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Hope Creamer
Dr. Leap
Images of Jesus in Film
3 May 2019
Analysis of Romero
2.) In the film Romero, the people of El Salvador are living through a very difficult
experience that can be related to that of Jesus’s experience as well as some figures and
characters can be directly compared to Christ-figures. For example, in the scene where the bus
is stopped and shot by the military, Father Rutilio Grande is seen as a Christ-figure. Father
Rutilio Grande arrives on the scene of the citizens standing outside the bus and Father Rutilio
says since the lieutenant won’t let the bus take them to the voting polls, but suggests they walk
there. He is the perfect example of a Christ-figure as he is leading the people to the polls to
vote to make a difference and do what it right. The people are scared and feel hopeless but
Father Rutilio is a calm, positive, and reassuring figure to lead them on their way.
Another scene that a Christ-figure was apparent was when Oscar Romero was
confronting the opposing side and they stripped him down using the excuse of “looking for a
weapon” when everyone was well aware it was purely out of disrespect. When they stripped
off his clothing, followers of the church and of him ran to cover his body and brought a blanket
to cover him. This shows the amount of trust and respect his followers have in him as he
bravely stood up for what he believed in and didn’t even flinch when they acted out of
complete disrespect. He was seen as a Christ-figure because of how he stood up for what he
believed in and how his followers immediately acted to shield him and protect him.
This absolutely deepens my understanding of Jesus and of the suffering of the poor in
my world in a couple of ways. It deepens my understanding of Jesus by seeing a Christ-figure
portrayed through different characters. What I mean by this is that it shows the absolute core
of Jesus’s beliefs and the lengths he went to for what he believed in. He always meant good and
was ready to do whatever it took to accomplish his goal and stand to what he believed. How it
deepened my understanding of the suffering of the poor in our world is even though they have
it so horribly in everyday life, they have immense faith in what they believe in. They seem to be
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so resilient in their beliefs and treasure the things they do have. In the passage Matthew 25: 31-
46, it talks about the difference of the sheep and goats and separating the two. After watching
this film, I associate the followers of Romero as the sheep, and the guerillas killing innocent
people in the country’s civil war I see as the goats. The film gave a much more human quality to
the metaphor of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25: 31-46. Overall, I really enjoyed this
film, it brought light to a situation that is still ongoing even today in El Salvador, which ironically
translates to “The Savior”. Knowing that this was based off of real events gave it a much more
emotional appeal especially because it was a relatively recent occurrence in history.