By Steve Rhodes
“I pray. I read the bible. I go to church. I try to do unto others, as I would have them do unto me,” writes Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell.
Do I have questions about who Jesus is? Sure I do. Yet, those questions don’t get in the way of my reverence.
So, it isn’t surprising that I would be disgusted with Aaron McGruder’s Black Jesus, which made its controversial debut on Adult Swim last week.
Finally, we get a black Jesus and he’s a wig-wearing, profanity-spewing, gangbanging, weed-smoking, Hennessey-swilling hippy.
Really?
In the recent Son of God, believers got a dignified portrayal of Jesus, played by Diogo Morgado. In 2004, we got a suffering Jesus played by Jim Caviezel in The Passion.
But when black people are the targeted audience, what do they get?
Buffoonery.
Okay. Um, Son of God and The Passion of the Christ (the actual title) were dramatic movies. Black Jesus is a comedy on Adult Swim, the nighttime block of the Cartoon Network, and is much if not more a social commentary simply using a black Jesus as a comedic device than a religious commentary.
Besides, has Mitchell never seen Family Guy, now in its twelfth season and, among other accolades, the first animated show to be nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series since The Flintstones in 1961?
To wit:
Not all he’s cracked up to be.
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Dinner with Jesus.
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No snickering.
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With dad.
And so on.
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Back to Mitchell:
“[I]t is highly unlikely that any other religious group – including Muslims and Jews – would sit idly by while the symbols of their faith are denigrated for entertainment. Unfortunately, when it comes to black people, anything goes.”
Mitchell is confusing race and religion. I guess what she means to say is that a white Jesus can be denigrated for entertainment and, um, Christians would speak up, but when it comes to black people, um, they don’t speak up when . . . oh, I don’t know, it’s just so muddled. Just say you are offended that somehow in America a satiric portrayal of a black Jesus – by a black man – would make it to the airwaves. Apparently somebody is supposed to stop that from happening.
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Watch the trailer and tell me this doesn’t look awesome. Mitchell clearly isn’t getting it.
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What others think:
* The Catholic League Is Cautiously Hopeful About Black Jesus.
* ‘Black Jesus’ May Drink, Smoke And Curse, But He’s Still Messiah-Ish.
* Black Jesus: Good-Natured Stoner Humor.
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See also: The Long History Of Comedic Messiahs.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on August 14, 2014