Why Does Jesus Always Look Like Johnny Depp?

Scene from new movie “Son of God.” Spolier Alert: Film does not end well for the title character.

Bad casting — Jesus looks like a tourist from Belgium visiting the Middle East who just stepped off a tour bus.

Last night, I attended a special advance press screening for a new movie called Son of God.

This film, to be released nationally in theaters this Friday, is reportedly intended to counter the last major motion picture made about the life of Jesus, the ultra-violent, mega-sadistic creation by Mel Gibson a decade ago called The Passion of the Christ, which stands as the most violently repulsive movie I’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing.

Indeed, Son of God is a far more predictable paint-by-the-numbers retelling of the traditional story most of us already know too well, and have seen many times before.  It’s almost certain to perform well at the box office, 20th Century Fox’s profits stoked by millions of true believers who finally have a reason to fork over $12 for tickets to a movie with subject matter that can hardly be considered objectionable.

My intent here isn’t to review the film so much as pose a serious question about how Jesus is consistently portrayed and perceived in our popular culture.  Yet again, in this new movie intended for mainstream audiences we see a good-looking man of European descent cast in the leading role, although just about everyone else in the film has far darker features.  In essence, Jesus looks like a tourist from Belgium visiting the Middle East who just stepped off a tour bus.

Why?  Why are we always shown a white Jesus?  I think I know the answer.  I have my own theory.  But first, I’ll let you take a guess.  In the end, let’s see where we stand and if we agree.

Although Jesus had been portrayed in art form long before the indelible imprint created by Leonardo da Vinci in The Last Supper, the image of Jesus as an Anglo-Saxon icon was calcified throughout the Renaissance.  Our perception of Jesus as a white man continues to this day largely because of those wonderful works of art.  They are powerful and hard to ignore.  Some would even say, nearly impossible to refute.

That said, one would think a film that purportedly tries to be historically accurate and true to the scriptures would get one of the most important historical facts about the man correct.  If Jesus was indeed born in the small town of Nazareth, and he lived most of his life around the Sea of Galilee, and later died in Jerusalem, then he most certainly would blend in with the local population.  He would possess the same physical characteristics as everyone else, wouldn’t he?  One realizes of course, that he’s supposed to “the savior.”  But being born a poor Jew at the tail end of the Bronze Age would seem to require that certain assumptions be made about his race.

In other words, Jesus should look like someone who was born in the Middle East.

Check out every other character depicted in the story.  His disciples, the holy men, local peasants — everyone else side from the Roman occupiers has dark skin and dark hair.  But not Jesus.

Actors who have portrayed Jesus in film over the years testify to this as fact.  Eurocentric Jesuses have included Max von Sydow (The Greatest Story Ever Told), Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth), William Defoe (The Last Temptation of Christ), Jim Caviezel (The Passion of the Christ), and now most recently Diogo Morgado (Son of God).  There’s not a single strand of black hair among any of these actors.  Some have blue eyes (Swedish-born Max von Sydow).  One even spoke with a New York accent (William Defoe).  How’s that for blasphemy?

So now, back to the central question.  Why does Jesus always look like Johnny Depp?

I suspect the truth is, most believers aren’t quite entirely comfortable with the notion of worshipping a man of a different race.  This goes not only for Christianity but for most of the world’s major faiths.  That alone should be more than enough to call most organized religions into serious question unless one wishes to justify racism based on religious belief (which has long been a significant part of faith’s historical lineage).

Indeed, while many of today’s Christians are non-white, this film’s clear target audience is mostly made of up American Christians who do happen to be white.  And no movie is going to be widely accepted by these religious masses within a short drive of the local movieplex unless it continues to perpetuate the old (and apparently wrong) traditional belief systems.

Once again, we see that organized religion and many of its followers can’t handle the truth.  It’s much easier to have faith in total nonsense.  All one needs to do is look at the way Jesus continues to be portrayed in modern culture as living proof if this as fact.

Read more here:  Race and Appearance of Jesus Christ

Footnote:  I expect to be asked why I would see a film called “Son of God?”  The answer is simple.  Fictional or not, a good story is always compelling.  And a good movie is always worth seeing, no matter what it’s about.  Finally, I’m certainly willing to test my “non-faith” by exposing myself to activities with religious themes.