This documentary is one of the more powerful ones I've seen. It follows the cast of a Terrence McNally play called, "Corpus Christie," through several years of productions, starting in 1998 and ending somewhere around 2012. The play itself is not shown, although there are several scenes from it used effectively to illustrate points during the doc. Mostly, the film is made up of interviews with the cast that slowly make one realize the profound changes they've gone through by being a part of this cast. You, as an audience member, actually see these changes through time. It's utterly fascinating.
Naturally, in our culture of people who don't seem to have the faith of their spoken convictions, a play like "Corpus Christie," that we find out portrays a gay Jesus living in Texas in the 1950s, is especially controversial. People are unable, apparently, to suffer the "blasphemy" of Jesus being portrayed as anything but a straight, white male with blond hair and blue eyes -- or so illustrations of Him would lead us to believe. The fact that he was more than likely a swarthy Arab, being from the Middle East, is ignored and denied because it's exceedingly inconvenient for the "faithful" in America. But I digress. So, naturally, there are protests whenever a production of "Corpus Christi" is announced. And death threats. And bomb scares. And all of the other things anyone paying attention would know about; chanting, signs, lines of people lying about what is contained in a play they've never seen. These views are also covered in a fair way -- without commentary, letting each speaker speak for themselves.
I am old enough to remember the same kinds of protests over "Jesus Christ, Superstar" and especially, "The Last Temptation of Christ." I'm sure documentaries could have been made about those shows too, but alas, no one thought of it. Fortunately, we have this documentation of what happened as a result of being actors in this particular play, and it is again, powerful and very moving. It made me want to see the show itself, but I suppose that's not going to happen, especially now. I can, however, order the script and at least be able to experience what to me, seems like a lot of people need right now. HIGHLY recommended.
Naturally, in our culture of people who don't seem to have the faith of their spoken convictions, a play like "Corpus Christie," that we find out portrays a gay Jesus living in Texas in the 1950s, is especially controversial. People are unable, apparently, to suffer the "blasphemy" of Jesus being portrayed as anything but a straight, white male with blond hair and blue eyes -- or so illustrations of Him would lead us to believe. The fact that he was more than likely a swarthy Arab, being from the Middle East, is ignored and denied because it's exceedingly inconvenient for the "faithful" in America. But I digress. So, naturally, there are protests whenever a production of "Corpus Christi" is announced. And death threats. And bomb scares. And all of the other things anyone paying attention would know about; chanting, signs, lines of people lying about what is contained in a play they've never seen. These views are also covered in a fair way -- without commentary, letting each speaker speak for themselves.
I am old enough to remember the same kinds of protests over "Jesus Christ, Superstar" and especially, "The Last Temptation of Christ." I'm sure documentaries could have been made about those shows too, but alas, no one thought of it. Fortunately, we have this documentation of what happened as a result of being actors in this particular play, and it is again, powerful and very moving. It made me want to see the show itself, but I suppose that's not going to happen, especially now. I can, however, order the script and at least be able to experience what to me, seems like a lot of people need right now. HIGHLY recommended.