Sit back, relax, and let the leavened bread rise and wine flow as you enjoy Gay Jesus, the latest short film and creative baby of Seattle local Aaron Jin.
This isn’t your typical SIFF indie film though. In a three-part comedy skit series, Jin pokes fun at — and breathes new life into — some of the most iconic moments in the Christian canon: the song of God’s birth, miracles, and resurrection.
His twist? He is far from the straitlaced main character of Christianity’s origin story we all know. He’s a Gay POC, played by Capitol Hill local Chip Sherman.
And unlike other such interpretations, Jin’s work isn’t a radical undermining of the standard story. For him, it’s simply a message to the world that he thinks Jesus could be anyone. Jin’s take is playful, gentle, and refreshingly... joyful. While other works featuring the same idea of a Queer Jesus tend to carry heavy or melodramatic tones, Jin’s work remains campy and lighthearted.
Gay Jesus is about not taking life too seriously, that perhaps as humans, our origin may be far more simple and happy than many religions believe. It’s a message that our fundamentals are ones of unity, inclusivity, and laughter.
“Let people live. Let people love. That’s my sermon.” said Jin.
Timely but lighthearted
In addition to the hilarity of the film, Gay Jesus is timely.
“There is a lot of unfounded fear and legislation being pursued against Trans and Queer people. My queerness has brought me nothing but love, joy, and so much laughter. So I celebrate my identity through my art,” said Jin.
Each sketch in the series takes a familiar biblical scene and tilts it sideways. But instead of mocking religion, Jin uses humor to open a door. Gay Jesus invites the viewer to imagine what holiness might look like if it were less about fear and more about love — in all its messy, campy and divine forms.
“For me it’s all about the connection to my audience,” said Jin.
And although the message of Jin’s film is lighthearted, he took its production as seriously as any blockbuster.
“Some of the crew were like, ‘Are you having fun? I feel like you're not smiling,’” he said.
But for Jin, that’s simply professionalism.
“I’m always having fun, but I take it seriously,” he said.
Filmed on sacred ground
Much of Gay Jesus was filmed on location in our very own Capitol Hill neighborhood — not just as a setting but as a spiritual landscape. The bars, the parks, the churches, the streets — it’s all part of Jin’s mythology.
Pop in for a cocktail at the classic Queer watering hole, CC’s. You might just catch a peek of Jesus himself. Jin says he’s a local at the pub.
Irony is far from dead in Gay Jesus as well: the Last Supper was filmed in the All Pilgrims Church, a cornerstone of spirituality on Capitol Hill. The church, constructed in 1906, has become a haven for the LGBTQ+ community, hosting Pride interfaith services and even Queer line dancing on Tuesday nights.
The most radical part of Gay Jesus might not be the concept itself but how it was made. Self-funded through Kickstarter and shot on a shoestring budget, Jin’s project follows the economics of independent film with a twist: he’s not trying to monetize it. He’s trying to give it away.
“Film is one of the only things where you can spend hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars to make something,” Jin said, “but everyone else gets to access it for ten bucks, or free. It’s a gift.”
And that’s what Gay Jesus is: a gift — to the Queer kids growing up in conservative churches, to the adults who are still healing to anyone who needs to be reminded that laughter is sacred, and that love, in all its forms, is worth worshipping.
Amen.
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