Black Jesus and Adult Swim

I love the show Black Jesus.

It's on Adult Swim, and it's on its second season. Not to sound too hipster, but I've been watching this show since it first aired. I'm OG.

Praise it.

On Adult Swim

The premise of the show is that Jesus has come back. He's black, and he lives in Compton with a group of his followers who rent an apartment from Eddie Murphy's brother. They get into crazy adventures, but everything works out in the end because, hey, he's Jesus.

It's a great show. 

It's funny, yes, but there's also an element of our class in the show. In fact, I'd say that our entire class's theme could be represented by this show. 

This is a show that uses the traditional image of Jesus, specifically the Protestant representation of him, but thrusts him into a completely modern society. He lives in modern day Compton in L.A., and the struggles he has with his apostles are real issues: They face racism, poverty, drugs (Jesus loves weed), gangs and (of course) religiously philosophical issues, but everything is wrapped up, quite literally, in "What Would Jesus Do?" 

Here's an example:

There's an episode wherein Jesus gets a vision from "Pops" (God) that he has to wash the feet of the homeless. He tackles the local homeless man, washes his feet, and the homeless man (Lloyd) loves it so much he's willing to pay for it to have it again. Jesus and his followers need money, so the rich woman in town tricks him into running a portable foot-massage business from a food truck called, "Hands of God" to service the girls from her yoga class. 

Another show is about setting up a Mission Impossible style heist of a church, where a corrupt preacher is literally taking the money out of his parishioners' pockets. Jesus and his crew conspire to get the ill-gotten goods away from the man who is taking this money "In Jesus's name." Jesus puts down his plan, and when one of his followers points out that it's wrong to rob a church and "What about all that Christian stuff?" Jesus promptly replies with "Man, fuck that." 

These stories are brilliant in their translations to modern society. Jesus flipped the tables of the money lenders in the church... Why WOULDN'T he want to steal the money from a corrupt preacher? Jesus washes the feet of the less fortunate, why wouldn't his modern crew try to make a business out of that, especially with the whole "natural health/guru" craze in society? 

Yes, it's funny to think about Jesus in this strange setting and to hear him bust out joints and cuss, but the show is a wonderful and unique exploration in HOW religion is used today, and particularly how it relates to a minority culture in the modern age. It's surprisingly Christian and respectful of the religion in its message, and I think that's a tough and admirable stance to take on a nationally televised channel with a reputation for iconoclastic TV. 

All in all, I'm stoked for more Black Jesus. 

Praise it.