Jesus of Cool
These days, Jesus has undergone an extreme makeover. From biblical age savior of all mankind, Jesus has taken the turning centuries in stride, still managing to maintain his cool over all these years. Currently projecting himself as everyone’s friend or Buddy Christ, even referred to as homeboy Jesus, he destroys all former notions of cool. Everyone wants to be his friend; everyone wants to get to know Jesus. But even that isn’t enough. They want you to know it. People everywhere are shouting to the mountains; proclaiming that they too are down with Jesus Christ.
“The day of the Christian kid being viewed as a nerd are long gone” (qtd. in Brady), said Bill Graening, the director of the Alive Festival, a three-day Christian music festival held in Ohio each summer that draws over 20,000 people a day. According to the National Study on Youth and Religion Around 80 percent of U.S. teens between the ages of 13 and 17 consider themselves religious, while the majority identify themselves as Christian. Big companies and advertisers are now discovering the huge profitability of the religious youth market. “Bill Graening said that with nearly 25 big festivals a year, there were probably 2 million to 3 million kids in attendance, and the numbers are growing,” writes Brady.
Jaimee Rose, a writer for an Arizona newspaper, writes: “Jesus is cool and he’s everywhere these days. Polls show most Americans believe in a higher power. But leave it to Hollywood to make him hip.” Mel Gibson’s box office production, The Passion of the Christ, earned over 370 million dollars, becoming the top grossing movie for 2004 (Oxegen). Dan Brown’s book, the DaVinci Code, quickly became the top selling book nationwide after its release (Amazon.com), and soon will have its day at the box office. Jesus made the cover of Time magazine last year, and People magazine asks in an April 15, 2004 cover story, “Does Hollywood have Faith?” According to MarketResearch.com, total sales for religious products will top $8 billion this year (Rose). Hollywood has brought Jesus to millions of people, and they have found people everywhere are willing to pay for his story.
Jesus now even has his own clothing line, and kids everywhere are sporting his hip visage, proclaiming “Jesus is my Homeboy too”. A Los Angeles company called Teenage Millionaire makes the shirts that say “Jesus Is My Homeboy.” “We looked at the popular icons of the 20th century and Jesus definitely topped the list,” said Chris Hoy, founding father of Teenage Millionaire. “This shirt has been in our line for about three years, but it’s just now getting all the popularity” (Teenage Millionaire). If the t-shirt is not enough to show how much you like Jesus, you can also order the mug, bumper sticker, or dog tag. Perhaps you do not believe in the Bible’s admonitions of modesty and would like to show some skin. Available for your custom needs is a cut off or spaghetti strap homeboy shirt, rivaling all today’s latest fashion trends.
“Buddy Jesus” action figures are replacing the once popular GI-Joe in some homes. In the playroom, children make-believe miracles and turn plastic bread into pretend wine. Gone are the violent games of guns and knives, cowboys and Indians. Jesus even stars in his own video game, a nonviolent action adventure, manufactured by Digital Pleasure. Christian Rock has become a leader in the music industry, with album sales totaling roughly 43 million in the U.S. last year. Jesus rocks, Jesus rolls, Jesus even raps. In his song Jesus was Way Cool, King Missile proclaims, “Jesus was way cool / Everybody liked Jesus / Everybody wanted to hang out with him…” It is this image of Jesus that has made its way into the mainstream, attracting people from nearly every cultural background and social mentality.
So when did Jesus become so cool? Jesus’ stardom is nothing new. Jesus’ last big pop-culture moment was during the Vietnam War when posters of a hippie Christ popped up everywhere and “Jesus Christ Superstar” ruled stages and movie theaters. Jesus’ popularity as a pop-icon is still growing. As more companies and marketers realize the revenue potential of religion as an industry, Jesus’ image and persona are being used more often than ever.
Chuck Klosterman writes, in his book Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, “The desire to be cool is – ultimately – the desire to be rescued” (124). Jesus offers the socially lost and unaccepted soul both ephemeral coolness and eternal salvation. More people than ever are turning to Jesus, though not in the same way their grandparents did. “Knowing Jesus” has become quite a bit less of a philosophical idea than a mere fad. The current image of Jesus projected by marketers and pop culture reflects little of biblical Jesus, but depicts someone much more relatable to today’s world; someone who everyone knows, everyone likes, and every one aspires to be. This is the new Jesus. This is the Jesus of Cool.
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Works Cited
“Amazon.com DaVinci Code Product Page.” Amazon.com. 10 Mar. 2006. Link
Brady, Jonann. “For More Teens, Jesus Is Way Cool.” 15 Dec. 2005. ABC News. 10 March 2006. Link
King Missile. Jesus Was Way Cool. “The Way to Salvation.” Instinct Records. 2003.
Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. New York: Simon and Schuster.
“Preliminary Research Findings.” The National Study of Youth and Religion. 15 Mar. 2006. :Link”:http://www.youthandreligion.org/news/preliminary.htmlRose, Jaimee. “Jesus is cool.” The Arizona Republic. 13 Apr. 2004. Tucson Citizen. 11 March 2006. Link
“Teenage Millionaire – About Us.” Teenage Millionaire. 11 Mar. 2006. Link
“The Passion of the Christ – Sales & Box Office Stats” 14 Apr. 2004. Oxegen. 10 Mar. 2006. Link