Brazilian Judge Orders Removal of Porta dos Fundos’ Gay Jesus Christmas Comedy Special “The First Temptation of Christ” Setting a Dangerous New Precedent for Free Speech
Porta dos Fundos is a wildly popular Portugese language YouTube Channel that got a chance to make a very satirical Christmas special The First Temptation of Christ for Netflix where they depict Jesus having a secret gay boyfriend. From what clips we’ve seen, it seems to carry a light romantic comedy vibe to it, which makes the fundamentalist uproar just a little more shocking.
Christian and catholic groups in Brazil were furious at this satire and demanded that the special be taken down and Porta dos Fundos’ headquarters even got bombed with a molotov cocktail on Christmas Eve (thankfully, no one was injured and a guard was present to extinguish the fire). All of this seems eerily similar to fundamentalist responses to satirical depictions of the prophet Muhammad that the world has seen over the score of years.
A Brazilian judge ruled against Porta dos Fundos and ordered the special to be taken down for what he believes is the greater good or, more explicitly:
In his ruling, Abicair said the injunction “is beneficial not only to the Christian community, but to Brazilian society, which is mostly Christian.”
Well, the seeds of so much discord have just been planted here with this decision, not to mention the clear message that “you’re not allowed to upset the Christian faithful in Brazil lest you want to get your workplace torched,” being sent.
We won’t be surprised if we see a slight uptick in Brazilian comedians trying to find their way to America in 2020.