17

The Bizarre

Plastic Jesus

This is a banned film (1971) about a filmmaker in Belgrade who is against the powers that be. It includes controversial footage of Hitler and Tito.

The Jesus Trip

Prolific television director Russ Mayberry made this feature (1971) in the vein of so many bikie culture films of the period. The religious connection is that a bikie gang involved with heroin hide in a convent and abduct a nun who has to make a decision about her vocation.

Sweet Jesus, Preacher Man

This is a “Blaxploitation” film (1973) with William Smith and Roger E. Mosley about a hit man who poses as a Baptist minister. The director, Henning Schellerup, moved to more respectable telemovies in the late 1970s and directed a number of religious documentaries: In Search of Historic Jesus (1979), Ancient Secrets of the Bible (1992), and The Incredible Discovery of Noah’s Ark (1993).

The Thorn

This is reportedly a poorly produced feature film (1974) that is a parody of the life of Jesus, played by John Bassberger, with a young Bette Midler as a Jewish mother, Mary. The film is also titled The Divine Mr. J., though The Thorn was the original title. (Bette Midler apparently dropped it from her list of performances; however, there are some comments on the IMDb regarding the rights and wrongs of Bette Midler’s attacks on the film and her dropping it from her list of performances.)

Jeg Sa Jesus Do

This crass, technically poorly made pornographic Danish film (translated I Saw Jesus Die, 1975) concerns the disciples of Jesus and Jesus’ Crucifixion. (See appendix 3 on films concerning Jesus’ sexuality.)

El elegido

In a Mexican village, the inhabitants celebrate Holy Week by putting on a Passion play. The film 1977 has been interpreted as anti-religious, showing the villagers as deformed and stupid.

Stridulum

This Italian horror film was popular at the time (1979) and concerns mothers, babies, and strange births—with an international cast including John Huston, Shelley Winters, and at the end, Franco Nero as Jesus.

DeuX heures moins un quart avant Jesus-Christ

This French comedy (1982) starred and was directed by Jean Yanne. Fortunately, Jesus comes only into the title, which is a humorous point of reference for a story about ancient Rome before the coming of Christ.

Das gespenst

The Ghost (1983) is an odd drama by iconoclastic German director Herbert Achternbusch. It caused some controversy in its time, a petition of two thousand signatures with the public prosecutor in Munich confiscating the film because it “injured human feelings and human dignity” and “slandered a religious community.”1

It was also confiscated in Australia.

This is the tenth film in eight years from writer and director Herbert Achternbusch and is radically out on its own limb. The premise is that Jesus Christ has returned as a fairly palpable ghost behaving in a slightly less than saintly manner, and no one knows how to react to him. He lives on bread and wine, teases the Mother Superior, and has a crown of thorns that nettles him at times. Achternbusch aficionados will readily enthuse about this latest creation though other reactions may vary from amusement to objection.2

Asi en el cielo como en la Tierra

God decides to send another son to the earth to save the world. Jesus Christ disagrees because in such a case the history should be rewritten. To solve the dispute they decide to organize the apocalypse. This Spanish tongue-in-cheek farcical comedy (1995) is set in heaven with an attempt to have a second Incarnation to fix up troubles on earth. It has some respectability with Francisco Rabal (veteran of many European classics, including Bunuel’s Nazarin and Viridiana) as St. Peter.

South Park

The Spirit of Christmas is the name of two different animated short films made by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, two shorts which anticipated the South Park series. They are often referred to as Jesus vs. Frosty (1992) and Jesus vs. Santa (1995).

Jesus vs. Frosty

In 1992, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, students at the University of Colorado, made Jesus vs. Frosty, part of Avenging Conscience Films. Parker and Stone used only construction paper, glue, and an 8 mm film camera. It featured four boys very similar to the four main characters of South Park. The Jesus reference in this story of an evil Frosty who disguises himself as Santa occurs when two boys run away and then find a Nativity scene with a baby Jesus, who flies to the evil snowman and kills it by slicing off the magic hat by throwing his halo.

