A Slightly More Interesting Jesus Film

Though I have to admit I find Verhoeven's interpretation of the Christ narratives fascinating, and it's nice to see a slightly more realistic variation, it is still essentially crap. Mixing up and re-imagining various story elements will probably make for an interesting film but it still will not be "biographical" or "historical." The fact that there isn't a single verifiable fact about Jesus Christ and that there is no documentation outside scripture has not changed.

What must passes for research in Verhoeven's mind is pretty laughable. Even if you're willing to make the huge assumption that Jesus actually existed his assessment that "...it's clear you have a person who was completely innovative in the field of ethics," is ludicrous. First off, Jesus' teaching as outlined in the Gospels is not that clear. The Gospels are alternately vague, confusing, and contradictory. Christ himself is at times shown to be selfish, intolerant, bigoted, and hateful. It is true that there are more passages where he talks about being loving and compassionate but that does not erase those where he encourages persecution and even murder.

Omit all the nasty crap and Christ is still not innovative let alone "completely innovative in the field of ethics." Virtually all the moral lessons that Christians have managed to squeeze out of the New Testament already existed in one form or another. Most of the values associated with Jesus were already commonplace in nearly every religion that came before. The "Golden Rule" is as close to universal as you can get. It is widely believed among religious scholars that Judaism (the source that Christians adapted it from) in all likelihood lifted it from the Zoroastrians. Variations also existed in ancient African and Asian cultures. Christ's "teachings", like the various sects/denominations that followed, is a mish-mash of a variety of concepts and philosophies that were already around.

I will still be interested in seeing Verhoeven's film, assuming it gets a release. If nothing else it should be entertaining and thought provoking.