A Catholic Defense of ‘The Chosen’ Amid Pride Flag Controversy
Controversy is no stranger to anyone who bears the Cross of Christ. It is par the course for the human experience. It is only a question of when, not if, controversy will strike. ‘The Chosen’, a popular Christian TV drama which portrays the extra-Biblical life of Christ and his Apostles, came under fire weeks ago after behind-the-scenes footage showed an LGBT pride flag fixed to a camera on-set. The spectacle caught the ire of an online mob and forced the hit series directly into the crosshairs of America’s ongoing culture war. Dallas Jenkins and his magnum opus quickly became the target of the war drums amidst calls for boycotts, which prompted a question all Christians feel compelled to answer: Should I continue watching ‘The Chosen’ after seeing the pride flag on set?
The answer to this question will depend entirely upon the orientation of the heart and the higher objective one lives for. Now, if you are deep in the trenches of the raging battlefield of the culture war with nothing but total victory as your goal, then by all means, proceed with your boycott. If, however, your heart is oriented towards truth, beauty, and goodness, and your highest objective is to fully participate in the divine life of the Trinity, boycotting this show is not advisable. On the contrary, it is a must-watch.
Before discerning why, we must address what exactly ‘The Chosen’ is. A still frame before the very first episode of the show provides us with an answer. It reads, “The Chosen is based on the true stories of the gospels of Jesus Christ. Some locations and timelines have been combined or condensed. Backstories and some characters or dialogue have been added. However, all biblical and historical context and any artistic imagination are designed to support the truth and intention of the Scriptures. Viewers are encouraged to read the gospels.”
Like the great works of Raphael and Michelangelo, ‘The Chosen’ is a modern masterpiece which excels at the goals it sets out to achieve. The opening frame of the show makes clear its stated goal. ‘The Chosen’ is not meant to be a literal representation of the historical events of the Gospels, exactly as they happened. It is a work of art intended to draw viewers deeper into the mystery of Christ.
The purpose of Sacred Art is to give man an object to gaze upon for contemplation. Sacred Art, like the sermons of Christ, serve as a sort of parable to give a picture of what Heaven is ‘like’, as Christ himself is the living icon of the invisible God. One cannot help but to feel closer to God in a Renaissance art gallery or a Cathedral than the grocery store, since the former are filled with images of the Divine. The active Spirit within the artist directs each brushstroke according to God’s will to make the Kingdom of God continually visible to each generation.
Sacred Art does not typically aim to recreate Scriptural events exactly as they happened, but to instead heighten the spirit’s awareness of deeper theological realities. For example, Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of the Last Supper makes use of mathematical formulas, geometry, and lighting techniques to put viewers at the table with the Apostles as they are together lifted into the Divine Life of the Trinity through the Eucharistic mystery. Judas did not receive 30 pieces of silver until he betrayed Christ later in the evening, yet da Vinci included a bag of silver in his hand. Nor would the Apostles have sat on chairs. Scripture tells us, “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table” (Luke 11:24). Reclining, in the first century, meant lying on cushions while your arms leaned upon the table. Da Vinci’s genius re-presented the most necessary elements of the Last Supper in a modern adaptation suitable for 15th Century Europeans to see themselves in the Apostles.
‘The Chosen’ is to our generation what da Vinci’s Last Supper was to his. It is an artistic recreation of the events that brought together Heaven and Earth, fit for the times we live. The creators do not consider the show a replacement for Scripture, but an artistic rendering that might enhance one’s own reading of it. Whether for better or for worse, Hollywood is the new Florence. Cinema has become to us what the paintbrush and chisel were to Christendom. Its significance in our culture cannot be understated. ‘The Chosen’ stands beyond the modern culture war dividing our country because it has successfully infiltrated the most influential industry in the entire world, at a time when art can be seen anywhere on the planet with the click of a button.
A painting like da Vinci’s is enough to evoke prayerful contemplation and wonder into the mystery of the God who became Man. How much more, then, might a re-enactment of the scene bring to life the mystery? ‘The Chosen’ uniquely portrays Christ and the Apostles in a way already known to most in common experience, yet foreign in cinema, until now. The typically stoic Jesus is finally portrayed as someone who “came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He dances at the wedding feast in Cana, laughs and picks on the Apostles, teaches children about God, and collapses into his tent after a long day.
The quarrelling Apostles, though always in sin, are never looked down upon or scolded by Christ. Rather, there is much he never tells them. They, like us, are left to contemplate and wonder more about the mystery that walks before them. It is easy to see oneself in the shoes of the Apostles since they are always tripping over their own two feet. Peter has a bad temper and fights with his wife. Matthew is a rationalist that struggles to identify divinity. Nathaniel is career driven. Simon has a proclivity for violence. John and James are very prideful and want to rain down the wrath of God on sinners. And Mary Magdalene is drawn towards her demons of old that seduced her into debauchery. What all the Apostles hold in common, besides being completely relatable, is that they were rejected by their communities, but welcomed to sit at table with Our Lord. Greater yet is how Christ calls on his disciples to not simply tag along and watch, but invites them into his very life and being. One scene in particular comes to mind, when Jesus is preparing for his Sermon on the Mount and asks Matthew for his help writing the speech, highlighting not that God needs us, but how he wants us to participate in his proclamation of the Kingdom.