Jesus vs. Santa

In 1995, Fox executive Brian Graden paid Stone and Parker two thousand dollars to make another animated short as a video Christmas card he could send to friends. It was Jesus vs. Santa, a version of The Spirit of Christmas. Jesus descends to South Park where he meets the kids. He asks them to take him to the local mall, where he finds Santa. It turns out that Jesus is angered with “Kringle,” because, according to Jesus, Santa diminishes the memory of Jesus’ birthday with his presents. Santa, insistent that Christmas is a time for giving and not merely to remember Jesus’ birthday, claims that “this time” they will “finish it.” They fight in a manner reminiscent of martial arts video games like Mortal Kombat, accidentally killing various bystanders (including Kenny) in the process. Jesus pins Santa down, and they each ask the boys to help them. Stan hesitates, and wonders, “What Would Brian Boitano do?” The figure skater miraculously appears and delivers a speech about how Christmas should be about being good to each other. The boys transmit the message to the ashamed fighters, who agree and decide to bury the hatchet over an orange smoothie. In 1997, Jesus vs. Santa received a Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for best animation. (Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Santa can be found on the South Park the Hits: Volume 1 DVD.) In Red Sleigh Down, Jesus and Santa unite as friends to kill Iraqis.

South Park has never been noted for its reverence. There have been many religious references that have brought protests. Another Jesus connection is that the kids of South Park listen to a program called Jesus and Me, in which Jesus is a television talk-show host similar to the sensationalist Geraldo Rivera (who toned down as he grew older).

Who Killed Baby Jesus?

An American feature film (1992) about a psychopathic mother and her relationship to her daughter as they hire a hit man to commit a robbery. The synopsis offers no explicit Jesus connection.

Jesus Vender Tilbage

This 1993 Danish film (translated The Return) has a history, perhaps indicating why some Christian audiences around the world are suspicious of announcements of Danish films about Jesus.

Shortly after his 1970 success with the film Stille Dage i Clichy (Quiet Days in Clichy), director Jens-Jorgen Thorsen started trying to get Jesus Vender Tilbage (The Return) made. For the next twenty years, he kept at it when the money was available but had to cope not only with shortages of money, but an legal ban on the film in his native country of Denmark which was not revoked until 1990. In the face of these obstacles, he has put together a smoothly professional-looking film which seems to be intended to offend the religious sensibilities of a great many people. This satirical drama follows Jesus’ career after he returns to earth to save it from environmental pollution. After a little exploration, he decides that Paris suits him just fine as a base of operations. When he gets entangled with a group of terrorists attempting to hijack a plane, he gets into serious trouble with the authorities, but one compensation for his troubles is that Jesus, the still-virgin Demiurge, finally gets to sample feminine carnal delights, which are offered to him by a lovely hijacker (Atlanta). When the authorities capture the hijackers, they assume that Jesus is their leader, and he is condemned to death. However, somehow the Pope (a despicable child molester) and Billy Graham (a bewildered fool) hear of his presence on the planet, and they scheme for his release, in return for a few miraculous favors.3

Jesus of Judson

This is a New Jersey short film (1996) about an army brat, his charismatic friend, and coming-of-age issues.

Stripping for Jesus

A provocative title for a sixteen-minute film (1998) written and directed by actress Anne Heche, which is the memoir of the daughter of a hypocritical Baptist minister.

Hyakunen no Zessho

In this Japanese film (translated Jesus in Nirvana, 1998), a young man who works in a used record store hears voices and sounds of the past urging him to return to his home, a village that had been flooded years before. He wreaks revenge but also dies. There is no immediate link to the name of Jesus and its use in a Japanese religious or cultural context.

Mensch Jesus

This is a twenty-three-minute film (1999) about the return of Jesus to Stuttgart to evaluate their spirituality and his disappointment by their evil. He is also confronted by Satan. He prepares a judgment day and warns the people about the impending apocalypse. However, he relents when he meets a sympathetic widow (with the symbolic name of Christa). There are similarities in theme to Hal Hartley’s The Book of Life.

Super Jesus

This is an American short film (1999) about a young child, his strange aunt, and an out-of-control cat. (Needing Jesus’ power to control it?)

Jesus Is a Palestinian

This is a Dutch spoof about a young man who becomes involved in an obscure cult in Holland that is waiting for the coming of a Messiah (1999).

Jesus and Hutch

This is a short satire (2000) derived from the television series Starsky and Hutch. This time there is action in New York City with Eric Stoltz as Jesus (in biblical dress) and Tate Donovan as Hutch pursuing criminals with guns blazing. Writer-director Paul Harrison’s short can be seen on a trailer on Filmsewer.net.

Can’t Drag Race with Jesus

This is a two-minute animated short by Bill Plympton in which a choir sings an ode to Jesus and to drag racing (2000).

