Jesus, it’s hot in here

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Is it just me, or is Jesus really hot?

I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I swear through the years the actors playing Jesus have become more appealing in the looks department.

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “get ripped like Jesus.” Well I’m sorry to burst your bubble but Jesus probably looked more like an average looking Jew of his time, and not an oiled up, airbrushed underwear model.

Has it really come to this? Has society become so obsessed with physical appearance that even Jesus has to be sexy in the movies he stars in?

I think it may be time for Hollywood to either stop remaking Jesus movies or start using a more believable and credible man to portray his life.

Every few years, Hollywood decides to retell one of the most famous stories ever told.

Luckily the story has a happy ending that allows us to leave the movie theater with a little bounce in our step and feeling a bit happier than we might have on the way in.

Though the ending is a happy one, Jesus’ life journey was filled with blood and pain, so obviously movies about the son of God are pretty gruesome at times. So why are we trying to make a movie filled with blood and pain more sexy? It just doesn’t work.

Jesus’ work on Earth has be told and retold, from “Jesus Christ Superstar” to “The Passion of the Christ” to “Son of God,” which was released earlier this year. We’ve seen Jesus as a rock star, as a carpenter, as a miracle man, and now we’re seeing him as a sexy man.

The day “Son of God” was released in the U.S. in 2014, the hashtag trending on Twitter was #HotJesus, according to The Huffington Post.

I fully support bringing Jesus’ story to life, but I don’t think it should be achieved by hiring actors who look more and more like chiseled Palestinian models and less like a bearded prophet would have looked 2,000 years ago.

The truth is Jesus will never really work on the big screen. We live in an imperfect world, and yet Hollywood is trying to cast a male actor as Jesus, the man who possessed no imperfections. It’s a feat impossible to pull off.

Sex sells. It’s something all students specializing in advertising are taught. Sex can sell anything, including Jesus.

By making Jesus a physically-appealing man, his message is brought to more people. Why? Sexy draws people in.

I’m sure some of you are like me and have gone to see a new movie just because the actors in it are good looking. In the end it’s not the story alone that draws you in. It’s all about how beautiful the actor is.

Depicting Jesus as a normal man makes it hard for people to accept him. After all, you’d assume the son of God would have been the epitome of physical attractiveness, which is why Jesus is becoming sexier each time a new movie is released.

James Martin, editor-at-large of America Magazine, said in a CNN article, “The closer he is to human physical perfection, the easier it is for some to accept him.”

It comes down to what we value more: Casting an exceptionally attractive Jesus to attract more viewers or casting your average-looking Jesus who could quite possibly be your next-door-neighbor.

To Hollywood, I say this: I really don’t want to be attracted to Jesus. It feels wrong and ungodly. I would recommend cutting down on the model-like actors looking to play Jesus.

Society’s obsession with physical attractiveness is affecting our interpretation of the son of God.

Production companies should be casting someone who doesn’t look like he’s been personally touched by an angel when it comes to his looks.

After all, I doubt it was God’s intention for his son’s rock-hard abs and even cheekbones to be what drew his followers to him. That would be way too intimidating. How can you be working miracles with all that spray tan going on?

– Sarah Steger is a sophomore communication major from Perth, Australia. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.