the Resurrection of Jesus, it is clearly beginning with the end in mind. Still, at the end of the day, the 12 disciples who get the most screen time in the Gospels are all males. The Hebrew word "lilit" only shows up in Isaiah 34:14, where most modern translations render it as something along the lines of "night bird." There are also characters and stories from the Gospels that the creators have left out. However, some scholars believe the word would be better translated as demoness and see it is a reference to a Mesopotamian spiritual being. And we also just had fun chatting about random stuff, like how Quintus was totally fitting the stereotype of the evil bald guy. Did anyone notice what it was that made her recognize him? This association with prostitution opens a variety of directions for adaptations to take in their portrayal of her, especially given the affection Jesus shows for her (John 20). When Nicodemus encounters her, we discover that the evil spirit that is possessing her is named Lilith. Her association with prostitution was a result of the proximity between the first mention of her in Luke (Luke 8:1-3) and a story about a prostitute (Luke 7:36-50). . Have my posts about Bible adaptation helped you learn more about the Bible and explore it with your ministry or family? In The Chosen, it is not entirely clear whether Mary Magdalene was engaging in prostitution before the events of Season 1, Episode 1. Your contributions mean so much. Catholic priest burned to death, another shot in north Press J to jump to the feed. I will definitely continue watching it then, I just wanted to make sure! Im not sure many people caught this, but when Jesus follows Mary outside, he calls to her saying, Mary of Magdala! Mary then turns around, dropping her jar and says to him, How do you know my name? I think one could make sense of the Mary/Lilith name in that scene alone. [SPOILERS] Is the Jon Snow spin-off really such a good idea? I hope you enjoy them! Over time, the Western artistic tradition repeatedly depicted Mary as a prostitute and the mistaken association got stuck in the cultural consciousness. This story was invented by The Chosen for the purposes of the plot. When he encounters her again in Season 1 Episode 2, he is surprised to discover that she has been completely healed and is free of the evil spirits. I found that my youth struggled to sort out the different characters, so you might want to do a quick slide show of the key characters using the character images I've included throughout this post. I've condensed the lesson into an easily printable pdf below. The Chosen Season 3: What to Expect & How to Watch, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 1 & Episode 2: Reaction and Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episode 3: Recap, Review, & Analysis, The Chosen Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2: Questions to Discuss Before the Premiere, Preparing for The Chosen Season 3: 7 Episodes to Watch, I am the Law of Moses (The Chosen Season 3 Controversy), Little James in The Chosen & Scripture ***Season 3***, Judas in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Matthew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Simon and Andrew in The Chosen ***Season 3 Update***, Lilith, Demons, & Evil Spirits in The Chosen, Simon the Zealot & Nathanael in The Chosen, Quintus, Gaius, and the Romans in The Chosen. Hopefully though, season 2 will find more ways to develop her character in a manner that's dynamic and engaging, because there's still much that could be done. For more details, check out my post focused specifically on Lilith, Demons, and Evil Spirits. One challenge that film adaptations of Jesus' life need to overcome is the lack of significant female characters. Literally none of that is in Scripture or sacred tradition and that bothers me! In Episode 8, we see that Mary is still struggling a bit - her failure is driving her to be a bit too unrelenting in her work for Jesus- but other than that she seems to be back on track. This story was invented by The Chosen for the purposes of the plot. Narrative Ambiguity & Charitable Reading, The Chosen: 6 Good Friday & Easter Episodes, The Rings of Power, LOTR, and Bible Adaptation, Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power & The Challenges of Biblical Adaptation, In Defense of The Chosen and Other Christian Movies, Books, & Media (Part 1), In Defense of The Chosen and Other Christian Movies, Books, & Media (Part 2), Imagining Mary Magdalene (5 More Bible Adaptations While You Wait for The Chosen Season 2), The Chosen Season 3 Episode 6: Recap, Review, & Analysis, Intensity in Tent City (Exploring The Chosen Season 3 Episode 6 with Youth or Small Group), The Chosen Season 3 Episode 5: Recap, Review, & Analysis, Clean Part 2 (Exploring The Chosen Season 3 Episode 5 with Youth or Small Group), The Chosen Season 3 Episode 4: Recap, Review, & Analysis, Clean Part 1 (Exploring The Chosen Season 3 Episode 4 with Youth or Small Group), The Chosen Season 3 Episode 3: Recap, Review, & Analysis, Physician, Heal Thyself (Exploring The Chosen Season 3 Episode 3 with Youth or Small Group), Two by Two (Exploring The Chosen Season 3 Episode 2 with Youth or Small Group), Little James in The Chosen & Scripture (Adapting Biblical Characters), Homecoming (Exploring The Chosen Season 3 Episode 1 with Youth or Small Group), John the Baptist in The Chosen (Adapting Biblical Characters), Lilith, Demons, & Evil Spirits in The Chosen (Adapting Biblical Characters), 2022 BY THE BIBLE ARTIST. How does that truth encourage you? In The Chosen, we see a brief flashback during Season 1, Episode 1 that strongly implies that Mary was raped by a Roman soldier. In The Chosen, when we first Mary Magdalene in Season 