Who doesn’t love a good, intellectually written, and created historical drama? They give them a chance to their viewers to do a little bit of digging for themselves and provide a little bit of context to events that have already occurred in the past, besides the obvious added bonus of getting to see some of your favorite celebs portray these fierce and regal characters.
Such is the case with the American Christian historical drama series titled “The Chosen,” and what better time is there than to release it right on Christmas Eve, on December 24, 2017? The show was cohesively created, directed, and co-written by filmmaker Dallas Jenkins. It is the first-ever multi-season series about Jesus of Nazareth’s life and ministry.
The series, which is mostly based in the first century in Judaea and Galilee, centers on Jesus and the various characters who encountered, followed, or otherwise interacted with him. Jenkins specifically aimed to make the show to be a bit different from prior representations of Jesus, in cinema, by creating a story arc that focused more intently on the people who encountered Jesus and saw him through their eyes.
Jenkins noticed that there had never been a multi-season, episode-based portrayal of Jesus that could be “binge-watched” like shows on streaming platforms like Netflix. He desired a more “personal, intimate, and immediate” manner to portray Jesus.
Also Read: 50 Best Historical Asian Drama Series To Watch Right Now
About the Show
The cast of the critically acclaimed show includes three seasons of eight episodes each, with the pivotal characters being Jonathan Roumie as Jesus, Shahar Isaac as Simon Peter, Paras Patel as Matthew, Lara Silva as Eden, Elizabeth Tabish as Mary Magdalene and Yoshi Barrigas as Philip.
Right off the bat, the show received great praise and love for being both unique and diverse in nature, receiving an IMDb rating of 9.3. Everything from the casting, script, costumes, props, and locations to the cinematography of the show was top-notch, and the audience quickly fell in love with the passionate portrayal of Christ’s ministry, chosen followers, and His life.
But if every aspect of the show was so well crafted and if the show was so widely popular and loved by viewers, why is it facing such intense backlash these days? Stay with us if you want to find the answers to all your questions pertaining to the recent controversy associated with “The Chosen.”
Why is the Show and its Creator Under Attack?
It all started when The Daily Wire, a news and media publication, posted an article containing a photo of one of the crew members holding a piece of equipment that had a small, hand-sized pride flag displayed on it. The flag can be seen in the series’ latest promotional video for about four seconds. A behind-the-scenes viral video was also circulating on the internet.
The news outlet later came out and apologized for their publication, but the damage had already been done, and controversy was sparked. Ever since then, the show has garnered immense backlash for seemingly promoting the Pride movement and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, as was assumed by the viewers.
One of the show’s cinematographers, according to another Twitter user going by the handle @accabbat, was allegedly seen wearing a Pride t-shirt while filming, as seen by a picture they tweeted on their account. Amid the rising dissent for the show, the audience, which largely consists of conservative Christians, started boycotting the show for “the heresy and blasphemy they are promoting.”
Also Read: The 50 Best Drama Movies to Watch on Netflix
The Reaction of the Creator, Cast, and Crew
The show tried to defend their actions but to no avail. The harsh criticism and crucifixion of the show reached a point where the cast and crew were forced to speak out. In a recent interview with “The Christian Post,” Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the show, said that the team had always been clear that there was no “religious or political litmus test” to anyone working for the show.
“We are not a church in which all of our employees are going to fit under one particular mission statement, one particular belief system,” he explained. “We made a decision from the beginning that our standard is going to be: Will you work hard? And of course, if someone’s harming someone else, or if someone’s vulgar, obviously, that’s not a place for any professional environment.”
Also Read: Jenna Ortega Faces Backlash for Criticizing Johnny Depp’s Relationship: Exploring the Controversy
But when it comes to their personal belief systems, or what they want to wear or whatever, we’re not going to do what we’ve seen other people do, where sometimes you’ll see a Christian not allowed to wear a hat or express themselves or put a sticker on their desk that expresses their beliefs. And we always think that that’s unfortunate when an employer does something like that.
We’re not going to do the same in reverse. The Chosen declared on their official Twitter account that their cast and staff are diverse. Additionally, they stated that they would be open to working with anybody who wanted to play the real Jesus. One of the cast members took to Twitter and tweeted that anybody who is against the LGBT community is “No fan of ours,” with a pride flag emoji accompanying the statement.
The television show’s conservative viewers were furious and promised never to watch it again. Many continued to assert that God is against the LGBTQ community.
