Culture Vulture: Exploring the Holy Mountain

“The Holy Mountain” (1973) by Alexandra Jodorowsky is a surreal montage of a Christ-figure, exploding Mayan pyramid and the 70s version of “Survivor.” It was shown on October 4, 2006 at Seton Hill University’s (SHU) Administration building in Room 410 as part of the Student in the Arts’ (SITA) movie night series.
“We’re trying to provide an outlet for people who are interested in all aspects of art, and at the same time bring back the liberal arts emphasis at SHU,” said Athena Singer, vice president of SITA and Setonian staff writer.


By Mike Diezmos,
Photo Editor/Copy Editor
“The Holy Mountain” (1973) by Alexandra Jodorowsky is a surreal montage of a Christ-figure, exploding Mayan pyramid and the 70s version of “Survivor.” It was shown on October 4, 2006 at Seton Hill University’s (SHU) Administration building in Room 410 as part of the Student in the Arts’ (SITA) movie night series.
“We’re trying to provide an outlet for people who are interested in all aspects of art, and at the same time bring back the liberal arts emphasis at SHU,” said Athena Singer, vice president of SITA and Setonian staff writer.
Joel Brown, member of SITA, said that this was the most visually stimulating movie he had seen.
“It shocks you throughout… It is is a visual representation of inner experiences commenting on dystopia,” Brown said.
“The breakdown from scene to scene was disturbing,” said a sophomore, Marie Manski.
“I can relate the situations presented to our time, (for example), attainment of the perfect body image, destruction caused by war, corruption of power, and the conditioning of children to hate,” Manski
said.
“The Holy Mountain” dealt with Eastern philosophy, such as Buddhism. It also appropriated from esoteric Jewish mysticism of Kabalah practice and Sufism. These cultural outlook showed the many inner process, which human beings would undergo in order to overcome illnesses and thus reach enlightenment.
Sara Rekrut, a senior in Derry High School, said, “The mandalas and eye motifs were interesting.” She said that these symbols “express (to all cultures), without using words, how life works.”
Manski agreed and said that the movie is about seeking truth. Senior Jenny Hill, president of SITA, said that the turnout was good.
“50 percent of the SITA members showed up along with a few people from the community of Greensburg,” said Hill.
“The comic relief at the end of (The Holy Mountain) made sense,” said Manski.
“It seems that they (the characters) understood and were enlightened,” she added.
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