Just saying. It's a great movie. Love the 70's hippie vibe, the music, the dancing. Everything. I am a complete atheist who doesn't believe in the christian god .....or ANY god of any stupid religion anywhere. But this movie still ROCKS!
shareGot to agree with the OP - another atheist here, and another fan of this film.
The angle the film comes from is very clever, I think - not least the way that Judas is the real star of the show, everything being seen from his perspective, which goes from disenchantment to resentment to betrayal to confusion to eventual understanding of his part in the bigger picture.
I also love the set-up of the film: the contemporary performers arriving to stage a passion-play, with minimal sets and gleefully anachronistic props, their involvement in the characters and the story increasingly bleeding through into the here and now, making the story resonate across the ages. That this inspired concept is conveyed without so much as one out-of-character word from the players makes the film (IMHO) a stand-out example of true cinematic story-telling - a feat that's all the more impressive because this is a film version of what was a stage-show.
As an atheist, all I know is that this is the only telling of the Jesus story that moves me and engages me - and of course the clever lyrics and killer riffs don't hurt one bit, either :)
Well it's not at all hard to see how an atheist can enjoy this (and by the way, I'm one too). The show *is* essentially agnostic. Even more so if you go back to the original album-- one of my few regrets about the movie is that certain lines were changes to Christianize the movie a bit. But basically, the whole point of view of the work is summed up by the title song, where Judas comes back and speaks to us, from beyond the grave and across the centuries, and the whole of what he has to say is questions, not answers. Jesus Christ, Superstar, do you think you're who they say you are? So no, JCS is NOT a religious work at all. If you're a believer, there's plenty there for you, but if you're not a believer, the same is true.
stfu... u don't understand the atheist life... an atheist is someone who lives life... life a meaningless husk in which we attribute feelings to, memories mean nothing to me and I have no family nor do i want one, u *beep* imbecile... go home. and fallout is *beep* it is a waste of energy in which u could be decomposing. thank you, even me writing this is pointless nbut i dont care cause i have a mission which is to have the best hair and come to the light which is nialism, yes i tricked u, im not just an athesist but a niahlist u scumbag. Thanks urs truly satan 696,
ps. I have 10 points in my life and thanks for them
and here is a link to LoL launch trrailer
pss. I'm up to ur house now, hey, I also am jon snow sorry
I grew up in an atheist household. My parents wanted me to make my own decisions about religion, and they sent me to Sunday school for a balanced view. None of the lessons seemed like anything but mythology to me. So, when I was still a child and JC Superstar came to TV, I avoided it as "more Bible stories." In fact, I even made fun of it. My parents, however, loved it and tried to get me interested. "It's not what you think!" they would say.
In high school, a classmate (and Jewish atheist), whose taste in music and movies I admired, told me that he was a fan of the film. So, finally, I gave it a try. I loved it immediately, and bought the soundtrack album that week. I wore out the record playing it repeatedly, learning every word of the libretto. Since then, I have also owned two DVDs that I have seen numerous times. I have seen the play live three times, once with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson.
The story is so special because it focuses on the humanity of the Gospels characters, rather than the shallow Christian message reported from the pulpit.
Jesus has conflicts with his needs and pains as a man. He perseveres with his message in the face of adversity, but after 3 years of struggle, begins to feel tired and disheartened. He can't understand the violent reactions of the people around him. He is perhaps most tortured by the decay of his friendship with Judas.
Judas is his closest friend, who sees Jesus' role more pragmatically, and warns Jesus not to take the God association too seriously. He is not a villain (in the Gospels, he is a servant of God's will and not a villain either). He truly loves Jesus to the end and regrets the betrayal.
Although Biblical scholars had already disproved the idea that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute by the time Tim Rice wrote the libretto, I love the way his version of Mary finds a new way to love a man, a way she had never felt before. She, alone (and maybe Judas), understands him as a man.
Pilate is a complex role. As others have pointed out here, he has no desire to see Jesus die. He has his own inner conflicts. At the same time, he is an arrogant Roman official, who views the Jews as inferior and ridiculous. I think that he sees something special in Jesus that touches him.
Additionally, I like the way the opera handles the priests. They see Jesus as a challenge to their authority that must be removed. And while they might be seen as the only true villains in the opera, Caiaphas at one point says, almost to himself, "One thing I'll say for him, Jesus is cool." He later shows remorse during the flogging.
Lastly, I must mention the portrayal Jesus' followers. While there is always the danger that the Jewish people will be seen as "Christ killers," I think an important aspect of the story is how the people who followed Jesus (even the apostles) really didn't understand him. They saw him only as an agent to get what they wanted, whether is was an easy ticket to heaven or a rebellion against Rome. The followers became disillusioned when Jesus didn't do what they expected and, in the end, many rejected him. Maybe it was not necessary to portray them as actually screaming for his death, but they may have gone to the point of not preventing the priests from turning Jesus over to the Romans.
Through Jesus Christ Superstar, I found a whole new way to understand the Gospels and I gained a whole new respect for the potential depth of the story of Jesus. I am still an atheist, but I have read the Gospels a few times, more than most Christians I have met.
I'm an Agnostic, and I loved it! The show and the movie both ROCKED!
My late aunt was a Catholic Nun, and she loved it too. But she and a fellow nun said they should have taken it through the resurrection. I realize of course that they ended it with the crucifixion because the production was considering him mainly as a man.
Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.
The resurrection would have been anticlimactic, and would have only trivialized the crucifixion. (As Julia Sweeney quotes somebody, in Letting Go of God, "Jesus had a really bad weekend for your sins.")
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."