Thread by @PaulDMiller2

Jesus movies generally don't work. Growing up I watched Franco Zeffirelli's "Jesus of Nazareth," (1977) and the old-Hollywood big-budget "King of Kings" (1961). Never thought very highly of them. They make Jesus look stoned or boring.

There's a real challenge presenting Jesus in a dramatic narrative. It's hard to give him a character arc. Arcs depend on overcoming weakness, flaw, or failure. See also: Paradise Lost. God shows up and turns the tide of battle without effort. It's not dramatically satisfying.

So years ago I remarked to a friend that the real way to make a Jesus movie was to make the movie about Peter. Peter works better as a main character because he is us: relatably flawed, entirely and only human, and sometime a little dumb.

A movie about Peter would not show Jesus as superhero, stoned 70s guru, or marbled monument, but as the friend who changed Peter's life. That's the way to get across who Jesus is in a dramatized, imagined representation of the gospel stories.

So here's the point. I'm just a few episodes into @thechosentv and, so far, they are doing exactly what I imagined, except not just with Peter. They're using all the characters around Jesus to show his effect on them.

And the show is remarkable.

The storytelling is compelling and dramatic because of its focus on the characters around Jesus and how they react to him. The show has all the more emotional power for it. This is the best representation of the story of Jesus in the televisual medium, and it isn't close.

Looking forward to watching the rest and hope to see all its seasons funded and made.

PS: Ben-Hur works for the same reason: Jesus is a minor character who briefly shows up to catalyze the main character's growth. The History Channel's Bible miniseries episodes on the Gospels were also better than then 60s-70s Jesus. Never saw The Passion of the Christ.