EconoPundit - Mel Gibson's "The Passion of Christ" -- a Brief Provisional Review
First, on the plus side there's the language -- absolutely stunning (albeit with an occasional, odd-sounding Scandinavian ring that makes you wonder exactly whose Aramaic or Latin is being spoken here). Anyone with a smattering of prayerbook Hebrew or church Latin will find themselves actually understanding what's going on from time to time.
Second, on the minus side, there's the graphic practically nonstop violence. This movie is not for everyone. But since pain and its acceptance for higher purpose is the central point of the project, a toned-down version would make little sense. Are there universals here non-Christians can relate to? The answer is definitely "yes." Just as the violence repels you, so the varying responses to this violence by Jesus' family and followers, by his enemies, by the crowd, and even by his soldier-tormentors, holds your attention in riveting fashion.
Finally, are the critics justified in their condemnation? I think the answer is "yes" -- Jews (in the form of the Temple Priesthood) are unequivocally held responsible by this screenplay for the death of Jesus. Those who want the story to justify their anti-Jewish feelings will easily find what they want here. But on the other hand what's also portrayed is a kind of Jew-on-Jew sectarian mob violence that became commonplace during the Great Revolt seventy years later. Gibson and his special effects crew place flowing images of Satan and his grotesque Satanic henchmen within the mob, heightening the violence, urging the crowds on. Anyone reading Josephus' accounts of the Great Revolt might well suspect Satan had actually been there exactly as portrayed by director Gibson. |