The genius of the show indicates its director, Dallas Jenkins, must have an intense prayer life and deep meditations on the Incarnation. Only the Holy Spirit could possibly achieve such artistic creativity and cinematic freedom. Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, is not void of emotion. In Jesus is the fullest expression of what it means to be human. Every quality you can imagine in the most joyful people you know are traits they have because they exist more fully in Christ. No longer do we have to imagine the oft-portrayed expressionless Jesus, but can instead picture ourselves from the perspective of Peter, looking upon the smiling face of Jonathan Roumie; a smile that never goes away, even after we have betrayed him.
The show focuses on the two natures of Christ and how he takes what is of the earth and makes it divine. The miracle at the wedding feast in Cana is a microcosm of the whole series, showing how Christ invites sinful humanity into his perpetual love with the Father. Notwithstanding, the Protestant film-maker defied Catholic expectations by giving a preeminent role to the Blessed Virgin Mary throughout, showcasing the respect she commanded among the Apostles and the ineffable love Jesus has for her. Jonathan Roumie not only looks the part for Christ but is a practicing Catholic. By availing himself to the fullest expression of the faith vis-à-vis the Sacramental life of the Church, he has significant insight into the personality of Christ and has proven himself to be exceptionally fitting for the role.
Expanding on St. John’s notion that God is love in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, Pope Benedict XVI writes, “We have come to believe in God’s love: in these words the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” ‘The Chosen’ is perhaps one of the few depictions of Christ in the age of film to give viewers an encounter with the person of Christ that deepens one’s understanding beyond the knowable words of Scripture into the unknowable joy of mystery.
That a television series which has far surpassed its own goals has been asked to now bear a Cross is a testament to the show’s effectiveness. It has succeeded at accomplishing what it set out to do: invite viewers to encounter the Incarnate and living God and contemplate his goodness. The show lives or dies on its viewers since production is funded by fans. A boycott could seriously cripple operations and rob millions of people the opportunity to meet Christ. The artwork stands apart as a good in and of itself, as does the Last Supper or the Sistine Chapel, since man’s gaze is lifted upward. If we judged Renaissance art according to the sinlessness of the artists and their sponsors rather than the art itself, then to be logically consistent, these masterpieces ought to draw greater disgust than ‘The Chosen.’
In my opinion, Dallas Jenkins was under no obligation to reply to such silliness. His response, however, was brilliant:
“We’ve made it clear from the beginning we don’t have a religious or political litmus test for who can work on our show. I love our cast and crew, especially because even though they all come from different backgrounds and beliefs, they work their butts off for the show and the viewers. The show’s official stance on anything is to be found in the content of the show.”
The show speaks for itself. Dallas has no need to condemn a cameraman’s flag any more than Jesus needed to condemn the adulteress to please the mob of Pharisees. If Scripture is any indication of the forces truly at play here, St. John tells us of the Pharisees who asked Our Lord to condemn her, “This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him” (John 8:6). The show has been a vastly successful icon of the living Christ, so it ought to come as no shock that the enemy has attacked from within to cripple its spread.
Ironically, the sin of the Pharisees was pride. St. Thomas Aquinas writes in the Second Part of the Second Part of the Summa Theologiae, “Whatsoever things lead a man to inordinate self-esteem lead him to pride: and one of those is the observing of other people’s failings” (Question 162, Article 3). Aquinas later continues, “it is difficult to avoid pride, since it takes occasion even from good deeds” and therefore argues, contrary to what is commonly asserted in contemporary theological discussions, “pride has no claim to be the greatest of sins” (Question 162, Article 6). I leave his thesis here as food for thought to contemplate in prayer.
If ‘The Chosen’ accomplishes what it sets out to do as a Christian TV series, then it is irrational to boycott. If, however, the show itself was influenced by such forces, as was the case for Bud Light, then one might be warranted. ‘The Chosen’ does not exist inside the vacuum of a culture war. It exists within the cosmos, the whole of creation and its proper ordination to Christ. We must, then, relate such a show to the whole of reality rather than to our present political conditions. To reduce an endeavor of such proportions to its usefulness in a political war is to stand before Pontius Pilate in the praetorium and choose Barabbas over Christ; the revolutionist over the redeemer, the temporal over the eternal. To blow up a series as impactful as ‘The Chosen’ three seasons in would be like crucifying Christ three years into his public ministry.
To conclude my defense of what is, in my belief, the greatest Christian film work since ‘The Passion of the Christ’ two decades ago, let us recall the parable of the lost sheep. “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? … Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:4,7). ‘The Chosen’ is not for the ninety-nine who have no need of such a show. It is for the lost sheep, whom the shepherd is willing to die for to bring back home. How beautiful that Dallas gave Christ a welcoming work environment and platform to reach millions across the globe, in search of that one sheep. I will continue to support the show in hopes that the sheep comes home.