Jesus Was Way Cool: Difference between revisions

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When Jesus surpasses "way cool" and delves into "Freakin' [[Badass]]", that's [[Kung Fu Jesus]]. Compare and contrast [[Jesus Was Crazy]], [[Hippie Jesus]].

== Anime and Manga ==

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* In the ''Battle Pope'' series, Jesus is the hippie and oblivious sidekick to a [[Badass]] post-apocalyptic God-buffed Pope. [[Jesus Was Way Cool]].

* [[Garth Ennis]], well-known for his [[Rage Against the Heavens]]/[[God Is Evil]] stories, sympathetically portrays Jesus in ''Chronicles of Wormwood''. Jesus, or "Jay", is the African-American best friend of the titular [[Anti Anti Christ]] (both sons who hate their dads), who suffered brain damage from police brutality while protesting the Iraq War, and who has suffered psychologically for centuries from his overwhelming desire to do good.

* [[Garth Ennis]], well-known for his [[Rage Against the Heavens]]/[[God Is Evil]] stories, sympathetically portrays Jesus in ''Chronicles of Wormwood''. Jesus, or "Jay", is the African-American best friend of the titular [[Anti-Anti-Christ]] (both sons who hate their dads), who suffered brain damage from police brutality while protesting the Iraq War, and who has suffered psychologically for centuries from his overwhelming desire to do good.

* In ''[[Valerian]]'' the Son is the most laid-back member of the Trinity of Hypsis, taking the form of a guitar-playing, weed-smoking hippie with stigmata. He once healed the comic's [[Satan]] [[Expy]] (who [[Satan Is Good|isn't really a bad guy either]])!

* Underground comic artist Frank Stack (aka Foolbert Sturgeon) did a few comic books with Jesus in the present day, quietly (mostly) observing humanity's less than stellar actions.

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{{quote| "You know what He was saving us from was his [[God Is Evil|fucking father]]!"}}

** Of course, it's hard not to think [[Oedipus Rex|his own issues]] may have played a part...

* [[The View ~~Askew Niverse~~]] (the films of [[Kevin Smith]]) gives us The Buddy Christ, pictured above. This version of Jesus was part of the "Catholicism WOW!" campaign in ''[[Dogma]]'' as part of a move to boost Church attendance. Oddly, despite the cynicism of the move, Cardinal Glick's stated reasoning was sound: the symbol of Christianity being the cross was, to him, "wholly depressing". "Christ didn't come here to give us the willies! He came to help us out!" He has since cameoed in more than one [[Kevin Smith]] film since then (Smith's comic shop even had a life-size version in the store).

* [[The View Askewniverse]] (the films of [[Kevin Smith]]) gives us The Buddy Christ, pictured above. This version of Jesus was part of the "Catholicism WOW!" campaign in ''[[Dogma]]'' as part of a move to boost Church attendance. Oddly, despite the cynicism of the move, Cardinal Glick's stated reasoning was sound: the symbol of Christianity being the cross was, to him, "wholly depressing". "Christ didn't come here to give us the willies! He came to help us out!" He has since cameoed in more than one [[Kevin Smith]] film since then (Smith's comic shop even had a life-size version in the store).

** In a sense, he's right. Early Christians did not use the cross as a symbol as it reminded them of Jesus' torturous death. The more common symbols were the Ichthys or "Jesus fish" and the Chi-Rho. Even today many Protestant churches prefer an empty cross, emphasizing not the moment of Jesus' suffering but his triumph over death.

