From Bridgerton’s dashing Simon Basset to the gawking chemistry between Maeve and Otis in Sex Education, Netflix has consistently given audiences something to talk about. Now, Netflix’s new top of the pops is Jesus. That is right, one of the world’s most important and widely known religious and historical figures has a place on Netflix’s watch-list.
The Chosen, created by Dallas Jenkins and distributed by Angel Studios, follows the ministry of Jesus. In the span of four seasons, one can watch the Bible come to life in series form. The series is extremely accurate and does not change any of the miracles or parables performed and told by Jesus. One can see it as the visual representation of the Gospels. A bringing to life of one of the world’s oldest and most widely known texts.
The Chosen follows Jesus’ life rather intimately. Parts of the first season show him living alone as a carpenter, eating dinner, praying, walking. Through this series, Jesus is taken out of dusty, crinkled pages and brought into a worldly environment. He is quite literally brought down into the most popular mainstream form of discourse – a streaming platform. This makes the historical figure of Jesus more accessible. Most people can easily quote Dr Martin Luther King from Selma or delve into the intelligent mind of Cillian Murphy’s J Robert Oppenheimer, because film allows for a more intimate relationship and understanding of historical figures. Now, Jesus is given this stage. Whether religious or not, an agreement can be made that the Bible is a lengthy and difficult text to read. Not every reader will have an angelic spiritual experience and feel connected to Jesus. A series will definitely not do that either; however, it does make the idea of who Jesus was easier to grasp.
On an entertainment level, the historical drama is incredibly well made, with the cinematography beautifully reflecting life in the 1st Century, while also showing the striking tension between the ruling Roman empire and the Jews living in Capernaum. Life during this time is visualised as being difficult and chilling. While this much is accurate, historically speaking, the casting of these characters has often left more to be desired. From paintings such as The Last Supper to the casting of Jesus in The Passion of the Christ (2004), Jesus and his followers have consistently been whitewashed. Historically, Jesus was born to a Jewish mother in the Middle East; therefore, it is safe to say that he was not white but had an olive skin tone. The Chosen, on the other hand, portrays Jesus and his followers accurately. Making the series visually, an authentic picture of what these people (Jesus and his followers) looked like.
There have been many adaptations of the life of Jesus and his followers in films, with the most widely known being The Passion of the Christ, directed by Mel Gibson. The film focused on the crucifixion of Jesus in all its gory glory. Naturally, the movie was criticised for being too graphically violent and antisemitic. Even though The Passion of the Christ was successful, it has not inspired anything significant in mainstream media. On the other side of the spectrum, the Broadway musical Godspell shows a more lighthearted retelling of Jesus’ story. The musical is loosely based on the Gospel of Matthew with a modern twist to the age-old story of the New Testament. The plot follows a group of young adults who learn about Jesus through reenactments of his parables in the streets of New York City. If one is not a theatre or Broadway fan, then this film would not have slipped into weekend movie nights. Given the somewhat lacklustre response to these two projects, it is rather surprising that The Chosen has taken off so suddenly, especially since the series was originally created in 2017. Now, due to it being made available on Netflix, it has a notable amount of success. In this era of new film trends, audiences cannot wait to get hold of a series that makes bold statements and can be binged over a weekend. The Chosen ticks all of these boxes, making it watch-list worthy and a standout first in comparison to previous Christian historical dramas.
The other side to The Chosen is whether or not the life of Jesus should be showcased in mainstream discourse in the first place. Flicking through Netflix, one can find pretty much anything, from a docu- series about internet detectives tracking down a killer called Don’t F*ck with Cats: Hunting a killer, to the graphically violent Kill Bill, Netflix is home to some of the most random shows you will find. So, it feels rather blasphemous to add Jesus to this mainstream mix. From a Christian point of view, Jesus, the Son of God, is now brought down to the same level as fictitious rom-coms and staged reality shows. This audience could be wondering where the respect and other-worldly regard for this religious figure has gone to. Jesus has now become a “movie star”. Even though The Chosen was made independent from Hollywood, as a Netflix series it still becomes part of a set status as it is created for television. There is a cast that was chosen to play certain roles. These cast members then get publicity for those roles and become celebrities. So, the question on audience’s minds is, “Who plays Jesus, and what makes him worthy of playing such a role?” The star in question here is actor Jonathan Roumie. Even more controversial could be the decision behind casting Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus. This role went to Luke Dimyan. Think of the following scenario: when Marvel fans see Tom Holland, the immediate reaction is to say, “There goes Spiderman.” So what reactions are stars such as Roumie and Dimyan going to receive? There is no doubt great debate around Sunday lunches after church about the fact that Jesus, the Christian saviour, is now being portrayed by a television celebrity.
Then, there is the question of commercialisation. Currently, season four of The Chosen is being screened at NuMetro. One can watch two episodes at a time. Along with this, the cast have their own Instagram pages, and there is merchandise that one can buy as a fan of the series. Revenue for the film comes through crowdfunding. The series can be streamed on its own website, where viewers are encouraged to “pay it forward” in order to make the series accessible for others to watch. This goes towards financing production as well as distribution. On one hand, The Chosen is generating a certain celebrity status through the commercialisation of the series. And on the other, it is giving back to thousands as the use of crowdfunding makes it freely accessible. Even though it is crowdfunded, major industries such as Netflix and NuMetro no doubt get a cut out of the pie. Where does one draw the line when it comes to producing and distributing media based off of religious figures such as Jesus? If the use of crowdfunding is bringing in such a great deal of revenue, then is it necessary for major industries to be making a profit out of the retelling of Jesus’ story?
As wonderful and accurate as The Chosen is, why now? In this day and age, a large majority of people have moved away from religious ideas and texts. Fundamental Christian values have been rooted in many institutions for centuries; however, there has been a shift in order to accommodate those who are not Christian or even religious in any sense. For Christian viewers, this series is revolutionary. However, for the larger majority of viewers who practise different faiths and have moved away from beliefs in a set God(s) or entity, this series is irrelevant and outdated. Yes, there is the buzz of a new historical drama that has been produced with great accuracy. However, why the story of Jesus?
The Chosen is no doubt creating quite the stir among believers and non-believers. The weight this series carries goes beyond the life and ministry of Jesus. This series dives more into the changes in how audiences receive media created about historical figures from a 21st century perspective. Are historical figures still regarded with reverence and respect, or have they become part of everyday discourse? More importantly, in the context of 2024, which historical figures get this “celebrity status”, and which have become outdated.?
