Abstract
The Nativity Story has been the most recent film depicting Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. The paper explores what films depicting biblical characters may reveal about the psychological experiences they undergo. For example, how does Mary benefit from the virgin conception? How does she use the pregnancy to transform herself? I employ Michel Foucault's ideas concerning disciplinary regimes and 'technologies of the self' to attempt to answer these questions. I argue that, in the film, the moment at which Mary is used to achieve God's purposes, she enters into a disciplinary relationship with God. She also uses her pregnancy to transform herself. Jesus is the technology by which Mary attains self-fulfillment.
Recommended Citation
Amarasingam, Amarnat
(2008)
"Foucault, Discipline and the Self: Exploring Mary's Relationship with God in The Nativity Story,"
Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 12:
Iss.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol12/iss1/5