untitled 2 addendum (eat it up, just eat it up, say i...)

i couldn't not call attention to this.

i mean, honestly. if they have a problem with drug use and homosexuality in movies and on television, this should be a nice addition to their list o' grievances...

(muahahahaha i am in love with this. i LOVE it)

this just in from reuters:

"billed as the world's first black jesus movie, 'son of man' portrays christ as a modern african revolutionary and aims to shatter the western image of a placid savior with fair hair and blue eyes.

the south african film, which premieres on Sunday at the sundance festival in utah, transports the life and death of christ from first century Palestine to a contemporary african state racked by war and poverty.

jesus is born in a shanty-town shed, a far cry from a manger in a bethlehem stable. his mother mary is a virgin, though feisty enough to argue with the angels. gun-wielding authorities fear his message of equality and he ends up hanging on a cross. ...

jesus begins his public ministry after an encounter with satan -- who appears cloaked in black leather -- during his traditional xhosa circumcision rite.

he gathers followers from the factions of armed rebels across the country and demands they lay down their guns and confront their corrupt rulers with a vision of non-violent protest and solidarity. ...

his resurrection is meant to signal hope for africa, the world's poorest continent which is sometimes dismissed by foreigners as a hopeless mess of conflict and corruption. ...

mary, played by the star of "u-carmen," pauline malefane, gets a beefed-up role as the inspiration for christ's politics and humanity, compared to her fairly brief biblical appearances.

and malefane ... makes a smooth transition from playing the seductive heroine carmen to the world's most famous virgin...:
'they are both women who are prepared to stand outside of society. they may be different sides of the coin but they are still the same coin -- but I'm not going to be very popular for saying that.'"

ok, so it is lots of fun -- too much fun -- to scoff at the crazy christians with something like this (i'm sure they'll just love the whole carmen/virgin mary comparison. satan in leather ain't too bad, either), but when's the last time you actually heard someone say something useful in the context? resurrection as a symbol of hope for a mostly destitute country... thank you. i mean, thank you. see now that makes sense to me. a hell of a lot more sense than using the bible to tell me that two people who are in love with each other and happen to be of the same sex shouldn't be allowed to enjoy the civil rights entailed with the institution of marriage. i'm not necessarily anti-religion. it does some great things for people; i'm not on a mission to undermine others' experiences. it seems to me from a historical perspective that christ did indeed live, and that he did wonderful things. i take no issue with that. so why not use a medium like this to universally acknowledge that and widen the scope in doing so?

things don't work one way for every person. they never have and they never, ever, EVER will. if we can accept that, embrace that then i believe we are moving in the right direction. christ has become a legend. he did live as a human, yes, for that there is evidence. but maybe one thing on which lots of us -- wherever we might be on the religious "kinsey scale" (oh i just couldn't resist), so to speak -- can agree is that he clearly no longer does. he has evolved into a symbol. so i'd love it if someone could explain to me why exactly a symbol should have to be saintly little caucasian man shroud in white. [and bear with me for a second while i'm terribly rhetorical, but i'm feeling the need to assert the definition of "symbol;" a symbol is "something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible." now personally, i get a little squeamish around jesus talk. but, if you someone wants to open my mind up and tell me that the proposed resurrection of this person represented in a film is meant to symbolize something like optimism for people who so gravely need something about which to be optimistic, then hey, bring him on.

bring that black jesus on.