Jesus Christ Superstar / Christian Art or blasphemy?

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

If it’s Johnny Cash, I’ll have to check it out…

 

[Tis_Bearself]

It was shot on location in Israel and features June Carter Cash as Mary Magdalene. Worth a look if you like Johnny Cash, although the acting definitely isn’t Oscar quality.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I saw parts of it one day when it was on TV. It didn’t look very good either.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Possibly one needs an appreciation of the sublime cheesiness that was the 70s

 

[2towers]

That’s for sure. Decade of death for men’s clothing. You won’t find one “leisure suit” at goodwill. They were all destroyed in the 80s.

 

[2towers]

Thanks for the God’s Pell feedback everyone, I will check it out on YouTube clips.

 

[pnewton]

Possibly one needs an appreciation of the sublime cheesiness that was the 70s

I like some of that cheesiness, including this musical.

 

[on_the_hill]

I remember these from when I was a young child. I’ve never seen either one, but have often wondered what we (as Catholics) are expected to think about them. Are they o.k.? Is there an “official” Catholic review?

EDIT: Never mind–I did some Googling and discovered that: there is no official Church pronouncement on it; the Vatican said it was o.k. in 1999; Catholics condemned it; Catholics enjoy it; …in other words----

 

[BartholomewB]

I saw the 1970s rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar in the 5th grade. Many adults back then thought it was blasphemy, [no one ever said why] but it brought many to the church back then. For that reason, several people I talked to about it years later thought it was ok.

What do YOU think? Did you see it? do you think it is great or blasphemy?

Jesus Christ Superstar is one of my top two or three Hollywood musicals. I’ve probably watched it more times than any other musical except The Blues Brothers. Maybe it’s a generation thing. I was a young adult when both those pictures were released, within a few years of each other.

In addition, Norman Jewison is one of my favorite directors, with pictures such as In the Heat of the Night and The Russians Are Coming.

 

[ChunkMonk]

Blasphemy. The music is enjoyable but so is heroin.

 

[Joe_5859]

I don’t know that I’d classify it as either Christian art or blasphemy.

Some of it depends on how you do the show. I had a friend in college who had seen the show (in Germany I think) and they ended it with Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene all getting on a Harley and riding off into the sunset. But when my (Catholic) high school did the show (I was an apostle ), we tacked on a Resurrection moment at the end so that it was really pretty moving.

I do think there are weaknesses (such as the lepers scene and “I don’t know how to love him”). But none of the weaknesses are so detrimental that they make the show inherently “blasphemous.” Though I don’t doubt that certain specific productions of the show have been blasphemous.

 

[2towers]

I really liked Tommy! [The Who]

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I had a friend in college who had seen the show (in Germany I think) and they ended it with Jesus, Judas, and Mary Magdalene all getting on a Harley and riding off into the sunset.

I find that kind of appealing. I always wish for Judas to be saved.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

I think in the movie the entire cast gets on a grungy old hippie bus and rides away

 

[LilyM]

0Scarlett_nidiyilii:

what turned me off was the scene where Jesus is pushing away the people who were coming to Him for help (the lepers, I think?). I was like, “nope, not Christlike” and that was the end of the musical for me.

Also, there was controversy because Judah’s was a Black man (seriously?–wth, casting!)

I forgot that part with the lepers. Yeah that was a bit creepy too.

I’m glad I’m not the only person who noticed Judas being black and Jesus being white. In that era, such casting really stood out. Yet I don’t think I’ve ever seen any review or commentator addressing it.

But there a actually are tines where Christ refuses to do miracles, usually when the motives of those asking are improper.

There is one where Christ is in Nazareth, says to the crowd ‘no prophet is without honour except in his homeland’ and doesn’t do any (or many) healings for them. So it’s not totally off track when yiu look at the selfish demands the people are making in JCS.

 

[BartholomewB]

I really liked Tommy! [The Who]

A movie I liked a lot, though I don’t think you can really call it a musical, is Jazz on a Summer’s Day. Anita O’Day, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Dinah Washington … Well, that’s how old I am.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

This is a good point, LilyM. I think it was mostly the shoving. It’s true Jesus sometimes would not just do miracles on demand.