Blasphemy And Satire

According to S. Brent Plate in Blasphemy, Art That Offends, the term "blasphemy" is fundamentally about transgression- about crossing the lines between the sacred and the profane in seemingly improper ways. The question that usually follows then is what exactly is deemed sacred and what deemed profane? Often in art, people argue over the difference between the sacred and the profane because of the difference in people's religious backgrounds. Often times people become very forward and strict about what the boundaries are between sacred and profane, and refuse to expand their personal area of the blasphemous "constellation."

Then, we watch a film such as Luis Bunuel's Viridiana, and see how he goes out of his way to create these "blasphemous" scenes. I specifically want to call attention to the scene towards the end of the film , when all of the poor folk have gathered in the large house to have a dinner banquet while the rulers of the house are out for the evening. In the middle of dinner, the man who was accused of having lepracy goes to the record player and puts on Handel's Hallelujah. 

Handel's Messiah- Hallelujah

Now, we initially hear this piece at the very opening of the film with the credits. Before we even meet the character of Viridiana, Bunuel implants a notion in our head that this film will be holy- that this film will be sacred and religious. The word "Hallelujah" in essence means "Praise the Lord." Immediately after this music entrance, we are brought into the convent in which Viridiana and the other nuns live. So far, we have all very holy events unfolding. Through the course of the film, however, we realize that Bunuel is in fact NOT trying to create a sacred and holy film. He really is making a satire. Bunuel wants to create a shock for his audience by using this technique of placing the sacred and the profane, not next to each other, but on top of each other. By the time we reach the banquet sequence with the profane poor, Bunuel literally layers the sacred music and profane images so that they are one. He creates a blasphemous tension that we as an audience cannot escape. What is even more interesting is Bunuel's constant use of diegetic sound within his film. Not only does he layer Handel's Hallelujah chorus over what we visually see on the screen, but he also includes the profane characters directly starting the record player in order to play the music. The profane touches the sacred. Those boundaries meant to only be broken through ritual, have now completely dissolved.

The entire visual sequence is just a rampant downward spiral of chaos. They are drinking, throwing food, having sex (or is it rape?) outside of matrimony, destroying the furniture, ignoring the children....the list goes on. This sequence is the epitome of profanity.

Meanwhile, however, we are connecting all of these visually profane images with a sense of the sacred flowing forth from the music. While watching the scene, things seem to be okay- these chaotic events seem somehow less chaotic because of the use of music. It seems to me as if the sacred somehow seems to overrule the profane. As soon as Jorge comes in and shuts off the music however, we realize just how much chaos has really been unraveling. Once the music- the sacred- has disappeared, we recognize the genius of juxtaposition that Bunuel uses to really saturate the blasphemy of the scene. Bunuel uses the technique of blasphemy- crossing the line between the sacred and the profane- in order to bring us to question the idea of blasphemy in itself.