Pornography was legalized in Denmark on July 1st, 1969. One of the first countries to allow the film genre to proliferate legally. A triumph in the world of nymphomaniacs and sexual deviants everywhere (well, at least in Denmark).
It was time to celebrate this “sex”-cellent news. Jens Jørgen Thorsen had the perfect plan in mind. He was going to make a pornographic film called “The Love Affairs of Jesus” which featured Jesus as a lover to both John the Baptist and Mary Magdalene as well as a drunkard and a robber.
The film was ultimately abandoned and never finished.
Why? In such exciting times, it would be a dream to produce something so scandalous. Apparently fundamentalist christians have a limit on their aesthetic scandals. Numerous christians throughout Europe were outraged.
Thorsen was specifically rejected from filming in France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Britain, and the United States for its defamation of Jesus Christ. He made petitions for as many countries as he could in and surrounding Europe, but all of them refused to produce or publicize his work. British authorities had maybe the strongest protest against Thorsen. He had traveled to London through Heathrow Airport, and the immigration officers present refused to let him stay because he was carrying a copy of “The Sex Life of Jesus Christ” script with him. The pornography was in production limbo because of the widespread distaste for it.
Many public figures also voiced their opposition to the film. Queen Elizabeth the II called it “obnoxious” and Pope Paul VI “charged that the proposed motion picture ‘intends to deform the untouchable figure of our Saviour’” (New York Times).
The controversy regarding the film got so intense that it resulted in a lawsuit against Thorsen within Denmark. The prosecutors were making the claim that he was violating the moral rights of the original apostles who wrote the Bible with his screenplay. Ultimately, Thorsen was found not guilty, however, the government would still not be giving him funding or authority to make his film (Danish Blue).
Eventually, he went on to make the film The Return, which is an empty shell of his initial idea without the pornography and criminal behavior in Thorsen’s vision. Behind the scenes footage is featured at the beginning of this article.
Thorsen’s motivation for making his films was to disturb the comfortable members of society. His goals were to provoke the masses, and he completely succeeded in provoking every single country he attempted to produce the film in. The restriction of art, while sometimes enhancing creativity, can also be to its detriment. As reflected in the failed ideas of “The Love Affairs of Jesus,” the satirization of Christianity was not a line that could be crossed within western society without heavy backlash. The extreme censorship of Thorsen’s film due to the christian majority’s dissent resulted in a lackluster film that didn’t have the same punch or critique of society as his ideal vision. It’s a crime against film, and almost was a crime against Denmark.
It’s a good thing that God “spared” Jens Jørgen Thorsen from unnecessary and unjust imprisonment.
Hi Zoe!
This was such a compelling read, and it presented a topic I had no prior knowledge of. This topic is deeply related to so much of our course content, specifically in the final few weeks of the semester, with censorship amongst artists. Jens Jørgen Thorsen is a perfect representation of all artists who push the boundaries of what is acceptable and offensive in the art world. While I’m sure many people argued that a pornographic film about Jesus has zero benefit to the entertainment world, it can also be seen as a commentary on the sexual repression often seen in Christian communities – and this was only amplified by people’s appalled reactions. Defacing the symbol of Jesus is one thing, but to associate him with sex and pornography shoots right at the center of Christian morals, and would have served as such an interesting foil to the images of organized religion. The sheer number of countries that refused his work and essentially blacklisted him is wild, but not shocking, and it deeply exposes the consequences for artists who desire to comment on religion.
Interesting Article! I wonder what would have transpired if the film ever did get produced and finished. Who would see it? How? With such restriction on just the production, I can’t imagine the distribution or screening of the film would have had a chance. Religion is unique as a societal boundary that continues to be widely respected even today. While other aspects of identity are often challenged or violated for artistic purposes, it’s interesting that religion remains such a sensitive line to cross.
Hey Zoe!
Great job telling Jens Jørgen Thorsen’s story. I had no context for any of this but you succinctly covered all of the necessary information to provide not just context for his obscene film but to demonstrate its value as an artistic triumph. The outrage and scandal caused by the technically legal “The Love Affairs of Jesus” puts Thorsen’s work in a niche between art and crime, making a fascinating case study of how artists are uniquely equipped to combat politics.