Petition to ban Netflix’s gay Jesus comedy gets over 2 million signatures
By Eric Hegedus
New York Post
A petition to ban a Netflix comedy that depicts Jesus Christ as a gay man has gained more than 2.1 million signatures — and counting.
The bubbling backlash against the film “The First Temptation of Christ” — by makers of the Brazilian comedy show “Porta dos Fundos” — led to the creation of a Change.org charge to remove the parody from the streaming channel, with a goal of reaching 3 million signers.
But in an interview with Variety posted Monday, “Porta dos Fundos” co-founder Fábio Porchat said he wasn’t sure what the fuss was all about.
“We play at insinuating that Jesus has a new friend, and probably this new friend is gay, but they have just been having fun and a very good time in the desert for 40 days,” he told the trade publication, adding that perhaps LGBTQ folks themselves should be offended.
(Note: There is a key spoiler in the next paragraph.)
“If anybody should be angry with us, it should be the gay community because a gay character turns out to be the Devil. But the gay community loves us!” he said — though one Decider take has conversely noted that Jesus’ purported boyfriend in the film is “a bundle of swishy stereotypes.”
The program depicts Jesus Christ stumbling into a surprise birthday party thrown by his parents, Joseph and a pot-smoking Mary.
“Jesus, who’s hitting the big 3-0, brings a surprise guest to meet the family,” says the Netflix synopsis for the 46-minute film, which considers what would happen if Jesus were a closeted gay man — and partnered — but with a devilishly twisted ending.
“A Christmas special so wrong, it must be from comedians Porta dos Fundos,” it continues, mentioning the troupe and show (which translates to “Back Door”) that has a history of skewering religion, politics, culture and more.
Porchat suggested that Brazil’s strong religious demographic may be the force behind the push for Netflix to drop the film, but added that their intention is misguided.
“For some Catholics here in Brazil, it’s O.K. if Jesus is a bad guy, uses drugs: That’s no problem. The problem is he’s gay. No, he can’t be gay. And that’s interesting because Jesus is everything,” he said. “God is black and white and gay and straight. God is everything. It’s more homophobic to be insulted by a gay Jesus than to make Jesus special.”
Porchat also made clear that Netflix — which Variety notes has had, along with Viacom, a majority stake in the comedy group for two years — has no plans to pull the film.
“[Netflix hasn’t] said anything to us like, ‘Maybe we should stop making the special available.’ They support freedom of speech,” Porchat said, according to Variety.
And when reached for comment Monday by The Post, the streaming service would not comment, other than providing a statement from the comedy’s creators, including the assertion that “freedom of expression is an essential construction for a democratic country.”