Ben-Hur Outline and Data

Intro: 

-Attention Getter: When you think of a Christian movie you might picture some cheesy movie with bad acting and a predictable storyline. However, only recently have Christian movie makers been centering around this type of story line. It hasn’t always been like this. Today I’m going to walk you through the Christian centered movie Ben-Hur, who some might consider one of the greatest movies of all time, and it’s not so hot remake. 

-Preview: Main organizer slide

Body: 

-Piece 1: Apparatus 

• Differing technology: majority ineffective- YouTube trailer 
• (2016) could have bigger and bolder scenes but that’s not what people necessarily wanted to see
• CGI vs toy ships 
• 1959 won an Academy Award for best technology and broke technological records 
• In the 1959 trailer in mentions 70mm camera and full stereophonic sound BIG DEAL 
• Older technology can turn off modern viewers but it has pulled new audiences for decades 

• Run time: affective- Wikipedia
• 3h 44m (1959) vs 2h 30m (2016) 

• Differing levels of success- Wikipedia
• 1959- a classic, 11 Academy Awards, budget: $15.2 million, box office: $146.9 million
• 2016- “summer’s biggest box office bomb”, budget: $87-100 million, box office: $94.1 million total only $26.4 million came from U.S.

-Piece 2: Social History 

• Cause of “bomb”? Religious movies on the decline? No. -Wikipedia
• 1959- 2 major movies with Christian themes
• 2016- 16 major movies with Christian themes

• According to Robert Ellwood, a professor of religion/pastor in the 1950s, Cristianity was on the rise in this decade. People wanted peace after WW2 and about ½ of the U.S. pop actually going to church (the highest ever). 
• According to the Pew Research Center, from 2007 to 2014 the pop in the U.S. of adults who identify as Christian dropped from 78.4% to 70.6%, and it just continues to decline. 
• People are expecting more out of movies and are getting tired of unoriginal remakes. 
• Why keep making remakes? -Vulture
• Backed by shareholders 
• Audience will pay more attention to catch differences/changes
• Sometimes they work, ex: Karate Kid, “it happened once it can happen again” mentality
• Parents are familiar with the movie and can determine if it’s appropriate for their kid 
• Producers of 2016 claimed that the movie was not a remake and that it was reimagined and it would center around different values. -Wikipedia
• Vengeance vs Forgiveness and love 
• Judah Ben-Hur and Messala’s relationship
• Differing views on masculinity 
• Messala’s death vs survival 
• 1959- Messala’s last words 
• Toxic masculinity vs empathy and understanding 
• 1959- “alpha male” 
• Judah and Esther’s relationship 

Conclusion: 

-Thesis: Remakes don’t always make everyone happy and sometimes it’s just not the right time to make it. Movie makers should be looking for original ideas, but if they are going to settle for a remake they need to be looking at the social context behind the original and their remake. By doing evaluations like this it can save them a lot of time and money. Ben-Hur is a perfect example of this. While I think initially it was a good idea in theory, the success and legacy of the original made it hard for the remake to make a name for itself in this day and age. 

Ben-Hur (1959)	Ben-Hur (2016)
Main Focus: Revenge for wrongdoing	Main Focus: Revenge to forgiveness for wrongdoing, love
Genre: epic historical drama	Genre: epic historical drama
Revenge: In this version Judah gets his revenge on Messala by killing him in during the chariot race. However, Messala is able to get the last word in which makes Judah go on a search to find his mother and sister. Both are able to get their revenge on each other.	Forgiveness and Love: In this version Messala survives the chariot race crash but is badly wounded. Both Judah and Messala find forgiveness in their hearts and are able to live together again as a family. Also there is more emphasis on love in this movie as Judah and Esther get married earlier in the story.
Social History: Toxic masculinity is very alive and the theme of revenge is fueled by this. There must be an “alpha male” between Judah and Messala.	Social History: Views on masculinity are getting better. Judah and Messala’s change in relationship as well as Judah’s empathy and understanding for Messala is an example of this.