Seite - 163 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Band 07/01

Reading The Book of Joseph | 163www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 145–171 a huge tension between its own text-immanent reader and the text-immanent reader of the game world (the video game itself and the related trailers). A detail in the drawing supports this difference. On the far right we see a wolf, apparently gentle and kind. All characters are positioned in a field of blooming flowers, adding to the serenity and peacefulness of the scenery. Both flowers and wolves, however, are featured in the game, but in a very different capacity. The flowers are used to make the drug The Bliss, which the Seeds use to maintain a constant mental influence over the more inde- pendent members of their cult. The Bliss is also used for experimentation on animals, among whom are wolves, in order to create more reliable and even more fearsome biological weapons. The Bliss-infused wolves, called “Judges” in the game, are indeed ferocious enemies of the deputy and the members of the resistance. The Materiality of The Book of Joseph After introducing and describing the cultural objects featuring The Book of Joseph – the trailer and the digital game – and the physical book itself, we can look into the materiality of the different versions of the book found through- out the discussed medial objects of game, trailer, and physical book (fig. 1). There appear to be at least four versions of The Book of Joseph, each in its own context and with its own visual identity markers. First, there is the “white” version. This version is seen in the trailer and abundantly in Far Cry 5. The covering is of white leather, with golden decorative lines on the front side along with the cult’s logo, a double cross. This version is apparently for the lower members of the cult. Its contents remain a mystery and cannot be interacted with in-game. The second version can only be seen in the game, and more precisely in the two aforementioned missions, “The Atonement” and “False Prophet”. Wheth- er or not the two books are actually one and the same, this version of The Book of Joseph clearly differs visually from the white one, not only in colour (grey instead of white) but also in the pattern of the decorative lines, which has been slightly altered. The logo is also present. This version is apparently for higher ranking members of the cult: Tracey speaks about Faith’s “personal copy of Joseph’s ramblings”. The status of the grey version is seemingly higher than that of the white one: whereas the white ones are interchangeable with one another, the grey