Jesus Christ Superstar

For those of you who've never seen this musical, I urge you to see it. The songs are fantastic! I've recently procured the 2000 version of the musical, and there also exists a movie version made in the 70's. It is the Christ story from a completely different and most unlikely point of view--Judas Iscariot's! For those staunch Christian activists who read this, pardon me, don't bomb me, I'm Christian too. (When the movie version was released back then, several cinemas were bombed, and protests were held in lots of places.) Anyway, back to the musical. It is a most astonishing rework of the biblical story, and examines what might have been the thoughts and feelings of the central characters and their reaction to events. Very psychological and intriguing. It actually also raised some questions which I have thought of all this while after having read the gospels. Why did Jesus have to die? If so, was Judas meant to betray him? Was Judas really evil, or was he part of the divine plan? Or was he just simply fallible, like anyone else, like you or me? Why did his name have to live through the ages in infamy? If Judas didn't succumb to evil, would the Christ story still work? For those of you who only see one side of the story, think again. The chorus hauntingly echoes after Judas's suicide--Poor old Judas....so long Judas....

Also, I suspect that the Passion movie by Mel Gibson had been influenced by Superstar, particularly when dealing with the psychological trauma Pilate and Judas went through, and also the debauchery and insanity of Herod's court. I could be wrong, but then again, qui est veritus?