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Notes -
Yeah, the article discusses one of those elements that was included in earlier drafts of the script but scrapped by Kubrick:
On one level I do agree that the film affirms Christian ideology insofar as it plays Christian morality (uncharitably, but relevant in context- slave morality) against Roman master morality. But ultimately Christianity is about Christ, and the heroes of the story are not Christian. Spartacus is squarely a Moses figure:
So the "Jewish element" exists in the source material, it was clearly a huge motivating influence on Douglas, Fast, and Trumbo, and it was written in the script but toned down in favor of a more cryptic identity of the heroes. Did they set out to make a Christian movie? Now that would be ironic.
But it wasn't, it was made by Mel Gibson. It's like saying "If Passion of the Christ was made by Jews, you would have something to say about that." Well, it wasn't, it was made by Mel Gibson. If Jews did make Passion of the Christ, do you think it would be the same movie?
And yes, I do think Spartacus is cryptic and ingenious in a way that goes far beyond some Americanized glorification of abolitionism. And it is cryptic and ingenious in away that Woman King is not, and there are a lot of signs that this ingenuity has run its course.
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