MovieChat Forums > Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) Discussion > Pilate......Good or Evil?

Pilate......Good or Evil?

posted 18 years ago by Catinthehat52
26 replies | jump to latest

I always had the feeling that Ponctius Pilate was only doing his job and was afraid of the people, but when watching Jesus Christ Superstar about a couple of years ago, he sounded kind of sinister in a couple of his songs, especially in the scenes involving him and Jesus himself. His voice sounded pretty when he was singing about his dream though. With his feelings during the trial scene, do you think he's good or evil? Please explain!

"What happemed then, well that's the play, and he wouldn't want us to give it away!"

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] lroy77 13 years ago

I think he was basically good, if not misguided. He DID try to save Jesus' life in every way he could twice. I understand that the decision of washing his hands realizing that the situation was now hopelessly pointless and the crucifixion was now inevitable was his great regret in life and that he wished he could've done more.

[–] Nerdgasm 13 years ago

he was sexy, that's what he was

http://www.youtube.com/chaztr0n

[–] Ainull_seepage 13 years ago

I'll leave that up to the moral historians. However, in the narrative, he is neither. Simply a means to an end, much like Judas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73SidPwuG78

Confound your lousy toll.. TROLL!

[–] MoviemanCin 9 years ago

He was human, and as a human flawed. But he did try his best to save Jesus.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

[–] puirt-a-beul 9 years ago

I always had the feeling that Ponctius Pilate was only doing his job

That's my take on it.

He wasn't good or evil, and he wasn't afraid of the people, as such; he had a job to do, and that was to govern the colony and keep the peace. He didn't want to buy into their religious squabbles, and so when he thought of a legal pretext to hand the problem over to Herod -- and so transfer their potential anger onto him rather than have it coming down on the Romans -- he seized it.

When that didn't work, he had no choice to get tough and maintain his authority. According to the myth, the majority of the crowd wanted Jesus dead, so that's the path he took. I don't think he much cared about Jesus either way, as long as his governorship wasn't threatened.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment.