Wednesday, April 16, 2025

Why it's OK to not like "The Chosen"

 

Anyone who has followed my blogpost to some degree know I am a huge “Chosen” fan.  I have referenced the show directly in two blogposts (“Why Dallas Jenkins needs our prayers and especially our money now that he’s gone Hollywood”, July 27th 2023, and “Nothing like Monday morning quarterbacking ‘”The Chosen”’ February 4th, 2024)  and wove “The Chosen” references into other blogpost (“It’s the end of the Hollywood world as we know it part I” August 26th, 2023 or “So you’ve been entertained by drag all your life, why is it a problem now part II” June 28th 2024).  Naturally, this means I enjoyed the new “The Chosen: The Last Supper” film trilogy that is out in theaters now.    I love every part of this show and the behind-the-scenes videos showing the making of it as well as other social media posts from the cast & crew. 

However, I also can understand why it’s Ok for someone to not like “The Chosen”.

There are a few legitimate reasons why I can see someone not liking “The Chosen” and I’m ok with them and their logic.   Many may think “The Chosen” is like most other biblical media that’s been out for the past several decades or so-bad.   On the one hand you have Hollywood movies like the “Noah” 2014 film I referenced in the Jenkins needs money blog where Russel Crowe’s Noah acts contrary to the Genesis account and God’s law.   Also throw in movies like “Exodus: God and Kings”3 , [i]  Martin Scorsese’s “Last Temptation of Christ” even more recent films like “Conclave” where, per Conan O’Brien Hollywood made safe[ii] for them by giving the film a woke ending no virtuous cardinal in his red cassock would ever find acceptable.    On the other hand, you have movies that depict the life and times of Jesus Christ that seem to be meh (See Jeffery Hunter in MGM’s  1961’s “King of Kings” ) or worse (Diogo Morgado in “Son of God”[iii]).  Then you have what I would call the films that are in the same vein (but hopefully slightly better) as the “God Is Not Dead” franchise with its cartoony villains and corny dialogue that’s all about a Christian’s belief in Jesus[iv]  that at times may turn the more casual viewer into an atheist.   Trust me, “The Chosen” is as great as any biblical epic of the past and the dialogue is miles better than “God is Not Dead”.   

Then there are the liberties Jenkins take with the Gospels that I know devout godly people may not appreciate.   For example, Jenkins portrays Saint Peter in season one as a gambler, deep in tax debt to Rome as collected by local tax collector Saint Mathew, and almost betraying fellow fisherman Zebedee and his sons Saint James and Saint John to the Roman authorities for not reporting the fish they caught on the Sabbath on their Roman income taxes to get himself out of debt.  (Hence Saint Peter needing a boatload or two of fish courtesy of Jesus in Lk 5:1-11[v]).   I know Saint Peter wasn’t perfect, but I doubt he would have been that bad of a sinner prior to Jesus getting into his boat and calling him to be an apostle.   Jenkins also assumed that Saint Mathew must have had some type of mental deficiency since Rome was the 1st century equivalent of the Nazis and no Jewish person in their right mind would work for 1st century Nazis. Hence, Jenkins portrays Saint Mathew as an autistic savant of some kind.  Once again, I am not sure Saint Mathew was anywhere on the autism spectrum or was autistic at all.  I know it’s an artistic choice that may not reflect the 1st century reality of Saint Mathew.   Then there are other characters that are not mentioned in the bible-like Saint Thomas’ girlfriend Ramah that Jenkins places among Jesus’ followers.   As a fellow creative person, I feel Jenkins should have just named Ramah Susanna[vi] whose name was mentioned alongside Mary Magdalene and Joanna in Luke’s reference to the women who followed Jesus[vii].  Although if Jenkins named Saint Thomas’ girlfriend Susanna instead of Ramah that would have caused problems with the character arc of Saint Thomas Jenkins is gleaning from what little is known about him from the gospels. 

