Why are People So Offended by the Wii Jesus?
This past Sunday was Easter. It marked several important events: the traditional Christian celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, the end of Lent and my whole-hearted foray back into corn syrup land, and the conclusion of the Nintendo Wii Jesus ruckus stirred up by our church, Mission Bay Community Church (MBCC).
The Nintendo Wii Jesus??
Every year, just before Easter, MBCC creates an Easter graphic. This year the church created a Nintendo Wii version of Jesus, which received a surprising amount of publicity, both good and bad, on the blogosphere. If you want to see some for yourself, Google “church Jesus Mii”.
There were four main reactions to this image:
- Befuddlement. This was most common among those who never played the Wii. Poor souls.
- Amusement. Personally, I thought this was funny and clever. The Mii pun is a bit of a groaner, but the bunny scribbly (a clear reference to Wii sports) is classic.
- Gimmicky. Some saw this as a desperate attempt to attract people to church, akin to Dogma’s “Buddy Christ“.
- Offensive. I was surprised by how many people shared this reaction. Even one of my co-workers, who often makes slightly off-color jokes and — to my knowledge — doesn’t attend church, thought that this picture was, in a word, “wrong”.
When we pronounce something as “wrong”, it’s because one of our deep seated values or principles is violated. What principle is at stake here? There’s nothing crude. By MPAA standards, it would be G-rated. It’s not, as far as I can tell, contrary to the Christian tenets. Is there an unspoken commandment that states, “Thou shall not depict thy Lord in cartoon form”? Probably not, because Veggie Tales, a popular Christian cartoon, made a nativity set. In this cartoon nativity scene, Joseph and Mary are squashes; the shepherd is an an asparagus; one of the wise men is a cucumber; and baby Jesus is a cartoon baby carrot. The common consensus on the Christian blogs? “It’s CUTE!” By the way, Hayley really likes Veggie Tales.
Baby Jesus as a Cartoon Carrot
Respectful Wii
The principle at stake is this: we should treat Jesus Christ with respect. I agree.
I also believe that making Wii animations of your friends and family is a gesture of affection, not of mockery. Hayley and I have a Nintendo Wii. It has caricatures of ourselves, my parents, her parents, and dozens of our friends. We have representations of doctors and lawyers, friends we have known all our lives and many who stuck around us in difficult times, people we respect greatly and those we love dearly. When friends come over and play our Wii, one of the first things we do is make them create their own Wii character. We would always have a good laugh.
The Solemn Religion
There’s a strange belief that a person can’t laugh and be reverent at the same time. A good Christian, according to this misconception, is supposed to go to church and sit there silently, glumly, and solemnly. Now let’s take this logic to the next step. If someone feels that laughing in church is bad, how would he feel about someone laughing at a picture of Jesus?
I think that’s why so many people — especially Christians — are upset at this graphic. It makes you want to laugh. It’s classic humor. It catches you off guard; it makes a pun; it has multiple layers of cultural and historical references; it has famous celebrities (Jesus and the Easter Bunny); it makes a nod at common Christian gripes (the secularization of Christian holidays) and reverses the roles. Really, it’s funny. It makes you want to laugh. Even the good solemn Christians want to laugh. But something deep inside won’t let them. The torment! That’s why they find this picture so upsetting.
To the Upset Christians
To those Christians so offended by this picture, let me, with utmost respect, tell you this. I’ve had solemn times with God. During times of suffering and loss, I’ve found solace and strength through Christ. But I’ve also seen many Christians who cling to God during turmoil, only to forget about their faith when conditions improve. I believe that God is with us through good times and bad. If a believer is happy and with Jesus, it’s okay. Let her laugh.
Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Ryan
Filed under: Christian tradition, chasing happiness, church, diary worthy
oOOOooo where can we get the veggie tales nativity set?!!!
On a more serious note (not that I’m joking about the nativity set, it would be pretty cool to have one)…
You forgot to mention one of the big comments about the Jesus Mii … the fact that he’s darker skinned (according to Debbie’s rendition). To be honest the color of his skin didn’t even register with me but there have been several comments about him being ‘black’ (or at least not white.) I thought this was really interesting as race is definitely in the forefront of peoples minds these days.
I find the folks who fall under your 3rd category (too gimmicky) amusing too, because they obviously didn’t look at the MBCC website, and understand that we weren’t trying to ‘lure the children’ into our church, it’s just who we are…
And finally, I claim partial credit for the postcard because I was there when we came up with the idea. Therefore, I declare the Easter postcard…. AWESOME. :)
I write a post, reflecting on values, principles, and the Christian faith. And somehow the end result is Hayley wanting to buy more “cute” trinkets. How???
On Jesus and race (which was also discussed), here’s the authoritative perspective from Avenue Q, the Broadway show:
Princeton:
Oh, Christ do I feel good.
Gary Coleman:
Now there was a fine upstanding black man!
Princeton:
Who?
Gary Coleman:
Jesus Christ.
Kate Monster:
But, Gary, Jesus was white.
Gary Coleman:
No, Jesus was black.
Kate Monster:
No, Jesus was white.
Gary Coleman:
No, I’m pretty sure that Jesus was black-
Princeton:
Guys, guys…Jesus was Jewish!
Brian:
Hey guys, what are you laughing about?
Gary Coleman:
Racism!
Brian:
Cool.
Wow, I didn’t notice the brownness till I read Hayley’s comment. Also, a whole lot of people are talking about the Wii Jesus! It made it onto digg.
With regard to whether it’s offensive: How is this illustration of Jesus any different in principle than the millions of other illustrations and depictions? It’s not like they have him doing something wrong… like perhaps riding a dinosaur for example…
Maybe they’re just upset that Wii Jesus is brown. After all, not everyone knows that “Brown is the New Awesome“.
Avenue Q AND Veggietales. I knew there was a reason we connected! Great post Ryan. I think it also comes down to people thinking that there is also only ONE way to connect with God, theirs. Any other manifestation of faith must, at it’s core be off the mark. There will always be lines they each of us has to draw, but clearly the Mii Jesus did not cross MBCC’s. Take care - Bruce.
[...] not a big Nintendo Wii player, but why are people so disturbed by this image of Jesus? Check out a blog entry about Mission Bay Community Church’s attempt to reach people by using the culture. The blog [...]