OPINION: LaKeith Stanfield stars as Clarence, a man without faith who decides to pretend to be a Jesus-like figure to prey on the true believers.
Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more
I don’t say that from a religious perspective — I’m not a serious Christian. I mean that from a branding perspective. The entire foundation for the global, multicentury-old Christian church, one of the biggest and longest-lasting institutions in human life, is the story of Jesus Christ. His miraculous birth, his radical teaching, his tragic execution, his gigantic self-sacrifice for us and his final rise. This story is so critical to Christianity that it’s like Jesus is the best brand ambassador of all time. My kids would call him the most popular influencer ever. Michael Jordan could never do for Nike what Jesus has done for the Christian church. The story of Jesus strikes a deep chord in billions of people so Samuel is smart to make a film that plays off of a story that so many people already love. “The Bible’s the biggest franchise in the world. The biggest superhero, the most famous superhero of all time is Jesus himself,” Samuel said.
Samuel has taken one of the best-loved stories of all time and remixed it with a Black flair. He gives us a Black man with no faith who shows us that he has a deep ability to give himself to the people. It’s a powerful story, and it’s one of my favorite films of the year so far.
Touré is a host and Creative Director at theGrio. He is the host of Masters of the Game on theGrioTV. He is also the host and creator of the docuseries podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and the animated show “Star Stories with Toure” which you can find at TheGrio.com/starstories. He is also the host of the podcast “Toure Show” and the podcast docuseries “Who Was Prince?” He is the author of eight books including the Prince biography Nothing Compares 2 U and the ebook The Ivy League Counterfeiter.
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