On Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 9:19 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote:

> I was surprised by all of the Deadwood analogies in Kevin’s review, but
> then noticed in episode 2 the reference to those goddamn “Cocksuckers from
> Samaria”...
>

If I produced SNL, this is the sort of sketch I would want to see on air

I know there are other TV shows based on characters from history, but
Deadwood will always resonate with me. In terms of budget and production
value, I say The Chosen is closer to F Troop. It would not surprise me to
see Larry Storch as Pilate.


> One sector of my FB friends feed has been flooded by pious references to
> how fabulous this series is, many from the relatively more self aware
> explicitly noting how much better it is than “Left Behind”. It is almost
> impossible for the second claim not to be true, and also almost impossible
> for the first claim to be true.
>

I’d love to see MST3k riff either version of Left Behind


> I’m surprised at the characterization of Matthew as Autistic; the Gospel
> that bears his name is usually seen as aimed at potential followers of
> Jesus who still highly valued Jewish tradition. Mark is the more sparse,
> cryptic account, focusing on action - though of course there is really no
> basis for thinking of any of these apocryphal authors as Autistic.
>

Ultimately, it’s a claim that can’t be disproven, which allows them to get
away with it, and while people’s reaction to Matthew is played for laughs,
his autism itself is not handled disrespectfully.



> On Tue, 27 Apr 2021 at 8:31 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> This series is trending now, even though the first season was released a
>> couple years ago. The last time I found a piece of family friendly
>> television that wasn’t overly patronizing was “7th Heaven”, but due to
>> information leaked from a supposedly confidential therapy session which
>> axed Stephen Collins’ career, that show is buried almost as deep as “The
>> Cosby Show”. So when my wife suggested we give “The Chosen” a try, I
>> agreed.
>>
>> The series tells the story of the lives of those who followed Jesus. It
>> was bankrolled (they say crowdfunded, but there’s not much evidence of
>> that) by the son of the author of the horrible “Left Behind” series of
>> books, which became a horrible Kirk Cameron movie followed by a horrible
>> Nic Cage movie. The whole series is basically shot in the guy’s backyard in
>> Texas, where one building is constantly and embarrassingly redressed to
>> look like a bunch of different buildings. Actors who don’t already have
>> natural accents attempt accents which are a cross between Apu on The
>> Simpsons and Count Von Count from Sesame Street.
>>
>> The best and perhaps most well known actor on the show is Erick Avari,
>> who has been in basically every movie and TV show ever made. He plays
>> Nicodemus, a rabbi mentioned in the Bible.
>>
>> Just as “Deadwood” took great liberties with the characters populated in
>> the small gold mining camp, so too has “The Chosen” added/made up much
>> about the followers of Jesus. The Bible was far from a history textbook
>> anyway, but even given that, there are a lot of embellishments in the show.
>> Matthew is autistic in the TV series; a Google search revealed an interview
>> with one of the writers who justified that by stating Matthew’s gospel
>> contained an almost Rain Man degree of specificity compared to the other
>> gospels. The roles of women are advanced (frankly are modernized) in ways
>> which one would be hard pressed to find any Biblical basis for.
>>
>> The free app needed to view it (you can buy episodes on iTunes and
>> YouTube) is riddled with bugs and glitches, despite having been around for
>> a couple years. The production company is the same one that tried to
>> release media they didn’t own which they had re-edited to make safe for
>> children, and they went bankrupt dealing with the inevitable lawsuits, so
>> don’t expect the app to get any better.
>>
>> The series isn’t bad, and it isn’t good. It isn’t going to convert
>> anybody, but I don’t think that was the point of it. They sometimes succeed
>> in making people from the Bible less intangible and more relatable... and
>> they sometimes fail. Again, as in Deadwood, they strived for historic
>> accuracy, but occasionally sacrificed that ambition to further the story.
>> It’s nothing I alone would choose to watch, but I didn’t consider it wasted
>> time the way I have with other shows I’ve watched with my wife (looking at
>> you, Bridgerton... and Cobra Kai). It’s ok family friendly fare, but it’s
>> nothing to write home about. But I’ll write about it here.
>> --
>> Kevin M. (RPCV)
>>
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