Esther Kustanowitz: February 2007 Archives

Relient K is a Christian band. Like Switchfoot, they have managed a tricky crossover from the Christian market into the mainstream. But according to a Monsters and Critics interview, their lead vocalist/songwriter Matt Thiessen doesn't enjoy the segregation.

"We view Christian music and the general market all as the same thing. It's funny to have a genre just based on lyrics. If I was Jewish and I was writing songs about Judaism, you [wouldn't] sell me only in Jewish bookstores. I feel like Christian music gets segregated," he says, wryly noting, "Green Day isn't in the Democratic section at Wal-Mart."

While a girl like me can certainly sympathize with not wanting to be labeled, even in identification with an aspect of yourself you're proud of, the truth is that Thiessen shouldn't yearn for Christian music to be treated like Jewish music. Before Tower Records (and HMV before it) closed, I would routinely go to music stores looking for something reflective of or incorporating aspects of Jewish life. Sure, there was a little bit of emergent neo-klezmer, or classic Yiddish tunes that my grandmother might have hummed to me when I was a kid. But young Jews didn't have "family values crossover rock" like Collective Soul, or even Amy Grant. Personally, I was hoping to find the newest Israeli bands and artists who don't even necessarily sing about Judaism. I kept looking in "World" and "Eastern" and "Middle East," but it was mostly Shakira and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

Online was no better; BMG Music ("10 Albums for the Price of 1" draws you in and then 10 years later you're still a member, returning unwanting selections of the month) had a few token Hanukkah records in December, but was otherwise similarly bereft. The fact was, to find anything approaching Jewish music or "songs about Judaism," I would have to go to Jewish bookstores, because they're the only places that carry them.

But now, with the internet making the real-life music superstore all-but obsolete, it's a lot easier to find Jewish music. Amazon lists over 1500 titles in the results for "Jewish Music" (compared to 18,477 for "Christian Music"). JDub Records, the company that found and developed Matisyahu for the big time, is producing new Jewish music that blends traditional and contemporary. And JMG Music is not only distributing new Jewish music (like this year's Grammy-winning Klezmatics CD, "Wonder Wheel"), but resurrecting oldies like "Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites" and the comedy album "You Don't Have to be Jewish/When You're In Love the Whole World's Jewish."

Still, when it comes to mainstream store representation, I'd be willing to wager that Christian rockers are better off than their Jewish contemporaries. Thiessen might be interested to learn that on Monsters and Critics, the number one search result for "Jewish music" leads readers to the Relient K interview.

If you've been reading or watching the news this week, you've likely heard about James Cameron's press conference about his latest project: the supposed unearthing of Jesus' crypt.

What's that? Isn't it the Christian tradition that Jesus was resurrected? Well, forget all that Sunday School education. Because Cameron and director Simcha Jacobovici (who also hosted "The Exodus Decoded," which featured narration from Cameron) "claim to have amassed evidence through DNA tests, archeological evidence and Biblical studies, that the 10 coffins [or, more accurately, "ossuaries," found during the excavation of Jerusalem's Talpiyot neighborhood] belong to Jesus and his family." They've also concluded from the find that Jesus had a kid with Mary Magdalene. And they've made a movie about it, which will be shown soon on Discovery Channel, Britain's Channel 4, Canada's Vision, and Israel's Channel 8. The Discovery Channel has a more complete account of the film, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus."

Time gets the award for best headline: "Tales from the Crypt," but loses points for including too many Titanic references ("this time, the ship he's sinking is Christianity" and "stir up titanic debate") and yet not taking advantage of the chance to refer to either Cameron or Jacobovici as "the Cryptkeeper." (I mean, if you're going to go with Tales from the Crypt as your header and beat the Titanic thing to death, then go all the way.)

And now, this Jewess will offer some literary and cinematic recommendations (aside from "The Da Vinci Code," which I found interesting content- and mythology-wise, but amateurish and pedestrian in execution) for those of you who love to ponder Jesus and his mysteries from a less-than-traditional perspective:

"The Body" (movie, 2000): Antonio Banderas in a clerical collar is hot. "Ordered to investigate a dead body that could call Christianity's fundamental beliefs into question, Father Gutierrez (Antonio Banderas) travels to Jerusalem and meets archaeologist Sharon Golban (Olivia Williams). Together, they analyze the body and look for clues that could give them definitive answers to its origins. But events take a dangerous turn when a Palestinian terrorist group confronts Father Gutierrez and threatens to steal the body." (description: Netflix)

"The Last Temptation of Christ" (book, then film, 1988): Scorsese directs, and Peter Gabriel's haunting, sometimes painful score is itself a reason to experience this film. "At his execution, Jesus is tempted by an alluring image of a peaceful and pleasant life with Mary Magdelene to try to get him to refuse the sacrifice he must make." (description: IMDB)

"Cross Bones," by Kathy Reichs (book): If the characters sound familiar, it's likely because this popular series of "Bones" novels was recently transformed into the FOX procedural of the same name. "Forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Tempe" Brennan gets caught in mysteries past and present when she's called in to determine if illegal antiquities dealer Avram Ferris's gunshot death is murder or suicide. An acquaintance of Avram suggests the former: he hands Tempe a photograph of a skeleton, taken in Israel in 1963, and insists it's the reason Avram is dead. Tempe's longtime boyfriend, Quebecois detective Andrew Ryan, is also involved with the case, so the duo head to Israel where they attempt to solve the murder and a mystery revolving around a first-century tomb that may contain the remains of the family of Jesus Christ. This find threatens the worldwide Christian community, the Israeli and Jewish hierarchy and numerous illegal antiquity dealers, any of whom might be out to kill Tempe and Ryan." (description: Publishers Weekly)