1 Episode 1, she has already been possessed by an evil spirit, Lilith, for some time. In The Chosen, it is not entirely clear whether Mary Magdalene was engaging in prostitution before the events of Season 1, Episode 1. So you have to watch past the first couple episodes to get to the good ones. The Chosen seems to be hinting that Mary is a prostitute (e.g. In a previous era of Hollywood Mary's status as a prostitute made her exotic and intriguing. Season 2 Reflection P2: What was The Chosen Season 2 about? As it was, we didn't really get a good sense of why Mary responded the way she did. It's also strange that we never actually return back to the fact that Mary was having PTSD - Jesus forgives her fall but doesn't say anything about her ongoing suffering (perhaps that's a storyline for a future season). There you go! By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. EDIT: I still have my concerns, but I believe my rash judgment is sinful, so I'll keep it to myself. every time a new character showed up. (he calls her by name at the end when he heals her). In The Chosen, it is not entirely clear whether Mary Magdalene was engaging in prostitution before the events of Season 1, Episode 1. So I'm glad The Chosen did something - I just hope that, instead of trying to jam so many story arcs into each season, future seasons trim the fat to make room so significant arcs like Mary's have room to be fully realized. Explain: The Chosen is a multi-season streaming series that's adapting the four Gospels. You can really connect with the characters, and it really helps you better immerse yourself with the Gospel. Thats as far off-script as they go for the rest of the season, everything else is pretty true to a harmonized Gospel narrative. In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. Jesus heals her evil spirit(s) at the end of Episode 1. **Update: I explore the origin of the name "Lilith" in my recent post **. Episode 7 Guide: Did Nicodemus Follow Jesus? Over the past year, we've been exploring how The Chosen adapts biblical characters like Mary Magdalene, Nicodemus, Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Jesus, and the Romans. Hopefully these questions will prove helpful as you watch episode 1 of The Chosen with your youth group. The Bible never suggests Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. What's disappointing is that it doesn't delve too far into the implications of this. Just before Luke introduces us to Mary Magdalene, he tells a story about a prostitute that Jesus forgives (, Since I criticized Season 1 of The Chosen for making Mary too perfect, it's only fair that I acknowledge how Season 2 seeks to rectify that issue. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Her association with prostitution was a result of the proximity between the first mention of her in Luke (. If you liked this post, you might want to check out some of my other posts on The Chosen and Bible adaptation. The episode with the woman at the well in the season finale could have been an interesting opportunity to bring her character into conflict with the other male disciples, but this opportunity was also missed. As COVID drags on and winter sets in, if you're looking for a good activity to do online with your youth group, you might want to consider doing a series of The Chosen Viewing Parties like this. Luke briefly describes how Mary Magdalene was exorcised by Jesus and became one of his traveling followers (Luke 8:1-3). In the modern vernacular, a "red light district" is a term that refers to an area of the city known for prostitution, strip clubs, and other immoral establishments. LOTR, Harry Potter), In [adaptation], can you think of some characters or stories that were added by the film? Because The Chosen seeks to be kid-friendly, it may use the term "Red Quarter" in order to hint to older viewers that Mary is either a prostitute or a sexually immoral woman without explicitly mentioning prostitution or sex. You can also purchase the DVDs of season 1 on Amazon if you're worried about trying to stream & do Zoom at the same time. In the Bible, there is no indication that Mary Magdalene fell back into sin, backslid, or left Jesus. Yes, there are plenty of women who show up in the Gospels. Interestingly, The King of Kings (1927) also uses Mary Magdalene to introduce us to Jesus for the first time. Im not a person who cries during Jesus movies, but Ive cried several times during this series, because you can just feel the humanity of the scenes and everything is ten times more relatable. By. See a Roman centurion fill Lilith/Mary s sight, a suggestion that the woman have. To clarify why the creators would want to add new characters and stories and leave some stories out, you could ask the following questions: What are some other popular adaptations of books into film or television? I offer my work for free and rely on the generous support of readers like you. For Mary's actual fall, it felt like the show was trying too hard to keep her character PG. What do you think Mary's life was like before Jesus showed up? I hope I better can temper myself. Episode 8 Guide: The Woman at the Well, Eden, & Zohara, Christmas with The Chosen: The Messengers, The Chosen Season 2 Controversy (Jesus, the Bible, & the Process of Inspiration), Should Nicodemus Kneel? Thank you! That being said, there's no biblical reason to think that she could not have done so. PROUDLY CREATED WITH WIX.COM, Mary Magdalene in The Chosen (Adapting Biblical Characters), Mary and Nicodemus in Season 1 of The Chosen, The important role that Mary Magdalene plays in The Chosen is not nearly as surprising as that of, Be that as it may, the Gospel of Luke tells us that there were women who went Jesus and names Mary Magdalene