Ship of Fools: "MW": "The Passion," US Version, on FOX

Thread: "MW": "The Passion," US Version, on FOX Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by stonespring (# 15530) on :

Not sure if this belongs in Eccles, Purg, or Heaven.

This Palm Sunday, FOX in the US broadcast a special semi-live event called "The Passion" featuring live musical performances and pre-recorded music videos of secular pop songs put together in such a way as to tell the Passion story. I think it has been done before in the Netherlands and Britain. I didn't get the chance to watch it, but I would like to hear the reactions of anyone who has seen the US version or any of the earlier versions.

For those who haven't seen it, here are some clips (I don't know if your browser will let you see it from outside the US, but you can try) The clips start with the end of the show and go back towards the beginning:

http://www.fox.com/the-passion/clips

Here is the New York Times review of the broadcast:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/22/arts/television/the-passion-musical-review-fox.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSo urce=story-heading&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below

I suppose this is the modern-day version of 1950s Hollywood biblical kitsch. Biblical movies have been taking liberties with the scriptural text ever since they have been first made. Even Medieval Passion Plays were expressions of popular culture to a very large degree. But using:

Katy Perry's "Unconditional" to talk of Christ's love

Tina Turner's "We Don't Need Another Hero" (from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome) to represent Judas' and Pilate's feelings about Christ

And having Mary sing Rogers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone"

are really surprising to me not only in terms of taste but in in that it seems to me that there is no significant protest against it (at least that I have heard of) from religious conservatives. I have no idea how high ratings were for this show but it seems to say a lot about the secularization of American religion and with Americans' comfort with that.

Granted, sacred entertainment itself has been emulating secular entertainment for some time now, but it seems now that media producers have realized that there is much more money to be made in marketing to the vaguely spiritual than in marketing to the devout. So we have a bunch of American Idol winners, some bigger Pop stars, and Tyler Perry as our emcee in a product-placement-studded cover-song-fest.

What do all of you think? Is this particularly eyebrow raising or pretty run of the mill nowadays? Is it something relatively new for the US? Is it something other countries are more used to? What do you think it represents?

Posted by earrings (# 13306) on :

The Manchester Passion, enacted live in the streets of (guess where) Manchester in Britain, in 2006 was an incredibly moving and appropriate bringing together of music from bands that had originated in Manchester and the Passion narrative. Clever, streetwise and holy. It lasted just under an hour and is available on YouTube and on DVD. Seeing the story in another way was immensely powerful.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

Glad to know that's still available- saw it at the time- just about the best thing of its kind I'd seen. (Use of James's 'Sit Down' as a eucharistic hymn, or rather invitation, especially stays with me.)

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