"Color of the Cross" tells a traditional story, focusing on the last 48 hours of Christ's life as told in the Gospels. In this version, though, race contributes to his persecution.
It is the first representation in the history of American cinema of Jesus as a black man.
"It's very important because (the film) is going to provide an image of Jesus for African-Americans that is no longer under the control of whites," says Stephenson Humphries-Brooks, an associate professor of religious studies at New York's Hamilton College and author of "Cinematic Savior: Hollywood's Making of the American Christ."
My brother and I had a conversation about this the last time I was home; both of us find the idea of a black Jesus more idiotic than a white one. There's no reason to believe he's black--whites, at least, have had centuries of indoctrination telling them that he's white. There's no such tradition to back up the claim that he's black. It was made up simply to be contrary.
And this is just plain stupid:
Filmmaker Jean Claude LaMarre set out to change that with "Color of the Cross." LaMarre, who plays Jesus, wrote, directed and financed the film. It will open in 30 theaters in predominantly black neighborhoods.
"Black people in this country are the only race of people who worship a god outside their own image," says LaMarre, 38, adding that showing Christ as a black man is "the most poignant way to deal with the issue of race in this country because it goes to the heart of how we look at the world."
Blacks are the only race who worship a god that's not their race? Please. For starters, what about all those Christians who are neither black, nor white? They've got the same problem of being told Jesus was white, buddy.
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