a lot of people write off Godspell as "that one musical where jesus is a clown" but as a patently Not Religious person, Godspell is so facinating to me.
The clown aesthetic was the main draw for me at first, but EVERY SINGLE SONG is a banger, lets just get that out of the way. (spoilers for godspell but like, its the bible, its a bit late for spoilers)
what really makes Godspell hit so hard for me is the fact that it somehow manages to be an amazing representation of the "ideal" chirstian experience (in my opion) while also not being about god AT ALL in the weirdest way.
Rather than an all knowing, reserved christ-figure, jesus is literally just some guy! the group certainly follow him like disciples and listen to his teachings, but he also fools around with them and encourages them to take the lead when they tell stories. clown jesus in godspell is to my knowledge the most kind, forgiving, and approachable depiction of christ in recent fiction.
but like i said, Godspell is barely about god. Sure, the characters act out bible stories and recount lessons from the bible, but the jesus in godspell is not a literal representation of jesus. In name and in spirt, sure, but he is also LITERALLY JUST A CLOWN. He does slight of hand magic, the crucifixion is him being loosely ties to a chain link fence, and even judas/john the baptist (who are the same person in this show) does not actually portray jesus, he only RECOUNTS the passage in which it happens. it's so difficult to explain but I cannot overstate how, in Godspell, that guy is just not jesus christ?
i think that must have been part of the controversy with godspell when it came out because, if you're a hardcore christian, you may find some offense in this portrayal because it is a purposefully childish abstraction of the story.
that all being said, though, that is also why i am so in love with Godspell. instead of being a hardcore deep dive into religion, godspell can be whatever you wnat it to be. personally, i think it's more a story about building community. A group of people gather around a cause to find some purpose in their lives and, even when what they initially gathered around isn't necessarily there anymore, they have still found some purpose and joy in it.
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