Ben-Hur censorship in Yugoslavia
anecdote · personal/autobiographical ·
retold in 3 talks
In communist Yugoslavia, the crucifixion scenes of 'Ben-Hur' were censored. The result was that the film became a profound existential drama about victory as loss, with the hero walking alone in an empty stadium, stripping away Christian redemption.
As told 2
“out of a rather simple Christian propaganda it became almost a deep existential drama you know like the moment of victory is the moment of loss”
“This reduction made out of a kitsch religious propaganda almost a work of art. Instead of simplistic story celebrating religion, we get a kind of desperate existential drama.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
contents · one story, 3 jobsuses
less is more
×2
surplus enjoyment
×2
counterproductive censorship
×1
Its cast and sources
populated by
Bernard Tschumi1Paul Andreu1Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz1Carl Fredrik Mörck1Charlton Heston1Stephen Boyd1Ernest Hemingway1Jean-Luc Mélenchon1
alongside works
Every retelling 2
In communist Yugoslavia, the crucifixion scenes of 'Ben-Hur' were censored. The result was that the film became a profound existential drama about victory as loss, with the hero walking alone in an empty stadium, stripping away Christian redemption., illustrating unintended consequences of censorship,religion-theology
Yugoslav censors cut Ben-Hur immediately after the chariot race, removing the Jesus Christ miracle ending as Christian propaganda. The accidental truncation transformed religious kitsch into a desperate existential drama where triumph coincides with loss., illustrating less is more,censorship as aesthetic generator,surplus enjoyment