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(Cynthia Erivo is actually a perfect choice for Jesus Christ k thank you)

I Cannot Stand Christian Movies

I am not the first person to note the tendency of Christians to pearl clutch at any secular depiction of the lore they constantly propagate against the wishes of everyone around them. Jesus Christ Superstar is no exception and the Hollywood Bowl production hasn’t escaped the ires of the Evangelical hatred in comment sections across social media platforms as well as become the typical fodder for right leaning grifters that need to distract from Trump’s spot in the Epstein files. The criticism has consisted of much of the same “God shall not be mocked” bullshit they’ve been toting since the renaissance. 

I am incredibly biased when it comes to this topic having grown up in the church and volunteering as a youth worship leader and as part of our church’s drama team. Thankfully I thought filming any of this would skew me into vanity so no footage of this chapter of my life exists. But from my time working with Christian artists and musicians, I found an inherent narcissism in the way those cut from this cloth consume art. The indoctrination of it all is perpetually lost on most outsiders but the idea that anything involving characters featured in the Bible, is somehow created with them in mind, and their opinion of the piece should somehow hold more or less baring then that of someone watching it with no religious affiliation. This is why Evangelical lore as told by evangelicals typically has one of two intentions (and any other would be considered blasphemous).  

The first is to proselytize, the second is to strengthen their worldview. I could do an entirely separate piece on why these specific motivations are antithetical to art making but as I’m determined to stay on topic I’ll keep it brief, I’d argue projects like Passion of the Christ and the notorious God’s Not Dead series accomplish the latter but not the former, with nearly every biblical adaptation of Christ’s crucifixion and subsequent resurrection seem primarily interested in fetishizing the gore of it all. I’ve not seen an adaptation of the gospels that touches on the political tensions between Rome and the Jewish people, nor one that actually acknowledges how a man from humble backgrounds claiming to be the son of god wouldn’t necessarily be received with warmth. And the character of Christ has little depth written into his character, he’s rarely a figure you can relate to in this context, yes nearly every Christian interpretation of Christ keeps him firmly in the godlike symbol category who’s purpose in the narrative is to go through a period of grizzly torment culminating in him being nailed to a wooden cross in an exploitative poorly executed shlock fest with the promise of “he’s doing this for your sins” making this gratuitous display somehow respectful.

(See the below photo of white Jesus bent over a post getting the shit beaten out of him for reference)

Christian art rarely actually engages with the text it adapts in a meaningful way, and the most vocal opponents of art that actually does, don’t engage with secular media at all. Instead they contort it to fit the confines of the biblical narratives they’ve mapped their lives onto, see Church of the Rock Easter pageants for more entertaining examples. 

So it surprises no one that Jesus Christ Superstar, a musical not made for Christians, has been a subject of controversy pretty much since its premiere.  Released first as a concept album in 1971, this iteration of the Passion Play hits the same beats as its religion oriented counterparts with the lens focused from Judas’s perspective who is beginning to suspect that Jesus is steering his apostles in a dangerous direction. And rather than affirming Jesus’s miraculous abilities outright it instead focuses on the political tensions between the Jewish people and Rome, and Jesus’s political positioning as a revolutionary leader (despite his assertions that overthrowing Rome is never the goal). Where Christian depictions of Christ have him slated as a Godlike figure, Webber and Rice conceived their interpretation of Christ as simply a man with great philosophy caught in the middle of an oppressed people struggling against a caste system (who may be the son of God but it’s pretty ambiguous). And sorry it is by far the most sympathetic interpretation of Christ ever put to paper, sexual tension between him and Judas and an infatuation with Mary Magdalene aside, it’s also one of the few adaptations of this text that peeks into Christ’s innerlife. 

Christians were not happy about Cynthia Erivo’s casting in the recent Hollywood Bowl production of Jesus Christ Superstar (shocking no one). Only this specific demographic could have beef with one of the greatest vocalists alive portraying their lord and savior. But as we drift further and further into humanity’s next Satanic panic, as the noose of theocracy tightens on our collective necks, as these people ONCE AGAIN rear their heads to cause fucking drama around some inaucous decision made by a room full of people banking on this EXACT controversy to rile up the least intelligent among us to garner free press that will inevitably emerge from think pieces (like this one). So let’s play into their hands for a sec I want to talk about why Cynthia Erivo is the perfect metaphorical casting choice for Jesus Christ in this specific production at this specific period of time.

Every production of Jesus Christ Superstar that I have encountered has a unique vision and lens. By this I mean the original production and the film aren’t a one for one copy, neither is the Bathhouse homoerotic revival from the mid 2000s (this production features a Jesus who stormed the capitol so I point y’all to that one next time you want to complain about lack of representation or whatever) all the way to the 2017 cast recording featuring an all woman cast in which Cynthia Erivo portrayed Mary Magdalene.  

Metaphorical casting is not a new concept, certainly not in our Post Hamilton musical theatre world, this concept goes beyond colorblind casting and utilizes this juxtaposition between the expected version of a well-established public figure and a performer of a different ethnicity or gender to make a point.  Jesus Christ Superstar is a perfect vehicle for metaphorical casting. Set in a post apocalyptic nowhere space similar to what we see in productions like Hadestown while pulling from Brectian concepts of Epic Theatre, Jesus Christ Superstar leaves ample room to cast the production however the fuck you want. 

This is where Jesus Christ the historical figure, stripped of all deity comes into play. Jesus Christ, the man, was a Jewish person from Nazareth, he came from a carpentry background, was one of many brothers and sisters, and when looking at this from solely a secular lens, was born out of wedlock. Whatever you believe about Christ aside, this is who you’d be interacting with on paper if you were literally in Jerusalem when he was alive and without centuries of the theocratic lens placed in front of you. You would probably think Jesus was just some dude with narcissistic tendencies, genuinely, not even in a heretical way. Imagine you left work today and a man came up to you and said he was the son of God? Yeah that’s probably how you would have felt then too. The fact that despite his beginnings, despite the fact that he came from a very nothing family, with what were thought to be sinful origins and is now remembered as the son of God and the face of one of the largest global religions is….yeah…it’s badass. 

Cynthia Erivo is perfect casting not only because she is one of the best performers alive (enough to warrant this in its own right) but because she is black and queer. Because she is the antithesis to the eurocentric(biblically just as blasphemous) depictions of Christ and moreover because in many ways she is the last person you’d expect to portray this role. Because she doesn’t align with the Christian right’s image of Christ it’s inadvertently a reclamation of a story that by sheer reach belongs to everyone now. Most importantly it harkens to what it was probably like to encounter a man born out of wedlock who up until 30 made his income as a carpenter claiming to be the son of god, and believing him anyway. 

In a world of white actors meticulously recreating every agonizing detail of Christ’s death in partnership with antisemitic nutjobs, give me Cynthia Erivo falling into Pilates arms. In a world of hypocritical zealots creating artistic echo chambers under the guise of spreading the gospel to sinners, give me Cynthia Erivo weeping over her impending doom and going through with it anyway. In a world of Superman coded Christ’s, give me the one played by the last actor you’d expect. Somehow it’s more accurate.