Buck, always the entertainer, and contending for the center of attention, recites a poem poking fun at the Lord. At the turn of the century, the gravity of the blasphemy was more severe than it is today (if any level of severity at all) but there is something funny about the iconic image and persona of Jesus in his off-white robe and leather sandals that transcends time. During ski season, in the present era, I had this experience. I was staying in a ski condo with my family, tired after a day out on the slopes, and decided that the family would watch a movie together to relax and have a few laughs. My husband and I had seen the movie ‘Amelie’ at our local Cinema Arts Center a few years before and we loved it so much that I thought it was time to share the film with my daughters who were now on their mid to late teens. I put the DVD in the player while the family was getting ready to be cozy with their PJ’s figuring I would set the film up before they flopped onto the couch. When it comes to TV remotes, however, I am a technologically-challenged Mom (I know I am not alone because I saw a Modern Family episode a few seasons ago where Claire had to ‘train’ with her tech-savvy daughter to counter Phil’s spot-on accusation that she was useless with the remote). I pressed what I thought was the ‘play’ button but did not get ‘Amelie” but an episode of “The Bible’ on the History Channel. I had read decent reviews of its depiction of the life of Christ and so I figured I’d watch while I waited for my family to join me for ‘Amelie’. The episode was Christ in the Temple in Jerusalem and as Christ upbraided the moneylenders and upended their tables, there was carnival-like music in the background which as I watched I said out loud to my family, “I don’t know why the critics liked this production – it’s too modern – its like Christ is in a circus and its drowning out what he’s saying – Coppola’s ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ was so much better than this…” and as I watched and grew to dislike it more and more, and continued to complain about the horrible soundtrack, I realized that the music was the french accordion intro to the ‘Amelie’ DVD playing over Jesus’s temple tantrum. My family rushed in the room wondering what was getting me riled only to find me laughing hysterically and when they saw Jesus at this point speaking his sermon with the daffy french music in the background, they joined in the laughfest. Yes, there is something funny about Jesus!
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