A few years ago, some friends told me about a new series on television that they thought was something very special. In several conversations over a period of months, they indicated that the series was one of the best they had ever seen.
They were so enthusiastic that they eagerly looked forward to the next episode. The series was The Chosen, and I knew immediately that I wanted to see it. Unfortunately, I could not watch it on the type of television setup I have in my room. My friends were excellent critics and did not tend to be overly enthusiastic about what they saw on television. When I learned that parts of the series would be shown in movie theaters, I immediately made plans to get to a theater.
On Monday of Holy Week, with some friends, I went to a theater to see three episodes, which together equaled about three hours running time. The three ended with the scene in which Judas is about to betray Jesus. When I saw the episodes, they had not yet been shown on television.
In case someone reading this column has not heard of The Chosen, I will report some facts about it that suggest why it is such an important religious phenomenon. I am getting these facts from an excellent essay written by Father Joe Hoover, SJ, in the Jesuit magazine America.
The series was crowdfunded with an initial stake of $10 million by 16,000 donors in 2019. It went on to become what may be the most successful crowdfunded media event of all time. Its producers claim that since its first appearance in 2019, it has been viewed by more than 200 million viewers. The series has been translated into 50 languages.
In arguing for the show’s authenticity, Father Hoover offers an interesting suggestion. He writes the following:
“Imagine staging Hamlet for a theater packed with devoted Shakespearean scholars, actors, directors, and fans. All of them have their idea of how ‘Words, words, words,’ ought to be played, or ‘Get thee to a nunnery,’ or the raising of Yorick’s skull in the graveyard’s scene. A show about Christ is like a show about Hamlet, but with stakes a thousand times higher. Not many people have set the foundations of their very existence on good old Hamlet. But many have built their life on the rock of Christ. And they want to see him done right” (p. 28).
I think Father Hoover’s suggestion is excellent. Christians probably are, and probably should be, the most critical viewers of depictions of Christ in art. If Christians love a depiction of Christ in art, that might be an exceptionally good endorsement. The Chosen has such an endorsement. But it may also be touching non-Christians. The claim has been made that 30% of its audience is not Christian.
I have not heard any serious negative criticism of the series. All the comments about The Chosen I have heard have been exceptionally favorable. People in the cast and members of the audience have made strong, powerful statements about either their experience of seeing the series or of being in the series, but in my opinion, the strongest statement has been made by Father Hoover near the end of his essay.
He compares his many spiritual exercises that he has experienced as a Christian and as a Jesuit to his experience viewing The Chosen. He writes the following:
“But in the end, whether The Chosen is ‘good’ or ‘not,’ is marvelous TV or not, is less important to me than this fact: I have been a baptized Christian for 53 years, attended a Christian grade school, high school, college, and two graduate schools, and for more than two decades have been a member of a religious order that bears the name of Jesus … and the The Chosen television series has done things for my understanding and engagement with the life of Christ and his disciples that nothing else ever has.
“No sermon, no theological exhortation, no master’s degree, no class on John or Mark or Luke, no spirituality workshop, no 30-day biblically based retreat has brought the Gospels home and made Christ and his people real and relatable to me in quite the way that The Chosen has. I think that is worth something.”
So do I. No affirmation or praise for The Chosen could mean more to me than Father Joe Hoover’s.
Father Hoover ends his essay by encouraging Catholics, and especially Catholic ministers, to be aware of the powerful influence that The Chosen is having on millions of people. He suggests that to be unaware of the power of The Chosen is to be unaware of what has become…
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com andat Barnes & Noble.