Terrorama

Edwin Brienen from Holland saw and sees himself as a radical and provocative media personality, Dutch-style. This feature (2001) has a group of young adults rebelling against society—which includes some irreverent sequences with Jesus and sexuality.

This Filthy Earth

This small-budget British film (2001) is more of an experiment than an entertainment, directed by Andrew Kotting. It is based on a novel by Emile Zola, with the setting transferred to Yorkshire and a grim, ugly experience of life on farms and the earthiness of this life. One of the characters is called Jesus Christ, who is an alcoholic and also an idiot savant. As the other characters descend into their own madness, he becomes wiser. It is allegorical and difficult.

The Terminator (Jesus Parody)

This rather cleverly done five-minute video (2004) screened on YouTube is probably a sign of things to come. YouTube and other websites provide open access to everyone to place their videos for all to watch.

The video is a take on Terminator 3 as well as the Jesus films: The Greatest Action Story Ever Told. The Cyborg terminator appears naked in the street in Bethlehem. The date is 0000. With his inbuilt detector he finds the Magi and asks one for his robe. He refuses, and the Terminator asks whether he is some kind of wise guy. He replies that actually he is. That sets the tone. As does the signature saying, “Hasta la vista, baby Jesus.”

The video then focuses on Jesus with the Terminator intervening to save him: mowing down Roman soldiers as he interrupts the Sermon on the Mount.

During the Last Supper, the Terminator continually tries to save Jesus by shooting Judas, explaining that Judas is to betray Jesus. However, Jesus keeps reviving Judas. Finally, the Terminator tricks Jesus by calling out, “Pontius Pilate at 10 o’clock.” Jesus automatically looks up and the Terminator shoots Judas.

On the way to Calvary, the Terminator comforts Mary, playing on his catchphrase, “He’ll be back!”

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter

I came across the producers of this film at the Cannes Film Festival of 2001 and was prevailed on, out of a sense of duty, to see this film. No, the title and film have not been invented as a hoax.

This is one of those B-budget (or Z-budget) films beloved of companies like Troma. Genres are taken over and the conventions subverted in blunt, unsubtle ways. Aficionados of this kind of film enjoy the extremes and the desperation.

When vampires roam the city by day, some priests call on Jesus to come and destroy them before the last day and final judgment. Some are lesbians. We get the idea from the poster: The first testament says “an eye for an eye”; the second testament says, “love thy neighbor”; the third testament “Kicks Ass.” And another: The power of Christ impales you. The film is said to be a combination of Kung Fu, action, prophecy, humor, and musical.

Jesus is said to be the ultimate action hero, a super Messiah. The theme song is “Funky Jesus, Super Dude.”

It is from Canada (2001), directed by Lee Demarbre, and runs for eighty-five minutes. It is too silly to be blasphemous. But, it would be offensive to many and in bad taste for all.

Ultrachrist

The popularity of screen heroes larger than life was at its peak in the early years of the twentieth century. Here Jesus is imagined as returning to earth and unable to relate to youth. So, he becomes the comic book–style hero Ultrachrist, spandex costume and all, and, tongue in cheek, combats evil enemies like Hitler, Nixon, and even Dracula. It is a low-budget and corny spoof comedy (2003).

Jesus Henry Christ

This is a short film about a questioning young student in a strict Catholic school (2003).

Jesus Christ Supercop

This is a series of five-minute short films for New York Channel 102 by Austin Bragg. Like the Vampire Hunter film, the series takes police action conventions and subverts them by having a supercop whose name is Jesus Christ, who has authority problems, and whose girlfriend has Tourette’s syndrome; again, a question of taste (2005).

Jesus Christ Serial Rapist

There are solid grounds for a libel case for this one released in 2004. Fortunately, Jesus does not enter it at all, except in the mind of the central character, someone certifiable who imagines he is Jesus with a mission to persecute and destroy his enemies. It has no dialogue, has loud music, and is the “work” of what one commentator called a “demented guy from New Jersey” who calls himself Bill Zebub. You get it?!

Jesus Christ the Musical

This bizarre video clip of seventy seconds’ duration, directed by Javier Prato, has a camp Jesus in a loincloth, walking down a city street miming to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” (1978), and then he is hit crossing the street by a bus. It is available on YouTube (2005).

