Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ culture: gender and family; slavery and freedom; ethnicity and empire; and nationhood and citizenship". With the chariot race as its central attraction and the character of Judah emerging as a "heroic action figure", "Ben-Hur" enjoyed a wide popularity among readers, similar to the dime novels of its day; however, its continued appearance on popular lists of great American literature remained a source of frustration for many literary critics over the years. The novel had millions of fans, including several influential men in politics. U.S. president and American Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. president James Garfield, and Jefferson Davis,
Ben-Hur (2016 film) very different from the others. As a result, he decided to make a realistic drama film rather than a large tent-pole attraction. The director did not set out to make a more stylized version of the past, as he did with ""; he wanted to make a film that was more grounded and tangible. Producer Mark Burnett stated that films like "Ben-Hur", which are centered on faith and the messages of Jesus Christ, need to feel like epic summer blockbusters in order to attract younger and secular audiences. He explained that part of what caused the immensity of the budget