ABSTRACT

In the context of the George W. Bush presidency’s reawakening of public religiosity, journalists delegitimized, to borrow wording from Jean-Francois Lyotard, The Chronicles of Narnia film and its funder, Philip Anschutz. Journalistic concerns about the film were articulated in describing Anschutz’s reputation as greedy, hyper-religious, and geared toward imperialistic business ventures. By critiquing Anschutz more than the film itself, the journalists framed the film with language that predated, but coincides with, contemporary cancel culture. Treatment of the film’s depiction of war violence and notions of religious guilt served journalists in suggesting that the film was dangerous for audiences. The growth of journalistic empowerment for delegitimation demonstrates the process of resistance to traditional establishments of power, reacting to the influence of religious resonances in the shadow of the previously released The Passion of the Christ, and was precursory as the early emergence of public cancel culture.

摘要

在乔治·W·布什总统任期内重新唤醒公众宗教信仰的背景下，借用让-弗朗索瓦·利奥塔在《纳尼亚传奇》中的措辞，记者失去了合法性电影及其资助者菲利普·安舒茨。新闻界对这部电影的担忧在描述安舒茨贪婪、极端宗教和面向帝国主义商业冒险的名声时得到了表达。通过对安舒茨的批评多于对电影本身的批评，记者们用早于当代取消文化但又与之相吻合的语言来构建这部电影。记者们对影片对战争暴力和宗教罪恶感的描述的处理表明这部电影对观众来说是危险的。新闻授权的非法化的增长表明了对传统权力机构的抵抗过程，对先前发布的《基督受难记》阴影下的宗教共鸣的影响做出反应，并且是公共取消文化早期出现的先兆。