Jerry Springer: The Opera

Audiences familiar with television’s The Jerry Springer Show will know that the parade of characters appearing with the host have all kinds of social and sexual problems that are meant to arouse curiosity and some prurience about how the other half live. In composing an opera centered on Springer, clearly there had to be shock elements. And there are. The stage performances elicited protests. The BBC’s screening of the television version roused controversy over whether it was obscene and blasphemous. The Opera is following in the tradition of the freedoms of the 1960s where any topic was fair game for objection or ridicule. Since some of the show’s guests have religious problems and manias, it was inevitable that religion would offer targets.

Jesus appears. An actor who has previously appeared in a loincloth is seen again as Jesus in a loincloth. There are discussions and debates (and a song with a confrontation between Jesus and the devil) with Adam and Eve confronting Jesus. The Virgin Mary also appears (and is given some salacious language) and, with Jesus’ somewhat camp behavior, there are questions insinuated about his sexuality.

Blasphemy is always an intended insult to religion. With this kind of satire, the authors, Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, are not intending blasphemous insults but are taking religion as a phenomenon that has its limitations, even its scandals, as well as its mysterious teachings and beliefs. The authors would agree that this kind of material is clearly offensive to those who feel targeted—but would say that this is what satire is about. And satire, through its mockery (depending how clever and telling it is), raises questions that need answers.

The Ten

This is a mainstream American spoof film (2007) in the vein of Saturday Night Live offering modern illustrations of the Ten Commandments. Reverent they are not, religious they are not. There is something to upset or offend most audiences in one or other of the stories. A host, Paul Rudd, who is involved in his own commandment problems, is the link. In the story about taking the Lord’s name in vain, the filmmakers do that precisely. A devout churchgoing woman (Gretchen Mol) travels to Mexico and her horizons open, especially when she discovers Jesus, this time Jesus H. Christ (Justin Theroux), a hippie-looking guitar player and singer whose doctrine of loving one another is of the physical variety rather than the spiritual. Later in the film in another commandment, the woman, now married, encounters him once again. Jesus looks like the traditional holy card—long hair, beard, and white robe—but his behavior is less than divine. This is one of those spoof films that use broad and generally unsubtle humor that enjoys upsetting its audience. And does.

Jesus on YouTube

With the growth of the Internet and the range of websites, there are more Google references to Jesus and films than one can deal with. As streaming video has become more accessible and of better quality, subscribers to YouTube are placing their favorite clips on the net. When searching Jesus, Christ or Jesus Christ on YouTube, pages and pages of entries emerge.

Some of the images of Jesus on YouTube are from the classic films, especially Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth with the face of Robert Powell; many are from The Jesus Project with the face of Brian Deacon; and, more recently, many are from Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ with Jim Caviezel. Some are direct clips from the film. Others are compilations of scenes edited together. Others are really slide shows accompanied by pious and/or theological graphics or are accompanied by religious songs. There are many from the 1973 as well as the 2000 version of Jesus Christ Superstar and a number of the songs from this show in other languages. Some of the more effective are in Spanish with Alberto Sogorb. As with music videos in general, there is an industry of religious and Christ-centered music videos.

Other clips on YouTube are up-front evangelical and proselytizing videos. Some are effective and eminently usable in talks and workshops, including a series of anime Jesus with such episodes as Jesus walking on the water.

A number of clips are simply the reading of the Gospels, sometimes with the person filmed, sometimes with captions or with still images. This is also true of readings of apocryphal Gospels like those of Philip, Mary Magdalene and Jesus, Judas, and Thomas.

Since YouTube is open to everyone, many aspiring filmmakers (at best) and uninspired amateurs (at worst) do not hesitate to file their clips. One of the surprising aspects is not so much how many references there are to Jesus but how many parodies of the Gospels there are, or clips that put Jesus into contemporary and often compromising situations. While some people are being overtly offensive, most assume that Jesus is in the public domain and can be used without any threat of copyright and that he is so sufficiently well known that their serious or comic short films will be understood by most surfers who hit on their clip. The films are not necessarily intended as blasphemous. They may be intended as offensive to some Christians but they are also intended to get a bit of a giggle. Religious people may well feel hurt if Jesus is reduced to a parody, a spoof, or a bit of a giggle, but the question to be raised about the compassionate, understanding, and tolerant Jesus is whether he would be able to put up with them, even smile, more than some of his single-minded followers.

