The First Temptation of Christ – Picture: Porta dos Fundos
The Portuguese comedy special from Porta dos Fundos which arrived on Netflix a couple of years ago seemingly is set to depart the service after not even two years.
The comedy special is perhaps one of the most controversial releases in Netflix’s history. It comes from a comedy troupe Porta dos Fundos who are similar to the likes of Monty Python, The Lonely Island, or Aunty Donna.
It’s controversial because of its subject matter which scored it plenty of criticism both online and offline. The parody film depicts Jesus returning home to a surprise 30th birthday party where his true parent is revealed. Notably, the title depicts Jesus being gay.
The 46-minute special was added to Netflix on December 3rd, 2019 and was dubbed as a “Christmas special”.
The controversy surrounding the title particularly in Brazil should not be understated.
The release of the title led to attacks on the HQ of the comedy troupe with reporting of Molotov cocktails being thrown at the building where they reside.
A petition was soon set up after the title was announced for Netflix which has garnered 2.4 million signatures with signatures still being added nearly two years later.
Another online petition to get the title removed from Netflix set up two years ago recently hit 240,000 signatures. The petition states:
“This is far from funny but downright disrespectful and a highly offensive degradation of Jesus Christ.
This mockery of Jesus should not be deemed as satire but an intentional attempt to attack the fundamental beliefs that uphold the Christian faith. It is anti-Christ in every sense of the word and a direct demonstration of hatred against all who profess to be bible-believing Christians.”
A court case in Brazil (where the special was produced) gained mainstream media attention too. The case originally began with Netflix having to take down the special after a court ruling but was then overturned after an official complaint from Netflix with the president of Brazil’s supreme court ruling in favor of the special staying on Netflix.
Now it looks like the title is being removed from Netflix. As of the time of publishing the title in multiple regions including the United States and the United Kingdom are set to lose the title on September 1st, 2021 meaning the last day to watch will be August 31st.
The title notably wasn’t present on the PR “leaving soon” release from Netflix but we will be including it on our leaving soon posts to accurately reflect what’s currently set to leave Netflix.
Why the show is leaving now is unclear. Typically Netflix Originals leave for two reasons. One, via legal obligations or two the license has expired. In the second case, titles are often licensed in yearly intervals which is not the case here. We’re collating a full list of Netflix Original removals via our dedicated article.
We have reached out to Porta dos Fundos for comment.
What do you think about the removal of The First Temptation of Christ from Netflix? Let us know in the comments.