Christ Commodification

           Kind eyes and welcoming open arms, Jesus Christ looks out onto West 39th and 6th Ave with nurturing intent. As the hustle and bustle of Manhattan passes by (people laughing, crying, and passing by, never to return again to where daily commuters pass every day or a homeless man may sleep every night) Jesus sees all with his kind eyes and bobbling head from his little window view atop the shelves of tourist trap souvenir shops around the city. A watchman of the passing street is what he had become, and there he sits, bobbling his head in recognition of the window to the world before him.

            I looked to statues for religious significance and scrutinized every corner for symbols or lost artifacts. Various different religions breathe life into the New York City beat on a regular basis so it should not have been hard to find something. However, when I came face to face with bobble-head Jesus' pensive stare, I knew this best exemplified religion in a diverse city such as New York. It is not necessarily as simple as what it is - a bobble head reconfiguration of an important religious figure - but what it represents on its fragile window shelf. New York City is partly known for its characterizing and commodification of just about anything. Tourists and New Yorkers alike can buy hats, bags, ornaments, socks, trinkets no one knew they needed, and more with just about any personalization and theme imaginable; it's a cultural phenomenon. In a city where anything is possible, why should that fall short of religious symbols and figures? Just next to Jesus Christ one can purchase his own Pope Francis or George W. Bush for just $19.95 too!

            But can a price really be put on religious devotion? A cheap and affordable price at that? Or is that the point? The commodification of religion is when these meaningful figures and objects become objects of consumption available to the public in various forms. It puts the symbol in a new context in order to fit consumer culture. It makes religion something more readily available, but some might see this as a corrupt manipulation of important religious values. Such tactless ornaments mean nothing but disrespect. Shop owners most likely do not see it as much more than an inventory item to be sold; they evoke and manipulate people's attachments and religious views in order to elicit money from them which prompts the corrupt critique. However, this bobble-head Jesus exemplifies that people will express their religion in numerous different ways. As varietal as the religions are, so are the ways in which people choose to express them.

            This new context puts the image of Jesus in an interesting place. A bobble head is something typically of humourous but also important value. It is not making light of the significance of Jesus though. These figurines watch over the shelves of people who want to show off their interests. When he no longer sits on his sales shelf over New York City, he will grace the desktop of some believer who chooses to express devotion to his religion as such and is brought joy through his Jesus figurine. It is more than the figurine itself though that represents an interesting approach to expressing religion. At just another NYC Gifts, it is made prominent that the common Christian belief carries on. The Son of God can be just about anywhere, literally and figuratively, browsing the New York City streets and seeing all its unabashed activities. And yet the New York beat carries on regardless, just under Jesus' view.