"Jesus Christ Superstar" (show, then film, 1973): Listen to the opening song, and then try to get its infectious melody out of your head. Just try. "Based on a concept album project written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and the subsequent long-running Broadway performance, this film tells the story of the final 6 days in the life of Jesus Christ through the troubled eyes of Judas Iscariot. Too often mis-labeled a musical, this film is a 'rock opera.' There are no spoken lines, everything is sung. " (description: IMDB)

"Godspell" (1973): "An adaption of the musical, in a modern-day song-and-dance recreation of the Gospel of St. Matthew." (description: IMDB)

And my nearly-out-of-print favorite, "Act of God," by Charles Templeton (book, 1977): As a teenager, I was obsessed with this book's analysis of religion, the potential upheaval of faith, and the conspiracy theories involved. "A secret so momentous it threatens to change the course of history... The most important archaeological discovery of all time sets irresistible forces in motion and alters forever the lives of three men and a woman: a celebrated Cardinal in the Roman Catholic church and the probable next pope, who is compelled against all his principles to plan the ultimate crime; a world-renowned archaeologist whose lust for fame carries him into the Israeli desert on a quest that promises immortality but threatens to destroy him; a beautiful but vulnerable young woman who is driven by events to make the agonizing choice between her faith and the first man she has ever loved; and a detective with the New York County District Attorney's Office who relentlessly investigates an international crime in the knowledge that the solution may shatter his own happiness."

Open mind. Read, see, think, and enjoy...

I'll admit it, I was initially resistant to the charms of "Lost." A plane gets ripped in half mid-air and crashes? Undiagnosed vertigo and living in New York City post-9/11 are enough to make that one of my top-10 fears--no need to actually see a dramatic rendering of it on TV. And yet, I found myself tuning in, undoubtedly because of the involvement of David Fury (late of "Angel"), and getting hooked on the sheer insanity of every episode.

Questions, questions, questions in every show: Are they in purgatory? Why did the plane crash? Who were the Others? What was that smoky thing? A polar bear in the tropics? What's in the hatch? Who's that Australian guy? Locke is paralyzed and then unparalyzed and then reparalyzed? Is the Hanso Foundation good, bad, or just scientifically objective? And what about those infernal numbers? (I always knew math was evil.)

I loved the sci-fi fantasy elements and the brilliance of various takes on classical literary elements: the irony; the purgatory theory, that the survivors were essentially trapped in their own personal nightmares that would torment them until they learned their lessons; appearance vs. reality, the symbolic geography of the exposure of the beach vs. the safety of the cave; the faith vs. reason struggle among the survivors (especially the clash between Locke and Jack); the crime-and-punishment structure that was revealed as we were given glimpses of each character's story, and above all the suspense over what unpredictable thing would come next. Knowing that no character is safe from week-to-week gave the whole thing a kind of Stephen Kingy feel, which in my book is a really good thing. I liked being surprised--it seemed more real.

But with this season, it seemed that there were suddenly too many questions. Why do Kate, Sawyer, and Jack suddenly seem to be on Isla Sorna (Jurassic Park's Site B)? Kate and Jack? Kate and Sawyer? Sawyer eating fish pellets and getting fake pacemakers/explosive devices implanted in his chest? Where did Walt and Michael go? Why isn't Hurley losing weight? Why hasn't Sayeed managed much airtime this season? Is "Benry" really evil, or do his eyes and bunny-tormenting just make him look like the serial killer from The Practice? (Ah, Michael Emerson, who looks so normal and plays such psychos.)

At some point, the show seemed to cross a line between "I have to tune in next week?!" and "What's the point in tuning in next week if there's no progress in my understanding of what's happening?!" And then there was the infuriating process of trying to determine whether each week was a rerun or not. (Although it did give rise to one of my favorite sites, which always makes me laugh in admiration of its brilliant simplicity: IsLostARepeat.com.)

What are my hopes for the new "mini-season"? First of all, I hope to actually remember what the bejeezus happened in the last episode (this TVSquad recap's a big help), and to avoid any spoilers online or in the evil pages of Entertainment Weekly (which triumphantly trumpets "CAST MEMBER Killed on '24'" before I've seen the episode in which the character in question suddenly died). I hope that "Lost" doesn't try to find itself with a new, upbeat, '80s-style theme song. I hope that Kate and Sawyer don't get eaten by velociraptors. I hope there's a really good explanation for that Smoky thing, or that it vanishes completely. I hope they don't find anymore hatches or Hanso outposts.

I hope that Kate, Sawyer, and Jack are really on the same island as all the survivors we know and love. I hope to find out if Juliet is really evil and playing Jack, or if she's sincerely hoping for the death of Benry (that's Ben, who used the alias Henry, for those of you not obsessed with all things "Lost"). I hope that the end of the show won't be Jack waking up from a nap in the Sydney airport and concluding that "it was all a dream, and there's no place like home."

Most of all, I'm hoping to enjoy this show again.

All published reports indicate that although there will be more intrigue and head-scratching, the "Lost" producers and writers are working toward an end point, both for the current story arcs and for the series itself. It seems that answers--and storylines for the abandoned castaways like Hurley, Claire, and Charlie--are on the horizon, like a random boat being piloted by Sun and Jin and Sayid... it's just out of sight, but at least you know it's there, somewhere. And with new episodes coming every week from now until the season finale in May, hopefully, "Lost" will find whatever it's been looking for.