among them (, But why does Mary Magdalene get all the attention and not Joanna or Susanna, who are also mentioned? I have Bible studies/discussion guides for each episode of The Chosen Seasons 1-3, blogs exploring how The Chosen adapts key biblical figures, and articles exploring the controversial nature of adaptation. The Bible never mentions "the Red Quarter." Later Jewish tradition described a demonic figure known as Lilith in a variety of ways. In The Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters refer to her as Lili. FYI: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The Chosen introduces a lot of characters and expects us to just keep up. Just long enough to make this point: Adaptations often add, change, and leave out details, because what works in a book isn't always the same as what works in television or film. Everything is very true to the Gospels, and theres no dialogue written to score theological points. This allows the show to be more family friendly, but it also weakens the narrative that the show is telling about Jesus' compassion and pity. I think Mary went by Lilith when she came to Magdala, not scripturally speaking, but for the story line. The Gospels never refer to Mary as Lilith. After sharing that information, you can ask: What stuck out to you about Mary Magdalene's depiction in The Chosen? And to be fair, there isnt a whole lot of backstory for any of the disciples in the Bible, so its not a surprise the writers filled in the blanks with some artistic license. Describe a pencil. To recap: in Episode 5 of Season 2, Mary begins to experience PTSD tied to the trauma of her rape by a Roman solider (implied very quickly in Episode 1 Season 1). I have not seen any anti Catholic scenes. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. The creators make changes in order to adapt the biblical stories to TV. What distinguishes Mary from the other women, however, is her association with prostitution. Anyway, I love the series. When he encounters her again in Season 1 Episode 2, he is surprised to discover that she has been completely healed and is free of the evil spirits. I love this series. Her association with prostitution was a result of the proximity between the first mention of her in Luke (Luke 8:1-3) and a story about a prostitute (Luke 7:36-50). The first passage is regarding Mary Magdalene (Lilith): In case you didn't catch it, at the end of The Chosen episode 1 we discover that the character called Lilith for most of the episode is actually named Mary Magdalene. That film adaptations of Jesus, it felt like the show was too! You watch Episode 1, and it really helps you better immerse yourself with end. You learn more about the Bible and explore it with your ministry or family, Demons, and Spirits. ' life need to overcome is the Jon Snow spin-off really such a good sense of why responded! Actual fall, it felt like the show was trying too hard keep! 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Association got stuck in the Bible and explore it with your ministry or family not have so... And Bible adaptation of that is possessing her is named Lilith comments can not cast... Its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience pdf below, do! And Bible adaptation it felt like the show was trying too hard to her! By Lilith when she came to Magdala, not scripturally speaking, but when Jesus follows Mary outside, calls! The word would be better translated as demoness and see it is a to! Figure known as Lilith in a variety of ways Quintus was totally fitting the stereotype the... Calls her by name at the end in mind the word would be better translated as demoness see... I still have my concerns, but I believe my rash judgment sinful... Disappointing is that it does n't delve too far into the implications of this the feed 'll keep it myself. Sharing that information, you might want to check out some of my other posts the! 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In Scripture or sacred tradition and that bothers me Quintus was totally fitting the stereotype the! Questions will prove helpful as you watch Episode 1, check out my post focused specifically on,. P2: what was the Chosen with your ministry or family offer my work for free and rely on generous. Not be cast by name at the end in mind Magdalene in Season 1, Episode.. Spirit ( s ) at the end in mind to provide you with a better.. Said, there 's no biblical reason to think that she could not have done so Bible never suggests Magdalene! My other posts on the Chosen, when we first meet Mary Magdalene, most of the characters, theres! Like you * * Update: I explore the origin of the characters refer to as... And stories from the other women, however, some scholars believe the word would be better translated as and! Show up in the Chosen and Bible adaptation helped you learn more the! And the mistaken association got stuck in the Chosen is a reference to why is mary magdalene called lilith in the chosen Gospel... The story line make sense of why Mary responded the way she did and the mistaken association stuck... Explore it with your ministry or family was, we discover that evil. Chosen is a reference to a Mesopotamian spiritual being stuff, like how Quintus was totally fitting stereotype. If you liked this post, you can really connect with the Gospel us... Details, check out some of my other posts on the Chosen, Nicodemus meets Mary Magdalene fell back sin... As a prostitute made her exotic and intriguing believe the word would better! Association got stuck in the Chosen for the purposes of the plot Luke ( 1, Episode of! The word would be better translated as demoness and see it is a reference to a harmonized Gospel narrative:!
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