Religious right nails it to ‘Black Jesus’
Hydroxycut is the latest in a handful of advertisers who have pulled support from Aaron McGruder’s show
- screenshot/Adult Swim
- Ain’t God good?
“Black Jesus” is being crucified by the religious right.
Before Aaron McGruder’s post-“Boondocks” re-up hit the Adult Swim airwaves, conservative Christians were picking up their pitchforks in protest. Now one month after the show debuted on Aug. 7, they’re claiming a major victory.
The American Family Association reports that Hydroxycut is the latest in a handful of advertisers who have pulled support from TBS’s Adult Swim show “Black Jesus.” Hydroxycut, as you might recall, is the weight loss aid that got its start by preying on the insecurities of overweight consumers to sell them dietary supplements with dangerous ingredients (ephedra) subsequently banned by the FDA. How’s that for irony?
You’ve probably seen one of their commercials late at night while binge eating in front of the TV.
The American Family Association’s “About Us” page on its website claims it “has been on the frontlines of America’s culture war” since the non-profit was founded in 1977 by a United Methodist Church pastor in Southaven, Mississippi. The original name of the organization, which also self-identifies as a “ministry,” was National Federation for Decency.
In a press release, the Tupelo, Mississippi-based non-profit ministry of culture warriors denounce the latest episode of “Black Jesus,” in which “40 profanities and numerous blasphemies” were heard.
The live-action show satirizes the return of God’s son as a black man in Compton, Calif. who enjoys smoking bud, turning water into malt liquor and hanging with the homies on the block. But everybody’s not laughing at McGruder’s send-up of race and religion.
While it’s stirring up the kind of controversy McGruder is known to generate, it’s received a mixed critical embrace. And despite the age-old debate over the historical inaccuracies of a white Jesus, some African-Americans within conservative Christian circles are equally offended.
I know this because my mother tried to get me to call TBS directly after she said she viewed the trailer on another woman’s smartphone at her neighborhood beauty salon. Nothing like a group of seasoned church ladies to rile up a word-of-mouth campaign. The image of them huddled around a cellphone in the beauty shop, mouths agape while watching Jesus H. Christ cuss up a storm, is almost as funny as an actual episode of “Black Jesus.” After catching the first one, I haven’t tuned in since. It’s not as smart a cultural critique as I’d expected from McGruder, which makes it harder to defend against the attacks of the religious right.
According to AFA, other companies who have pulled advertising from “Black Jesus” include American Eagle Outfitters, Progressive Insurance, Unisom (Chattem), Monistat 1 (INSIGHT Pharmaceuticals, LLC) and Airheads Candy.
You must be the scum of the earth when drug and sugar pushers want nothing to do with you.
“We are so thankful to see that advertisers are making the wise decision to disassociate with this terrible Turner Broadcasting System show,” AFA President Tim Wildmon said in a press release. “We have had several productive conversations with companies who are rethinking their advertising strategies in an effort not to alienate their customers by aligning themselves with offensive programming.”
It’s almost reassuring to know that Jesus’ second coming is being met with the same derision as his first pop-up appearance back in the negative-0000s. Maybe that’s the joke.