Last Temptation - no henna?
Posted by Kree Arvanitas on January 17, 2000 at 03:42:01:
In Reply to: The Last Temptation posted by Kym on January 12, 2000 at 06:57:34:
After a request for henna "just like mary magdalen" I checked out Last Temptation again - and as much as I'd like to think of it as henna, I believe that this interpretation of MM was probably intended to represent a tattoo, not henna. It doesn't appear to be like henna at all, but rather tattooing. Since Kazantzakis meant for MM to be a "ruined woman" as a result of her unrequited love for Jesus - a servant of the dark goddesses, prostitute, etc. etc. (the usual male whore/madonna stuff), and because of the taboo against tattooing in Jewish tradition, I think it would be much more shocking to see MM with tattoos than henna.
I am also reading a fascinating book right now - "Mary Magdalen - Myth & Metaphor" by Susan Haskins. I pored over all the prints and pictures of MM in the book and didn't see a single one that appeared to have henna.
: I know this is an old topic and you probably dicussed it to death
: before, but the mention of Jesus made me think of the movie, Last
: Temptation of Christ. It was on TV again a little while back, I
: noticed the Henna designs on the women a lot more now that I do Henna
: myself. I kept wanting to pause the movie so I could look more
: closely!