*** Actually, for many centuries after Jesus' crucifixion, official Church art didn't heavily use the cross but instead tended to depict Him in the styles of artwork that used to be used for pagan Gods; they were going with what they knew. It was particularly common for Jesus to be depicted in the same way that Apollo used to be in Roman art: a triumphant, conquering king. Around the time of the High Middle Ages, Western Europe began emerging from the height of the Dark Ages and rediscovering lost knowledge, with the first cathedral schools and universities starting up. Theological discourse developed, and "Christianity" started getting established as an ordered belief system more. This led the establishment of the idea that Jesus really wasn't very similar to the old Roman gods, and the whole reason He came to Earth was as an act of humility, mercy, etc. The result was a *major* change in artistic depictions of Jesus around the 12th century, a "humanistic turn" that emphasized Christ's suffering *as a man*: the whole point was that unlike Apollo or something, he *became a flesh and blood man* and suffered and died as one. Its from this point onward that the image of Jesus horribly crucified became such a primary symbol of Christianity.

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* In ''[[The Mists of Avalon]]'' by [[Marion Zimmer Bradley]], the main conflict erupts between the local druid/pagan factions of Britain and early Christians at the time of [[King Arthur]]. Even so, at least one prominent druid (Merlin, no less) remarks that he has never had a problem with Jesus, only with the way most people interpret His words.

* [[Christopher Moore]]'s novel ''[[Lamb the Gospel According To Biff (Literature)|Lamb the Gospel According To Biff]]'' is based entirely around this trope, portraying "the lost years" of Jesus' life between the events of the Gospels. Among its more notable scenes, Jesus: {{spoiler|[[Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting|learns kung fu from Shaolin monks]], [[Invisible Main Character|learns to become invisible (by achieving Nirvana, to humorous effect with His friends and general consternation of the monks)]], [[Bigfoot Sasquatch and Yeti|becomes best friends with the last Yeti]], and [[Supernatural Martial Arts|becomes a yoga master, which somehow lets Him create food out of thin air]].}} This is all played relatively straight, however... and the character is portrayed very sympathetically. Jesus in the book... really is shown as being way cool.

* [[Christopher Moore]]'s novel ''[[Lamb the Gospel According To Biff (Literature)|Lamb the Gospel According To Biff]]'' is based entirely around this trope, portraying "the lost years" of Jesus' life between the events of the Gospels. Among its more notable scenes, Jesus: {{spoiler|[[Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting|learns kung fu from Shaolin monks]], [[Invisible Main Character|learns to become invisible (by achieving Nirvana, to humorous effect with His friends and general consternation of the monks)]], [[Bigfoot Sasquatch and Yeti|becomes best friends with the last Yeti]], and [[Supernatural Martial Arts|becomes a yoga master, which somehow lets Him create food out of thin air]].}} This is all played relatively straight, however... and the character is portrayed very sympathetically. Jesus in the book... really is shown as being way cool.

* [[Robert Heinlein]]'s ''[[Job A Comedy Of Justice|Job: A Comedy Of Justice]]'' paints God as a jerkass (though not [[God Is Evil|evil]]), Satan as vaguely benevolent and both as mere peons before ''real'' deities, who run some sort of creation business. But Jesus and Saint Peter are both good guys.

* Despite being irreverent towards religion in general, the beginning of ''[[Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'' still gives a nod to the man who was "nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change."

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== Radio ==

* In ''[[Old ~~Harrys~~ Game (Radio)|Old Harrys Game]]'', Jesus [[Jesus Taboo|only gets mentioned rather than appearing directly]], but even Satan seems to have some grudging respect for him, with the worst he has to say being that he's a bit holier-than-thou. This is a marked difference from his attitude to God Himself and non-fallen angels.

* In ''[[Old Harry's Game (Radio)|Old Harrys Game]]'', Jesus [[Jesus Taboo|only gets mentioned rather than appearing directly]], but even Satan seems to have some grudging respect for him, with the worst he has to say being that he's a bit holier-than-thou. This is a marked difference from his attitude to God Himself and non-fallen angels.

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== Web Original ==

* In [[The Salvation War]], Jesus is definitely cool. He realizes how insane his father is well before anyone else and tries three times to help humanity (Jesus, Mohamed, and someone else, possibly Joan of Arc or Martin Luther), but after these attempts backfire and he sees how rapidly they are progressing, he decides to see what they can do to correct the injustices done to them on their own. Even after Michael the Angelic [[Anti Hero]] sets him up to die by nuclear weapon, he still forgives him because he understands his motivation for doing so.

