REVIEW: Black Jesus Laughs With, More Than At, Its Son of God

[steve2470]

http://time.com/3086811/review-black-jesus-adult-swim/

?w=1100


In John 20:29, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” This was an issue with Doubting Thomas; it is not the problem that Black Jesus (premiering Thursday, Aug. 7) has. Like many shows with controversial concepts, the Adult Swim sitcom from Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder has no lack of detractors who have not yet seen it, yet still believe it is blasphemy.


Granted, Adult Swim has already given them fodder, in the form of ads and trailers. And the bullet-point highlights of the first two episodes probably won’t do much to quiet the outcry among Christian groups who argue that it mocks their savior and their faith. The show puts the Son of God in modern-day Compton, where he curses, hangs out with drug dealers, changes bottled water into cognac, and smokes blunts.


Black Jesus is not the first comedy to reimagine Jesus Christ for laughs: Monty Python’s Life of Brian did that, and so did Saturday Night Live last year with its “Djesus Uncrossed” sketch. It’s not the first fiction to imagine Jesus returning: South Park did that from the beginning. (So did Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” in The Brothers Karamazov, albeit with fewer jokes.) It’s not even the first TV show with a “Black Jesus”: Family Guy got there years ago. (Even a pot-smoking Jesus has already been introduced, weirdly, by a Seattle restaurant ad last spring.)

Offense is subjective–I can’t tell someone whether to feel disrespected by Black Jesus, and as a nonbeliever I’d be a hypocrite to try. There’s an argument that the fact that someone makes a religious spoof, knowing believers might be offended, is de facto disrespectful of those believers. And there’s the counterargument by Christian author Jay Parini that, like Black Jesus, the Biblical Jesus was also criticized for hanging out with sinners, partiers and prostitutes (not to mention tax collectors).

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[steve2470]

1. no comments ? nt

[MrScorpio]

2. Gonna be there tonight

I've been waiting since the 1st Century AD for this.

[CBGLuthier]

3. They are wrong about Life of Brian

Since Jesus is clearly depicted giving the sermon on the mount it is made very clear that Brian is not a re-imagined version of Jesus.

[Aristus]

4. That's right.

The Pythons originally wanted to do a parody of Christ's ministry and call it "Jesus Christ - Lust For Glory", knowing full-well how controversial it would be. But after examining the Gospels, they decided that Jesus was a pretty good guy, and not deserving of a spoof. So they decided to treat him with respect, and instead mock those people who look for saviors everywhere, even in the unlikeliest places.