While most of the YouTube entries are not meant as insulting to Christianity—they merely accept the Jesus of culture without any faith commitment—there are quite a number of offensive sites that mock, if not the person of Jesus, then the images, especially those of popular piety. Referencing Zombie Jesus on YouTube will bring up collages of images, for example, the Sacred Heart of Jesus with Hitler moustache added and other alterations and distortions. One image has a person with a foot jammed into his mouth with the caption that religion will try to make us swallow anything.

One of the alarming aspects of Jesus on YouTube is that modern-day evangelists claiming to be Jesus Christ incarnate in his Second Coming get plenty of tubespace. One of those who turns up with some frequency is Jose Luis Miranda, a Miami-based preacher who says he is Jesus in his Second Coming. He had a 1973 epiphany when the risen Lord “integrated himself” into Miranda. His clips speak for himself although he has an alarming number of completely dedicated followers. He says sin no longer exists, that Satan is a Hollywood character, and that prayer is a waste of time. Critics note that he is not against that important aspect of religion: the collection.

A few examples that may inform as well as satisfy (or provoke) curiosity follow:

Jesus vs. Hitler

This is one of those to be seen to be believed: a wrestling match in Salt Lake City (animation over live action) with long commentary, American-style (“Mel Gibson’s was worse than this because of the pain”). It is literally Jesus versus Hitler, who begins by winning, but after a violent intervention from Gandhi with a chair, Jesus wins.

Jesus Cristo Funny

This is an unfunny clip with a man on a cross, Spanish speaking, calling out “blasphemy.”

Funny Jesus

This has a song with an icon animated in eyes and mouth.

Oh Jesus

In this animation, a crucified Jesus is singing and wiggling. It is attributed to sickanimation.com.

Comedy Jesus

Jesus does stand-up comedy.

Jesus Goes on a Blind Date

Jesus arrives to take a girl out in the present day, though he is dressed as in art. He can’t eat meat on Friday, talks about Lent, discusses his Jewish upbringing, turns his glass of water into wine, and goes bowling (and is quite good). Then the guards from the mental institution come to take him back.

Modern-Day Jesus

This is about another date, but one that is more lascivious in tone.

Christ’s A-poppin

This one takes place in modern day and involves a very hard birth for the mother, husband beside her and three men outside dressed like the Magi. The soundtrack is the “Christ Is Born” hymn. It does finish with an ironic joke. When the Magi give their gifts, the Joseph-figure remarks that future generations might turn this event into something commercial. “As if that would ever happen,” says Mary.

* * *

A more recent feature of YouTube and other Internet channels for distribution is the popularity of the web series. We may expect to see more appearances of Jesus in a range of situations and contexts, especially that of spoof or satire. The 2008 series Fun with War Crimes (which has its own website with a great deal of information about the makers and the issues) sets George Bush and his inner cabinet (Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, and Karl Rove) in a hearing where Abraham Lincoln and Harpo Marx are on the panel. The series (each episode just over three minutes) is both serious in its critique of Bush and, especially, the war in Iraq, and funny in its mockery of the political celebrities.

In episode 5, “That Certain Feeling,” Jesus is called as a witness. He delays answering a question as he is on his mobile getting a ticket for a Frank Sinatra concert. However, he is serious in telling President Bush to stop believing in himself. Bush counters that he believes because he talks with Jesus. Jesus agrees that he talks but does not listen. Jesus also declares firmly that he is not a Republican because he turns the other cheek, lives among the poor, and is a Jew. At this stage, Dick Cheney is getting a rifle loaded and cocked to shoot Jesus. Jesus leaves with a warning that global warming is true and is coming sooner than they think—with Harpo Marx playing with the thermostat of the heaters causing panic to the accused.

While the episode is political and satirical, it is of interest how a group with secular intent chooses to include the figure of Jesus and the particular Gospel attributes that the filmmakers see as contrary to the values of the Bush administration.

By the time this book is published, the entries will have increased and multiplied and surely will continue to do so, both the good and the edifying and the bad and the offensive.

Notes

1. Case involving Herbert Achternbusch found on the File Room website: www.thefileroom.org/documents/dyn/DisplayCase.cfm/id/782www.thefileroom.com.

2. Eleanor Mannikka, “Das Gespenst (1983): Synopsis,” All Movie Guide, www.allmovie.com/movie/das-gespenst-v152200.

3. Clarke Fountain, “Jesus Vender Tilbage (1992)—Synopsis,” MSN Entertainment, movies.msn.com/movies/movie-synopsis/jesus-vender-tilbage/.