Media Review: Producing and Explaining Charisma: A Case Study of the Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky

This media review investigates the production of charisma in the case of Alejandro Jodorowsky, analyzing the category of charisma and detailing the process by which Jodorowsky was perceived to hold charismatic authority. In doing so, it demonstrates some of the ways in which religious authority became entangled with the institution of film-watching in the United States. Alejandro Jodorowsky is a Chilean filmmaker, wellknown for directing El Topo (1971). He was recently featured in the documentary Jodorowsky's Dune (2013) detailing his failed ambition to direct a spiritually infused version of the science fiction novel Dune. He also recently released The Dance of Reality (2013) to positive critical reviews after a thirty-year hiatus from filmmaking. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the American Academy of Religion. All rights reserved.