140 Characters or Less

Description

Imagine Jesus in the 21st century being able to connect to his followers all around the world, in the moment, in 140 characters or less. But this is not the story of a miracle worker, just a humble human being who has risen to fame and put on a pedestal, seen through the eyes of the media and her loyal fans, her followers.

Melissa Oh is idolised for her work in the music industry and conveyed as some sort of goddess by the media. We see her life from the perspective of her followers, how the media portrays her, added by her own commentary through social networking sites. She is humbled by her success and uses social networking to reach out to her followers about media stories and paparazzi shots, perhaps enlightening a few people along the way.

When a fan reaches out to her about their sick brother, it is here, for the first time, that it is not the media or the fans perception, but Melissa’s true nature coming to light. As she sits at the bedside of a dying follower, crying, this is where we realise, she is only human.

Biblical Connection

The stimulus for this story comes from the verse John 11:35, which is simply “Jesus wept.” (KJV). Although it is famous for being the shortest verse in the Bible, it is it’s context and interpretation which I find most fascinating. It is here where we remember that the Son of God was born of woman. He is human, maybe not wholly, but when he sees the pain of his friends and followers, he feels the pain of his friends and followers. In that moment, he stops being holy and we see his humanity. I was intrigued by this idea that when someone is as unimaginably as amazing as Jesus is, we forget their human side. Such is the case for the way the media laud upon celebrities. No one on this Earth is Jesus, but the way he was passionately and wholeheartedly followed by a devoted group of people is akin to today’s celebrity and their followers. So if Jesus were walking this Earth today, what would his life be like?