* In [[The Salvation War]], Jesus is definitely cool. He realizes how insane his father is well before anyone else and tries three times to help humanity (Jesus, Mohamed, and someone else, possibly Joan of Arc or Martin Luther), but after these attempts backfire and he sees how rapidly they are progressing, he decides to see what they can do to correct the injustices done to them on their own. Even after Michael the Angelic [[Anti-Hero]] sets him up to die by nuclear weapon, he still forgives him because he understands his motivation for doing so.

* Subverted in ''[http://ny.channel101.com/show.php?show=12 Jesus Christ Supercop]'', which portrays Jesus as a stereotypical [[Cowboy Cop]]. Possibly not a benign version of Christ, and certainly not a nice Jewish boy... but you [[Rule of Cool|cannot deny that this Jesus is Cool]].

* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxgNjMTPIs this] ''[[I'm a Marvel And Im ADC (Fanfic)|I'm a Marvel And Im ADC]]'' video, [[Iron Man]] is daydreaming about the opening day of ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' and how it's stealing the hype for his movie. Everybody is rejecting his movie (released a few months before) as being yesterday's news, but the culmination is the arrival of Jesus.

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* "If Christ himself were alive, one thing he would not be would be is a Christian." - [[Mark Twain]]

* As shown in ''Religulous'', [[Bill Maher]] was severely outnumbered in a trucker chapel, and thanked his interviewees for their kind hospitality and their not-kicking-his-ass by saying, "Thanks for being Christ-like and not just Christians."

* John Lennon's infamous [[Bigger Than Jesus]] quote (which was [[Beam Me Up Scotty|misquoted]]; see below) came from an interview in which he spoke about, amongst other things, the good Christ/bad Christian dichotomy that other famous dead people have commented on.

* John Lennon's infamous [[Bigger Than Jesus]] quote (which was [[Beam Me Up, Scotty|misquoted]]; see below) came from an interview in which he spoke about, amongst other things, the good Christ/bad Christian dichotomy that other famous dead people have commented on.

{{quote| "We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first-rock 'n' roll or Christianity. '''Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary.''' It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."}}

* Comedian [[George Carlin]], a well known atheist, in his stand-up routine included Jesus in his list of good people who were killed who wanted peace on Earth. His portrayal of Jesus in one of his audio books was very positive as well. In this portrayal he indicated that Jesus would probably be very disappointed in modern Christianity.

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* Jews vary a little more in how they see him. Relatively few Jews have any qualms with him. Most of their issues come from the [[Book of Revelation (Literature)|Book of Revelation]].

** Well, and [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2027:24-27:25&version=NIV Matthew 27:24-25].

*** Still didn't keep [[You Bastard|Pilate]] from getting a [[Can't Get Away With Nuthin|(deservedly) bad rap.]] You don't get away with killing [[Jesus Was Way Cool|someone that cool]] by [[Blood On These Hands|washing you hands.]]

*** Still didn't keep [[You Bastard|Pilate]] from getting a [[Can't Get Away With Nuthin'|(deservedly) bad rap.]] You don't get away with killing [[Jesus Was Way Cool|someone that cool]] by [[Blood On These Hands|washing you hands.]]

*** It is also worth noting that the Jews didn't exactly get along very well with their Roman overlords in any ''other'' areas of society besides, what with the destruction of the second temple being only forty years after. Jesus' disaster with Pilate wasn't exactly an isolated incident of Roman-to-Jew Jerkassery, just the most famous one.

** Mehhhh, if so, this is because most Jews are secularized and live in Christian environments where they don't want to stir the pot. And Jews in the past would have been killed for doing so. Theologically speaking, if Jesus really unravelled commandments that God endlessly repeated were not to be undone, then he poses a pretty big problem for observant Jews.