Hıristiyan şeytan algısının filmlerdeki yansıması: Amerika ve Avrupa sineması örneği

Abstract

Sinemanın ilk yıllarından itibaren farklı dinleri ve bu dinlere ait temaları konu edinen, lehte ya da aleyhte yorumlar veya eleştiriler yapan sayısız film yapılmıştır. Söz konusu filmlerde öne çıkan dini temsillerin en önemlilerinden birini Şeytan karakteri oluşturmaktadır. Sinema tarihinde Şeytan ile ilgili çok sayıda film yapılarak beyaz perdeye aktarılmıştır. Bu çalışmanın konusu, söz konusu filmler arasında Hıristiyan gelenekten ilham alanların Şeytan’a dair nasıl bir portre çizdiğini tespit etmektir. Dolayısıyla çalışmanın kapsamı, Hıristiyan inancını ve kültürünü yoğun bir şekilde kullanan Avrupa ve Amerika sinemasında Şeytan’ı somut bir şekilde tasvir eden filmlerle sınırlı tutulmuştur. Kapsama dahil edilen filmlerden hareketle Şeytan ya da şeytani güçleri konu edinen yapımcı ya da yönetmenlerin, Hıristiyan kutsal metinlerinin veya dini geleneğinin hangi yönlerinden ne ölçüde yararlandıklarını ve ilgilerini çeken hususları beyaz perdeye nasıl yansıttıklarını tespit etmek amaçlanmıştır.

Since the first years of cinema, countless movies have been made about different religions and their themes that made favorable or unfavorable comments and criticisms. In these films, one of the prominent representations has been the character of Satan. In the history of cinema, the earliest film about the representation of Satan is La Manoir du Diable, directed by French director Georges Melies in 1896. From the first example to the present, many films about Satan have been made and transferred to the silver screen. The subject of this study is to determine how the films inspired by the Christian tradition paint a portrait of Satan. Therefore the scope of this study is limited to films that concretely depict Satan in European and American cinema which use the Christian faith and culture intensively. In this study, it is aimed to determine to what extent the producers or directors, who mention Satan or demonic forces, benefit from the Christian scriptures or religious tradition and how they reflect the issues that attract their attention to the screen. In this study, in which qualitative research methods are used, on the one hand, an existing situation has been tried to be described, on the other hand, it has been aimed to examine the subject in depth. In this direction, the case study pattern was used. In addition, the films that are the subject of the study were selected in accordance with the homogeneous sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods. In this context, 43 films from European and American cinema, which use the devil motif, Christian belief and culture, have been watched and analyzed. The data obtained from these movies have been analyzed by content analysis technique. In this context, the following themes have been constituted: The Naming of Satan, The Physical Appearence of Satan, Satan’s Desire to Have a Son and Its Relationships with Antichrist, The Nature of Satan and Its Effect on Human, Ways to Deal With the Devil and the Excorcism, The Exaltation of Satan and Satanism. In our country, studies on the use of the Devil motif in cinema films have been emerged later than the West. In our country, when looking at the literature on the use of religious elements in cinema films, it is seen that various studies have been carried out in different disciplines, including the History of Religions. Among these, there are also studies that mention the figure of Satan. Some of these studies have touched on the percept of Satan in a limited way within the framework of the motifs used in horror movies. In others, figure of Satan have evaluated only in one or a few films. However in this study, a larger sample have included. The data obtained within the scope of the sample have been diversified and classified under different headings. In addition to these, it also offers the opportunity to compare the data used between different films. In terms of these aspects, this study differs from its similars in the literature. It is hoped that this study, which aims to contribute to the enrichment of the literature in the field of the History of Religions, will also open the door to new researches with contents such as the representations of the devil or evil forces in other religions such as Judaism, Hinduism, Shintoism apart from Christianity. As a result, there is a serious diversity in the field of cinema about who Satan is and what he represents. In this diversity Satan stands out as a character who tries to seduce people and divert them from the right path, therefore needs to be constantly fought. As it is known the idea of Satan in Christianity has shaped the life of Western societies as well as individual perceptions of people. For many years, a deep-rooted culture of fear has emerged Western societies which live under the threat of Church, and grapple with the horror of Satan. This situation has naturally reflected in the cinema, and the idea that the Satan always follow people has formed the basic material of horror films. Thus it can be said that Satan has been generally reflected with his frightening aspect in the mentioned films. However, it should be noted here that when these films are examined it is noticed that Satan doesn’t have absolute frightening. Because although Satan is presented as the winner of the struggle in some movies, it can often be seen that he is defeated or even easily defeated.