When it comes to art, I am aware that everyone has different opinions and, most importantly, different interpretations of the same media... but still, I couldn't help but be very surprised when I saw so many people thinking that, in Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus was actually the son of god when to me it was always obvious that he wasn't...
I am now going to share my point of view (while being aware, ofc, that I am not all-knowing and respecting people who disagree with me ^^) of why I think the musical makes more sense and is WAY MORE TRAGIC if we assume that God doesn't exist in JCS universe.
First of all, I always felt that JCS shows religion as it is: a coping mechanism (and I'm not talking about the 50 000 assholes of Simon's song who just want to be told that they're saved and will go to Heaven without doing anything to deserve it). The only people we see praying are Jesus in the gardens of Gethsamane and Judas before he hangs himself. People who KNOW they are about to die and who try to find a reason for that, especially Judas because it's not particularly easy to face the facts and be like "Oh, so the man I loved manipulated me into killing him and now he's about to die for nothing and my utterly failed life is just meaningless", it's easier to blame a god. It's easier to blame an all-powerful entity when reality is too cruel to bear, Judas just can't believe that his mistake was just a mistake with dreadful consequences, he needs someone to blame. But there's no one. Jesus was suicidal and wanted to die: he did and dragged Judas with him and that's where the story ends.
Seeing a man about to commit suicide yelling at a no one he decided was guilty because he can't face the fact that the death of the man he loves (which he partially caused) is inevitable and just so useless so it HAD to be part of a greater something (God's plan) had me burst into tears. I don't think I'd have cried that much if I had assumed that God existed in this universe.
Same with "Gethsamane". I feel so powerless and devastated when I see this poor man finally getting scared of a death he wanted ("To conquer death you only have to die" => this is not something someone with a good mental health would say; "After all I've tried for 3 years, feels like 30/90" => he's tired, he wants to stop but he can't bc Judas was right it has gone too far so his only way out is suicide) and struggling like a mess with his schizophrenia, fears and suicidal thoughts and no one is listening. Not his friends who are sleeping nor God who's never been there.
And of course, what the non-existence of God implies for Peter's betrayal is just soul crushing. Because Magdalena's "I wonder how he knew" can still be answered but this time, it's not because he's the all-knowing son of god, it's because... yk... he knows his friends ?! He spent 3 years with Peter, he knows him, he knows all of his apostles, he learned to know them in three years ! And in the time it took this deeply empathic, emotionnally intelligent and kind man to know 13 (I include Mary) people to the point where he could anticipate their actions almost for certain, NONE OF THEM (except for Judas, obviously) realized that he was constantly on the verge of suicide. This is just so sadly true, it's, most of the time, after someone commits suicide that their friends realize the signs were there all along...
I feel like assuming that God doesn't exist in JCS makes the story look like a Shakespearian tragedy about love, betrayal, manipulation and madness and really allows me to be obsessed with it so I just wanted to share this interpretation in hope it resonnates with at least someone else's, bye and kisses ๐ค.
(Oh ! And since I hate using medical words randomly, I wanted to make this precision: I actually believe that, in Jesus Christ Superstar, Jesus is schizophrenic, he shows quite a number of symptoms...
-Hallucinations (most schizophrenic people hear voices)
-Feeling of being persecuted ("There is not a man among you who knows or cares if I come or go !")
-Megalomania or thinking oneself capable of impossible deeds (I think this one explains itself)
-Reduced communication and emotivity (the second one depends on the production but we're all thinking abt the 1973 movie rn)
-Incoherent speeches and difficulties at being understood
-Inability to plan anything (and you end up shouting "WHY SHOULD YOU WANT TO KNOW ????" when asked about your plans)
-One schyzophrenic person out of two will try to commit suicide
My sources if you care: https://www.inserm.fr/dossier/schizophrenie/ (yes, it's in french sorry ๐ฌ))
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