fat christ

this theatre poster has been banned from the tube in case it causes offence, but it made me laugh because it [and the situation - an actor told he is too fat to play jesus] are the perfect illustration for this piece that i wrote years ago for grace. i wish i'd called the article 'fat christ' now ;)

in fact the original version of the article wondered more about medieval depictions of the suffering christ and 'man of sorrows' as aids to affective piety, which would have been derailed by evidence of good living in the style of friar tuck. which is a long way of saying, you feel sorry for him if he's emaciated but less so if he's fat. but as we've rediscovered the feasting and partyloving jesus in recent years, should we change our images of him to suit?