American Gods debuted its first version of Jesus in a recent episode, depicting the Son of God walking on water to save Mexican immigrants.
The opening scene shows “Mexican Jesus” helping immigrants moments before he is brutally attacked by border militia.
“The moment where the sinking swimmer sees Christ walking on water, we didn’t want that to be a giggle,” showrunner Michael Green tells EW.
“We wanted that to be a moment where we actually felt, as a deeply believing Catholic might, that they’ve just come very, very close to the Divine, and that the Divine cares; that the Divine is watching out for you and the Divine will actively reach a hand out to help you survive to reach your dream. Then the Divine, which is an aspect of yourself as much as you are an aspect of it, is then susceptible to the same dangers you are. The Divine’s blood is spilled along with your own. It became very upsetting to watch for us as well, as the anti-immigrant and especially anti-Latin American rhetoric in this country has metastasized. Long quiet racists have become emboldened,” Green continues.
This “Mexican Jesus,” is just one of many iterations of Christ expected to appear on the Starz show.
“Well, you got your white Jesuit-style Jesus, you got your black African Jesus, you got your brown Mexican Jesus, you got your swarthy Greek Jesus,” character Mr. Wednesday says in a recent episode.
Based on the novel by Neil Gaimain, American Gods examines how the old gods of folklore struggle to be revered and remembered in an age of new gods like technology and media.
