Dallas Jenkins

Welcome to Yes or No, the bibulous battle to discover who knows whom better.

My guest today is Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of The Chosen.

Here is how it works.

I will ask Dallas a yes or no question.

He will lock in his answer away from my prying eyes.

Then I will try to guess what he chose.

If I guess incorrectly, I lose a point.

No matter what, I will end up drinking.

It does not depict the transfiguration, which is one of the crazier... kind of visual moments.

So, and I haven't read anything as to why Dallas Jenkins and other creatives behind the series have chosen this path, but my interpretation, my assumption is they wanted to make a series where that... profoundly humanizes Jesus.

Yeah.

And so the more transcendent elements of the gospels that really depict Jesus to be very divine, otherworldly, mysterious, even frightening at times, they've downplayed or diminished or eliminated entirely.

But that interesting part of Mormon teaching and theology is...

I just think there's so many stretches you have to make here.

The Mormon teaching that some tribes from ancient Israel somehow made it to the Americas and became the peoples that we know as Native Americans, that somehow that then relates to the fact that Dallas Jenkins depicts angels in The Chosen as vaguely Native American I can understand that if Mormon teaching said that angels had some connection to Native American, but it's just like, so come on, you're just grasping at straws at this point to come up with some nefarious reason here.

I'd be delighted if it was true, because I like a good conspiracy theory, but alas, I can't quite buy it.

mom's probably like checking out your groceries

literally so talking about the visuals its visual influences include wes anderson and jojo rabbit that's what the director said dallas jenkins cited both alongside norman rockwell paintings okay

i can get the norman rockwell painting of it all

yeah

So, the Christian intent was deliberate.

Producers said they passed on an earlier direction because it felt like they were taking Christ out of the story.

Hiring Dallas Jenkins, the creator of The Chosen, helped them persevere the focus.

Kara, what is The Chosen? The Chosen is a historical drama series about the life of Jesus, told largely through the people around him, including his disciples, Mary Magdalene, and their families.

If you guys haven't been keeping up, The Chosen released another teaser from season six, and it absolutely sent X, in particular, in a polarized state of hyper cynicism and mania.

I even got an exclusive from Dallas Jenkins, the showrunner creator of The Chosen, that I will read to you guys later in response to some of this drama.

That's right, we got an exclusive here.

But if you're new here, guys, my name is Ruslan.

So the first text message I...

I got it said, tell me that clip from The Chosen ain't real.

And I thought this is in regards to our Merchant episode, right? Where I'm pitching Dallas Jenkins, who's a dear friend of mine, by the way.

So you have full discretion of my bias in this.

All right, guys.

Dallas Jenkins and The Chosen is in hot water for supposedly incorporating some more Mormon doctrine into the latest season of The Chosen specifically.

Native American imagery in some of the angels that showed up in the latest trailer of The Chosen.

Now, is this Dallas Jenkins finally understanding the three Nephites were indeed there? Or...

Is this just a bunch of hullabaloo? We have an exclusive Inside Peak.

I've spoken with some of the producers.

Oh, I'm sure the internet is ablaze right now.

Yeah, the internet is not just ablaze, but they are getting absolutely lambasted as having, once again, Trojan-horsed Mormon doctrine.

And of course, if you go back to when they had the big debacle about their actors getting up in an uproar because there was a pride flag on set.

uh pride flag on set i think i said that right and um they all defended it and it was like okay guys you now now and dallas dallas jenkins literally he thrives on controversy and he sells based on controversy um And so I see what he's doing.

I don't think it's right.

I don't think it's good.

In my opinion, they've given people the impression and they, they haven't tried to clarify it again.

Yeah.

The other thing that Dallas Jenkins has made it very clear about is that this is not a nonprofit.

It is definitely a money-making venture.