“It’s gory, bloody, dirty”, Racist and Sexist, With Devil Character Resembling Obama – Will Aussies Watch ‘The Bible’?
Producer and reality TV guru Mark Brunett, famous for TV franchises Survivor, The Apprentice, The Celebrity Apprentice and Shark Tank, hopes that Aussies will welcome 'The Bible' in its launching tonight at Channel 9.
'The Bible' is a 10-part mini-series created and financed by Burnett and his wife Roma Downey. The show had already enjoyed 13 million viewers in the U.S. in its debut and had been watched by 100 million Americans, repeat episodes included.
In an interview with APN via phone from Los Angeles, Burnett shared that "We've made a lot of TV shows as a couple, separately and together, and in the past 12 months in America five nights out of seven we've had number one shows. We've been used to knowing what that feels like. Nothing had prepared us for how our beloved series The Bible would set America on fire."
"Never in our lives have we been approached in the street or airports that many times about any series."
Burnett said that the series is an adaptation of The Bible and the show is primarily aimed for people to talk about the Bible."
"It would be very odd if someone walked up to you and said let's talk about the bible. You'd probably be taken aback. But if they come up and say did you see the Bible series? Let's talk about that, then you'd be much more open to discuss it. There might be some slight inaccuracies or additions here and there, but that is to make it a connective story for TV. The outcome is a giving of permission for people to discuss the Bible and connect more."
"These are stories we all grew up with and know. But even people who have never heard these stories will be emotionally connected. You will be able to feel what it were like to be these people. It's gory, bloody, and dirty. The actors don't look like they stepped out of a dry cleaner's."
"We worked on this for about four years. It took a long time to figure out how to approach it. Thematically it's a love story, with so many mistakes made by beloved characters."
Mr Burnett shared that the mini-series was filmed on location in Morocco. The story tackles biblical character's lives from the Book of Genesis to the Book of Revelation.
According to an article from The Red&Black, The Bible is surrounded with controversy provoked by accusations of sexism and racism as how the story retold the lives of David, Bathseba and Samson. What made it more controversial was that a Devil character's make-up somewhat resembles President Barack Obama's appearance.
The article said that when people who devote their entire time studying the Bible were asked, the show was painted in a different light - "one of narrative over accuracy and controversy before correctness."
In an interview with The Red&Black, Tyler Kelley, a University of Georgia master;s student studying the Hebrew Bible, said, "The first problem, as I see it, is that rather than asking biblical scholars about the Bible, they asked preachers and theologians. These people may have value for understanding the Bible, but they're not experts on the Bible as text. These are not the people that you should be talking to if you want to make a show and have it be something that is factual and coherent."
Ms Kelley further explained, "The thing is, the Bible would make a great story if someone would just do it, rather than try and make it fancy. There's plenty of sex and violence, all the stuff that people like to watch. Instead, they've gotta jazz it up and change the meaning of everything."