We were alarmed at first when we found out the network of Peter Jennings planned to title its version of Christ's Passion as "Judas."
"Judas is perhaps the most complex character in the Gospels, the disciple-turned-betrayer," ABC says. Uh, more complex than Jesus?
Then we breathed more easily when we found out that "'Judas' is the final project of the late Father Ellwood 'Bud' Kieser, C.S.P. — founder of the Humanitas Prize and Paulist Productions."
Then we grew alarmed again when we read this interview today with Johnathon Schaech, who stars in the production, airing March 8.
'He's Misunderstood'
"A lot of religious individuals won't accept him as anything more than just a betrayer of Christ," Schaech told TV Guide. "When you give him a heart and say he's misunderstood, they don't want to hear that."
Oh, did Judas have an unhappy childhood? Did his parents scold him? Did he have low self-esteem?
Schaech confessed that those involved hoped to cash in on the religious revival sparked by Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."
"They're riding its coattails," he admitted.
Think of all the other possibilities the fourth-place network now has for biopics of "misunderstood" characters. How about:
A remake of "The Killing Fields" from Pol Pot's point of view?
A sequel to "Schindler's List" from the National Socialists' perspective?
Finally, a Hollywood account of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's slaughter of millions of Ukrainians, but through the lens of Ed Asner's favorite mass murderer?
The writer and executive producer of "Judas" is Tom Fontana, whose work includes the grim cable series "Oz" and whose next project is something called "Strip Search."
Let's just hope ABC doesn't do to Jesus what CBS tried to do to the Reagans.
Editor's note:
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Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Media Bias
Mel Gibson's "Passion"
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