The Brazilian film, The First Temptation of Christ, has generated a lot of controversies. The parody movie depicts Jesus as a homosexual and it has been widely criticised and rejected by many across the world, especially Christians.
During the week, A court in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ‘temporarily stopped’ the movie from being streamed on streaming platform, Netflix. While many applauded the court’s decision, some argued that it was a form of censorship of the arts and that filmmakers, like other entertainers have creative licence.
Days later, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s ruling.
Sunday Scoop spoke with some top actors in Nollywood and sought their views on the divisive film. Respected actors Pete Edochie, Antar Laniyan, Zack Orji, Ayo Adesanya shared their opinions on the movie.
Actor, Antar Laniyan, was of the opinion that the Brazil’s Court did the right thing. He said, “When dealing with anything that has to do with creativity like this, the first thing I consider is whether it is passing negative or positive message to the public. And also check if it is not against any religion. If the message is positive, I don’t see anything wrong with it. If this particular movie is portraying a particular religion in a very bad manner, then I think the…Court has the right to take such decision. What we want is an idea that would correct societal issues. If one’s creative offering is not aimed at correcting the ills in society, then one has failed; one doesn’t have to bring it out. It should have a message that won’t mislead people.”
Veteran actor, Pete Edochie, noted that the film was against his religion. He said, “I am a Christian, the film doesn’t agree with my values.”
On her part, actress, Ayo Adesanya, said filmmaking was not an opportunity to demean a religion. She added, “Religion is a very sensitive subject. Nobody should, in the name of making a movie, demean a religion. Things like this should be treated with caution. It is because (in Christianity) God said nobody should fight for Him, if not, matters would have escalated beyond this. I am very sensitive when it comes to religion. I don’t see a reason why I should worship a God and someone would just portray him in any funny manner.”
Popular actor, Zack Orji, did not mince words in his reaction as he labelled the production ‘creative rascality.’ He stated, “Creative licence comes with a lot of responsibilities. Creative licence doesn’t mean one should be a creative rascal. I don’t know the religions of the persons who produced and wrote the film and what the motive behind making it was. That would have given me better understanding on the essence of the work. Speaking from the point of view of a Christian, I find it totally distasteful, condemnable and obnoxious.”
Meanwhile, Laniyan maintained that if a film like that were to be made in Nigeria, he would never be part of it. He stated, “The first thing I think about when picking a script is what message I would be passing through it. If there is no message, I wouldn’t do it. I don’t want people to say anything I do is rubbish because I have never been involved in ‘rubbish’.
