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The Passion of the Christ |
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The New Yorker warns their highbrow audience that The Passion of The Christ “falls in danger of altering Jesus’ message of love into one of hate.” “The Passion does not just mention in passing but is centered, dramatically, on the culpability of the Jews,” claims the Los Angeles Times. Similarly, movie reviewer - Kirk Honeycutt rants, “[viewers] will be troubled by the film’s staunch adherence to a story line and characters that have been used by bigots to fuel hatred for centuries.” The spin in the Arizona Daily Star is that, “Gibson seems to edge from tribute [to Christ] to sadism.” Christy Lemire of the AP moans, “Just think of the trauma [The Passion of the Christ] will inflict on children.”
Hello! The film is rated ‘R’. What reviewer would criticize Mystic River, for example, for the exposing children to heartbreaking tragedy?
The reviews above have well been called, “unfair”. But the title of ‘ultracrepidarian’ (An extreme form of the Peter Principle - as it pertains to criticism) goes to The New York Daily News; incredibly, their published opinion is that, “The Passion of The Christ is the most virulently anti-Semitic movie made since the German propaganda films of World War II.” Please!
Is The Passion of the Christ anti-Semitic? Like the artist, Apelles, Mel Gibson arranged for his art to be placarded about town. Hiding in the shadows, he listened carefully to constructive criticism. While the charges of Jew-baiting were never true, Gibson was sensitive enough to remove scripture passages like Matthew 27:25 from the subtitles. Similarly, in response to charges of gratuitous violence, Gibson actually “dialed back” the torture scenes. “To have fully depicted the Biblical account,” he said, “would have rendered Christ unrecognizable as a human being”. Emboldened by Gibson’s humility, critics ventured to comment about things they knew nothing of. For example, some began to claim that the film twisted and perverted the message of the Bible. When faced with these charges, the producer replied, “These people don’t have a problem with me - but with the Gospels.” To those who promote themselves as authorities on the Gospels but haven’t actually read the book, we must observe with Pliny, “ne supra crepidam judicaret” (don’t judge beyond the sandals). Cobblers may speak of shoe repair but not hermeneutics.
The film is not perfect; criticisms of: cinematographic convention, artistry, the craft of story-telling, plot construction, costume design and character development all have their place. But when newspapers transform themselves into platforms of prejudice, even dogs are bound to bark. While most of us know very little about movie making, we all have some sense of justice and fair play. And it is patently unfair that Gibson should be made the whipping boy of the tinsel-town elite. Some of them have even gone so far as to condemn him for his father’s views. Mel’s father is obviously misguided and opinionated. However, it is not fair to tar Gibson the Younger with the same brush as Gibson the Elder.
Notwithstanding – guilt must be apportioned; it is only natural that we should want someone to take the rap for the Jesus’ torturous death. Who was to blame? Perhaps Rembrandt had it right. In his painting of Christ’s Passion, he daubed the likeness of himself in the gawking crowd. “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” asks the gospel hymn. When we really understand Christ’s passion, only one answer will suffice. We sometimes speak of the driving force behind someone’s life as their ‘passion’. What is The Passion of the Christ? What motivated Him to become a man and humble himself even to the extent of dying on a cross? It was His passion. He was driven to see humanity gathered before His Father’s throne in worship. He was so madly in love with you and me that he was willing to face anything to include us in His eternal relationship with the Father. The Passion translates The Seven Last Words of Christ as, “I’d rather die than let you go.” Transformation is promised to those who realize, accept and confess the fact that Jesus gave himself to fulfill this passion. Do you still wonder, “What’s all the fuss about The Passion of the Christ?” Don’t you see? … YOU are His passion.
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