Judging a Movie About Jesus?
By
Alex Rivero
3/3/04
Amidst
a seemingly dull late-winter movie lineup, The Passion of The Christ, a dramatic
film directed and funded by actor Mel Gibson, will probably do more than simply
spunk up box office ticket sales over the next several weeks. Having already
inflated to international fame prior to its initial release on February 25, the
film has set certain members of the Jewish community ablaze in anger over the
possibility that it might be tainted with several elements of anti-Semitism.
Despite the many accusations, Gibson fervently denies holding any such views,
vowing that the film “is about faith, hope, love, and forgiveness. It’s
about Christ’s sacrifice.” Vast media coverage has wholly added to the
film’s potential success at theaters across the globe. From gossip-bunnies
venturing to see personally if all of the “excessively violent” hoopla about
the film is true, to the more cultured crowd willing to forego the entirely
Aramaic script and witness Gibson’s portrayal of the Gospel testimonies, The
Passion has every ingredient with which to earn a number one ranking in the
billboards. However, that wasn’t the director’s intentions while making the movie, which he says is the final product of deep,
reflective meditation that saved his life several years ago. Gibson claims to have wanted to
show the sheer magnitude of Christ’ sacrifice for mankind. His depiction of
Jesus’ final twelve hours on earth, he says, although violently graphic to
some, provides the viewer with a realistic sense of what He underwent. “I wanted it to be shocking,” Gibson said.
“And I also wanted it to be extreme. I wanted it to push the viewer over the
edge … so that they see the enormity–the enormity of that sacrifice – to
see that someone could endure that and still come back with love and
forgiveness, even through extreme pain and suffering and ridicule.” Gibson’s
film represents both analyzed biblical versions of the events leading up to
Jesus’ death and his own depiction of it. Carefully reading and picking apart
the movie’s storyline in the New Testament, Gibson decided to opt out certain
minor aspects and focus more on the core plot. Most of the media frenzy,
however, has had little to do with the actual storyline of the film, instead
revolving around several statements made by Gibson’s father,
eighty-five-year-old Hutton Gibson, about the Jewish community. The elder Gibson
claims that the immense wave of horror surrounding the Holocaust during World War II is, in large part, a myth.
“It’s all – maybe not all
fiction – but most of it is.” Naturally, with comments like these exposed
to the public, tempers will rise, words will be exchanged, and, ultimately, the
controversy revolving around the actual movie will gain momentum.
Yet, however flagrant the film may seem to appear for some, let us not be ones to judge it based entirely upon the opinions of a selected few that have seen it. If interested, alarmed, intrigued, or curious at all about The Passion of The Christ, avoid the tabloids for a few days. Instead, go out and experience it for yourself, carrying as much of an objective mindset as possible.
