What is it about?
This paper explores Christian themes in director Paul Verhoeven's three films Total Recall (1990), Basic Instinct (1992), and Showgirls (1995).
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Why is it important?
The film director Paul Verhoeven has described his first box office success, RoboCop (1987) as a “Christian fairytale”. I argue that rather than merely presenting examples of the femme fatale, these movies explore a number of social boundaries and narratives which have parallels in Christianity—particularly the concepts of the Second Adam, Redemption and the Eucharist.
Perspectives
This is the second of four articles exploring religion and film. The first was "Between Eden and Armageddon: Institutions, Individuals and Identification in 'The Mission', 'The Name of the Rose' and 'Priest'" published in 'Explorations in Theology and Film' (Blackwell, 1997)
Dr Vaughan S Roberts
Coventry Cathedral
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Too Much is not Enough: Paul Verhoeven, Rene Girard & the Femme (Fa)tale, Journal of Contemporary Religion, May 2000, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/13537900050005994.
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