Sunday, January 22, 2006

the adventures of black jesus

Son of Man is a new South African film, which premiered at the U.S. Sundance festival in Utah and 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.

"We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spindoctors and to strip that away and look at the truth," director Mark Dornford-May told Reuters in an interview.

"The truth is that Christ was born in an occupied state and preached equality at a time when that wasn't very acceptable."

Yet another retelling/revisioning of a familiar story is A Huey Freeman Christmas which gives more than a few nods to its Charlie Brown predecessor, both in terms of music and storyline. Huey's teacher wants him to direct the school Christmas play, but Huey insists on complete creative control ("I want it in writing"). And even after getting helped by Quincy Jones, Huey still has a few obstacles and hurdles to overcome before he will be able to realize his visionary play "The Adventures of Black Jesus".

p.s. The above link should display the actual episode but the quality may vary with the speed of your internet connection. There is also a searchable archive to several other Boondocks episodes including one called Don't drop the soap. (or "A Date with the Health Inspector") Don't miss the scene where two white gangstas, reminiscent of certain politicians (and voiced by Charlie Murphy and Samuel Jackson) hold-up a convenience store owner who looks surprisingly like a certain Iraqi dictator on the grounds that he has a gun.

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