“20 Treacherous Movie Judases”
Seeing as it’s Good Friday on the Christian calendar, here’s an interesting list from TotalFilm.com: 20 Treacherous Movie Judases. Here are five of them:
Carter Burke in Aliens (1986)
The Judas: Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke is all about being humanitarian. His work for the company has him overseeing human colonisation of alien worlds, which he carries out with intentions pure as the driven snow. So naturally, when contact with planet LV-426 is lost, he wants to get out there as soon as possible.
The Betrayal: Except that’s all total, utter rubbish! In actuality, Burke’s agenda involves attempting to catch the volatile xenomorph that has broken loose on LV-426 and taking it home to study. He even attempts to kill Ripley and wee tidbit Newt. Yeah, he really lives up to his name.
Lori in Total Recall (1990)
The Judas: Arnie’s wife Lori, played by a spandex-stretching Sharon Stone, isn’t really his wife. See, she’s posing that way in order to make sure that he doesn’t remember his true identity and attempt to get back to Mars. Or something. Note: could just be a figment of Arnie’s imagination.
The Betrayal: When he remembers who he really is, Arnie becomes a wanted man. It’s up to wifey Lori to see that he doesn’t do anything stupid. She ends up with a bullet in her brain. Now who’s the stupid one?
Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith (2005)
The Judas: Jedi warrior in training, Anakin was once a slave boy. But when Qui-Gonn Jin comes across him, the Jedi Master is convinced that the boy is the Chosen One.
The Betrayal: Too bad Anakin’s mind gets twisted to the Dark Side, as he is bid to spy on Palpatine, only to discover that Palpatine is really a Sith Lord. First he confronts Windu, then he kills everybody in a Jedi temple — including a room full of younglings. Trouble afoot, there is.
Cady Heron in Mean Girls (2004)
The Judas: New to America after having grown up in Africa, Cady Heron just wants to fit in with the rest of the girls at her high school. She quickly falls in with the Plastics, a group of girls who abide by a strict code of conduct that includes only wearing pink on certain days…
The Betrayal: Bemused by the Plastics, Cady is coerced by her real friends Janis and Damien into bringing them down. She manages to make queen bee Regina fat, but not without consequence…
Scar in The Lion King (1994)
The Judas: Scar is the jealous brother of King Mufasa. He holds a grudge against his powerful sibling for inheriting the throne ahead of him, and spends his time plotting ways to get his claws on the throne instead.
The Betrayal: During a stampede that he instigated himself, Scar kills Mufasa by letting him slip down into the wildebeest throngs. Mufasa is trampled to death, Scar gets what he always wanted. For a while.
Judas Iscariot, the disciple who per the Gospels ‘betrayed’ Jesus, is a fascinating figure, perhaps the most paradigmatic trickster character ever.
In the Gospel of John, Judas is said to have been paid 30 silver coins to identify Jesus so Roman soldiers could arrest him. Judas accomplished this task by kissing Jesus, which is where the “kiss of Judas” comes from.
In the Gospel of Luke, it is said that Satan actually “enters” Judas, an explanation for his traitorous behavior.
In the Gospel of Matthew, after the arrest of Jesus, Judas — consumed with guilt — committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree.
The Acts of the Apostles has a differing version of Judas’ death where his body basically burst open.
The name “Judas” has come to be associated with the concept of traitor. One memorable moment of it appearing in contemporary culture occurred when Bob Dylan, who had decided to move beyond his folk music hero status and embrace rock-and-roll, walks out to perform in concert in Manchester, England in 1966, a Fender Stratocaster strapped around his neck. As he emerges, someone in the audience shouts, “Judas!” — indicating that he thought Dylan had betrayed those who had adored Dylan as a folk musician. And in a sign of Dylan’s genius, he leans into the mic and says, “I don’t believe you,” then busts into an aggressive, raw version of “Like a Rolling Stone.” Check it out:
Dylan’s response is as perfect a line of dialogue as any of us will ever write as it not only tosses “Judas” back in the heckler’s face, it also has multiple layers of meaning. Is Dylan referring to the fact that Judas betrayed Jesus because he didn’t believe that Jesus was the true Messiah, a tacit acknowledgment by Dylan that he is not the folk music ‘messiah’? Is Dylan simply excoriating the audience member by disavowing that he — Dylan — has betrayed anyone or anything? Is Dylan speaking to his entire cult of folk music fans saying basically, “Get over it”? We’ll never know for sure — but it’s just a classic spur of the moment response.
For more cinematic Judases, go here.