Going on a rant here but it’s frustrating how people don’t seem to understand what Jesus Christ Superstar is about.

Jesus Christ Superstar isn’t about religion. And it isn’t about revolution. The background & context of the show is religion & revolution but that’s not the story.

Jesus Christ Superstar is about wrestling w/ how people respond in different ways to unbeatable oppression. When there is no chance oppression ends, how does one cope?

In Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas doesn’t betray Jesus for religious or personal reasons. He loves Jesus. But he is terrified that one man’s stance is too loud & calls too much attention from unbeatable oppressions.

“Do you care for your race? Don’t you see we must keep in our place. We are occupied. Have you forgotten how put down we are?”

To Judas, physically saving his people is what matters. Even if that means betraying a friend. But to Jesus, what matters is giving his people hope to cope w/ that oppression.

There’s a song in Jesus Christ Superstar about revolution, sure. And Jesus shoots it down by pointing out that it’s ultimately pointless. Everyone knows it’s pointless. They just don’t agree on how to cope.

The priests see Jesus as a danger to the people b/c Rome is stronger. Judas agreed. Jesus believes that danger doesn’t matter. Ultimately Jesus Christ Superstar is about asking the audience to decide which of these choices they can live w/.

B/c the thing is, Judas can’t live w/ his decision even though he knows it’s correct. And that’s the reality of Jesus Christ Superstar, a reality where no choice is right but you are forced to choose right-enough in a world w/o options.

If you think Jesus Christ Superstar is about fighting Rome, or about Jesus struggling w/ divinity, or Judas unsure if the man he loves is God, you have profoundly missed the point.

B/c Jesus Christ Superstar is about such a basic concept as surviving under oppression, it can & is successfully shifted in context. You can really make it about anything. Moral compromises under oppressors is, sadly, a story w/ 100s of examples.

But if you shift the context to focusing on revolution, or this noble sacrifice narrative, it’s not Jesus Christ Superstar anymore. That’s some other show, sorry