However, I think the #1 argument of why people hate the show, is they feel Dallas Jenkins is going to Hell for putting words into Jesus’ mouth that Jesus himself did not utter in the gospels like when Jenkin’s Jesus said “I am the Law of Moses” in season three episode 3 that some argued is a reference to the Book of Mormon. [viii]   I personally have no qualms about Jenkins and his writing partners of Ryan Swanson and Tyler Thompson placing non-gospel words into Jesus’ mouth.  This is because I know the following about the gospels: 1. It was the Catholic church and their bishops who figured out which gospels to include in the New Testament in 393 A.D. at the council of Hippo[ix] and which to leave out of the Christian biblical cannon. 2.  There are several Catholic traditions that can be found nowhere in the bible like Saint Veronica[x]  (whom I and several Catholic fans of “The Chosen” are hoping is the same Veronica Jenkins introduced in season three) but us Catholics believe it to be as much a part of the gospels as the gospels themselves. 3. Gospel writers like Saint John didn’t care that Jesus may have asked the maître d’ where the bathrooms were in Cana’s wedding hall.  Saint John only cared about the fact that Jesus miraculously turned [xi] 120-180 gallons[xii] of H2O to 120-180 gallons of C6H12O6 & 2 C2H5OH & CO2 [xiii]  at that wedding at the request of his mom.   4. Saint Ignatius of Loyola urged Catholics when reading the bible to imagine themselves[xiv] in the center of the biblical scene to contemplate the biblical passage on a deeper level and let’s just say “The Chosen” has made my imagining of certain biblical passages a heck of a lot easier.   5. As I have always said “The Chosen” is akin to Netflix’s “The Crown” where they included actual recent British historical events such as when then Prince Charles promptly stated “Whatever in love means”[xv] at the press conference announcing his engagement to then Lady Diana Spencer and ones that probably never happened like how Chuck & Di  got together[xvi] for dinner after their divorce to figure out why their fairy tale wedding turned into a royal nightmare of a marriage.     “The Chosen” is a TV drama 1st and foremost (and a great one too) and if I want the gospel truth, I’ll crack open my bible and read the actual gospels which I’m sure Jenkins would prefer a viewer of the show do anyway.

There is also the newest reason why someone may now hate “The Chosen.”     I know some fans may be eager to call Jenkins Judas as he recently announced he and Amazon Prime[xvii]have now formed an exclusive partnership. Now most fans must go to Amazon Prime to watch the newest episodes of “The Chosen” or perhaps other biblical projects Jenkins has planned for a greater “Chosen” cinematic biblical universe.   I know on a Facebook group I follow “Catholics who love ‘The Chosen’” decried the fact that Amazon will pay for their employees to travel from states that ban abortion, like “Chosen” home state of Texas, to my home in Illinois where abortions are still legal[xviii].  I’m also not sure if Amazon is treating its employees with Christian values[xix] .

 I understand why Jenkins may have felt pressure to enter a Faustian bargain with the shopping behemoth.   Jenkins, in a livestream, explained that only 5% of the 200 million people who have watched the show [xx] have donated to the Come and See foundation[xxi] which is still the primary way Jenkins is getting his money for his filming.      Jenkins knows everything we pay for is going up because of inflation (including his show), budgets are getting tighter (including mine),  and maybe it’s better to donate to some charity that is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, taking care of the sick & thirsty, and shows kindness to prisoners and strangers per Mt 25:31-36[xxii]  than to give to some show that just entertains people.  

 However, I believe that Jenkins hasn’t made a Faustian bargain with Amazon Prime, he’s made a Damn Yankees bargain instead[xxiii]. 

This means that if some slimy Amazon Prime executive wants Jenkins to add some sultry sexy nudie scene between Elizabeth Tabish and Jonathan Roumie  á la “The Last Temptation of Christ”[xxiv] Jenkins can tell that slimy Amazon Prime executive, in as loving and kind of a Christian way as possible, to go to Hell.  Those pornographic blasphemous sex scenes lead those who watch down the primrose path to Hell.  There is no way in hell Jenkins’ wife Amanda wants her husband to see any other woman naked for any reason whatever.  Tabish would probably feel as uncomfortable as Hell itself being naked up on screen for all the world to see.  Plus, Tabish will have the opportunity to see Roumie 90% naked anyway when a fully clothed Mary Magdalene stands at the foot of the cross watching Roumie’s Jesus save humanity from the fires of Hell while enduring hell on earth. I’m also sure Jenkins’ lawyers drafted an iron clad contract that Amazon’s lawyers would have a heck of a time trying to break where they agreed to give Jenkins complete creative control of “The Chosen” or other future 5&2 studios projects. Although Jenkins texted “Me”  a while ago explaining how there is a budget shortfall for season 6 and part of me fears that Amazon may be trying to take back their promise of funding “The Chosen”. 

 So, yes, I understand why some people may not like “The Chosen” for a variety of reasons.    In some ways liking “The Chosen" is akin to my wishy-washy posts (Coke v Pepsi, Starbucks v Dunkin) where its’ just a preference and people obviously have preferences.   I feel whoever invented the Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies should be made a saint and my husband feels whoever invented those Thin Mint cookies should be damned for all eternity.   There are more things more important in life than if one trivial thing is better than another.   So just because someone doesn’t like “The Chosen” doesn’t mean they won’t like other biblical projects or media like those “God is Not Dead.” films.

Because speaking of other biblical media projects, I have a confession to make…



[vii] LK 8: 2-3

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