E! Online - Chicago Creates a Nativity Scene

November 28, 2006
by Natalie Finn

Just when Wal-Mart was finally going to be wishing shoppers a "Merry Christmas" again, rather than saying "Happy Holidays," Chicago officials have decided to make a downtown Christmas festival a little less Christian.

Concerned that ads for the upcoming Xmas-themed film The Nativity Story might alienate non-Christians, city officials asked the organizers of the German Christkindlmarket to drop New Line Cinema as a sponsor this year.

A spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special Events said that the city of Chicago did not want to appear to be endorsing one religion over another, and that there would still be a nativity scene set up in Daley Plazaalong with a Hanukah menorah and other religious symbolismand items for sale related to baby Jesus' birth.

"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals and holding events on Daley Plaza," Mayor's Office executive director Jim Law said in a statement.

According to studio executive Christina Kounelias, New Line had planned to spend $12,000 in advertising at the festival as part of its nationwide Nativity Story campaign, which includes screening clips of the movie. Kounelias told the Associated Press that, as far as she knew, this was the only instance in which the studio's sponsorship was turned down.

"One would assume that if [people] were to go to Christkindlmarket, they'd know it is about Christmas," she said.

Echoing Kounelias' sentiments was Paul Braoudakis, a spokesman for the Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations in Illinois.

"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ," Braoudakis told the AP. "It's tantamount to celebrating Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."

Or, according to the Parents Television Council, whose job would be made easier if all TV and film pregnancies were achieved by Immaculate Conception, Chicago's stance is one of "anti-religious bigotry."

"What we haven't seen in decades from Hollywood is a reverent recounting of the birth of Jesus," PTC president Brent Bozell said in a statement Tuesday. "The New Line studio is filling that void with its new movie The Nativity Story, which simply retells the story of the first Christmas.

"The City of Chicago's decision not to be associated with a film like The Nativity Story is a form of anti-religious bigotry and indirect censorship.  It is ludicrous that the city would blatantly attack a movie that will be exceptionally well-received by millions of people in and around Chicago, most of whom are members of one Christian denomination or another."

The Nativity Story, which on Sunday became the first film to have its world premiere at the Vatican, stars Whale Rider's Keisha Castle-Hughes (who happens to be expecting her first child in real life, too) as Mary, 24's Shohreh Aghdashloo as John the Baptist's mother, Elizabeth, and Oscar Isaac as Joseph.

Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown) directed the film, scheduled to hit U.S. theaters Dec. 1.

This film recounting the birth of Jesus also happened to be partly filmed in Matera, the same Italian town where Mel Gibson shot his similarly controversial opus about the death of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ.

The American Center for Law and Justice said Tuesday that Christkindlmarket organizers and Chicago officials should definitely rethink their decision to ban The Nativity Story promos.

"To suggest that a movie about the birth of Jesus Christ should not be included in a Christmas festival is absurd," Jay Sekulow, the ACLJ's chief counsel, said. "This transcends political correctness and centers squarely on religious bigotryThe city and festival organizers must respect the First Amendment and put an end to the discriminatory practices."