Why Was BBC’s The Nativity A Naivete?

Was BBC’s popular 2010 “The Nativity,” really a cynical rewrite of Biblical history? Was Mary really near hysterical in birthing ala Hillary in politics & Joseph a self-righteous Joe who for months insufferably treated his wife like a tramp?

Yet these were just two of the script’s rewriting of Christ’s birth as detailed, if incompletely, in the Gospels of Luke & Matthew. If you believe the BBC hype to sell the series it’s now resurrected for the holidays on Prime Video & iTunes, “writer Tony Jordan transforms a classic tale … as you’ve never seen it before.” What an understatement. Didn’t Mary & related elderly (suddenly no longer barren) Elizabeth both testify they instantly knew each other’s miraculous conception when they met shortly thereafter? And, that they instantly connected the dots with Gabriel’s annunciation of the Savior’s birth? Didn’t a tested Mary wait to tell Joseph of the Archangel’s devastating yet marvelous message from God so HE could tell him as well? As another test if you will, this time of Joseph finally being informed in a dream, who then immediately knew Mary had been telling the truth & rededicated himself to her & the unborn before their long, dangerous march to Bethlehem? You’d be informed quite otherwise by script writer Jordan on these & other ancient facts. Indeed, The Nativity’s disbelieving characters act as if they are singing the “Lady Is A Tramp” song in 1937’s “Babes in Arms” musical. Perhaps worst was the idea that a begging for help Joseph was told by a friend named Rachel (as well as many others) in Bethlehem to take his whore elsewhere.

What a disappointing media mashing of the Bible rather than even trying to follow the undisputed parts in its stories of God’s coming to save mankind based on eyewitness accounts. Of course, we’d have expected Jordan to logically fill in the blanks as any good journalist if not script writer would do. But, what was the name of Jordan’s mid-wife who now, supposedly helped a cluelessly distraught Mary deliver Jesus while angry as hell Joseph sat nearby, his head in his hands? Follow the largely made-up script. Pick a name out of a hat.

Davd Soul