[Mi$$ Thang]

Bet you've all heard about the controversy surrounding this flick. Has anyone seen it?

This was written by Jody Dean, a Dallas, Texas, broadcaster

The Passion of Christ - READ IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!!!!!!

Very interesting read.

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There've been a ton of emails and forwards floating around recently from those who've had the privilege of seeing Mel Gibson's "The Passion Of The Christ" prior to its actual release. I thought I'd give you my reaction after seeing it last night.

The screening was on the first night of "Elevate!", a weekend-long seminar for young people at Preston wood Baptist Church in Plano. There were about 2,000 people there, and the movie was shown after several speakers had taken the podium. It started around 9 and finished around 11...so I reckon the film is about two hours in length. Frankly, I lost complete track of time - so I can't be sure.

I want you to know that I started in broadcasting when I was 13-years-old. I've been in the business of writing, performing, production, and broadcasting for a long time. I've been a part of movies, radio, television, stage and other productions - so I know how things are done. I know about soundtracks and special effects and make-up and screenplays. I think I've seen just about every kind of movie or TV show ever made - from extremely inspirational to extremely gory. I read a lot, too - and have covered stories and scenes that still make me wince. I also have a vivid imagination, and have the ability to picture things as they must have happened - or to anticipate things as they will be portrayed. I've also seen an enormous amount of footage from Gibson's film, so I thought I knew what was coming.

But there is nothing in my existence - nothing I could have read, seen, heard, thought, or known - that could have prepared me for what I saw on screen last night.

This is not a movie that anyone will "like". I don't think it's a movie anyone will "love". It certainly doesn't "entertain". There isn't even the sense that one has just watched a movie. What it is, is an experience - on a level of primary emotion that is scarcely comprehensible. Every shred of human preconception or predisposition is utterly stripped away. No one will eat popcorn during this film. Some may not eat for days after they've seen it. Quite honestly, I wanted to vomit. It hits that hard.

I can see why some people are worried about how the film portrays the Jews. They should be worried. No, it's not anti-Semitic. What it is, is entirely shattering. There are no "winners". No one comes off looking "good" - except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates. As depicted, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day merely do what any of us would have done – and still do. They protected their perceived "place" - their sense of safety and security, and the satisfaction of their own "rightness". But everyone falters. Caiphus judges. Peter denies. Judas betrays. Simon the Cyrene balks. Mark runs away. Pilate equivocates. The crowd mocks. The soldiers laugh. Longinus still stabs with his pilus. The centurion still carries out his orders. And as Jesus fixes them all with a glance, they still turn away. The Jews, the Romans, Jesus' friends - they all fall. Everyone, except the Principal Figure. Heaven sheds a single, mighty tear - and as blood and water spew from His side, the complacency of all creation is eternally shattered.

The film grabs you in the first five seconds, and never lets go. The brutality, humiliation, and gore is almost inconceivable - and still probably doesn't go far enough. The scourging alone seems to never end, and you cringe at the sound and splatter of every blow - no matter how steely your nerves. Even those who have known combat or prison will have trouble, no matter their experience - because this Man was not conscripted. He went willingly, laying down His entirety for all. It is one thing for a soldier to die for his countrymen. It's something else entirely to think of even a common man dying for those who hate and wish to kill him. But this is no common man. This is the King of the Universe. The idea that anyone could or would have gone through such punishment is unthinkable - but this Man was completely innocent, completely holy – and paying the price for others. He screams as He is laid upon the cross, "Father, they don't know. They don't know..."

What Gibson has done is to use all of his considerable skill to portray the most dramatic moment of the most dramatic events since the dawn of time. There is no escape. It's a punch to the gut that puts you on the canvas, and you don't get up. You are simply confronted by the horror of what was done - what had to be done - and why. Throughout the entire film, I found myself apologizing.

What you've heard about how audiences have reacted is true. There was no sound after the film's conclusion. No noise at all. No one got up. No one moved. The only sound one could hear was sobbing. In all my years of public life, I have never heard anything like that.

I told many of you that Gibson had reportedly re-shot the ending to include more "hope" through the Resurrection? That's not true. The Resurrection scene is perhaps the shortest in the entire movie - and yet it packs a punch that can't be quantified. It is perfect. There is no way to negotiate the meaning out of it. It simply asks, "Now, what will you do?"

I'll leave the details to you, in the hope that you will see the film - but one thing above all stands out, and I have to tell you about it. It comes from the end of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness - where the Bible says Satan left him "until a more opportune time". I imagine Satan never quit tempting Christ, but this film captures beyond words the most opportune time. At every step of the way, Satan is there at Jesus' side - imploring Him to quit, reasoning with Him to give up, and seducing Him to surrender. For the first time, one gets an heart-stopping idea of the sense of madness that must have enveloped Jesus - a sense of the evil that was at His very elbow. The physical punishment is relentless - but it's the sense of psychological torture that is most overwhelming. He should have quit. He should have opened His mouth. He should have called 10,000 angels. No one would have blamed Him. What we deserve is obvious. But He couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He didn't do that. He doesn't do that. It was not and is not His character. He was obedient, all the way to the cross - and you feel the real meaning of that phrase in a place the human heart usually doesn't dare to go. You understand that we are called to that same level of obedience. With Jesus' humanity so irresistibly on display, you understand that we have no excuse. There is no place to hide.

The truth is this: Is it just a "movie"? In a way, yes. But it goes far beyond that, in a fashion I've never felt - in any forum. We may think we "know". We know nothing. We've gone 2,000 years - used to the idea of a pleasant story, and a sanitized Christ. We expect the ending, because we've heard it so many times. God forgive us. This film tears that all away. It's is as close as any of us will ever get to knowing, until we fully know. Paul understood. "Be urgent, in and out of season."

Luke wrote that Jesus reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread. Exactly. "The Passion Of The Christ" shows that Bread being broken.

Go see this movie.

[realtime]

I have seen the movie and personally I came away unimpressed. There was so much violence that I started feeling like 'this is ridiculous'. No one can say for sure how much torture Jesus went through, but to dedicate a whole movie to his torture took away any positive messaage that I could have got from the movie

[Casper]

I saw this and there are certain scenes that Gibson intercut with the violence that evened the film out and made you more aware of what Christ went through. You do not come out hating anyone as the media would put it or with any Antisemitic views. It really makes you think. Plus I don't think I have ever left a quiet theatre like the one I did when the movie ended. No one was speaking.

[O_D_D]

> but to dedicate a whole movie to his torture
>took away any positive messaage that I could have got from the
>movie

Kwani you thought Jesus was hanyeing in the final 12 hours of his life? Seems like you missed the point from the get go.

[BABYGIRL156]

Three words for this movie '' WAKE-UP-CALL''. I came out all sick and shaken.I have never seen such a powerful, yet inspiring movie.The torture of Jesus is unbearable and bloody, too much for the stomach like mine to hold .How could human beings be so cruel ? But i give Mel Gibson a 5-star for such a spectacular picture despite all the controversial sorrounding it.Go watch/ a must-see movie, but WARNING,be prepared for it will throw you ! LAKINI HUYO SHETANI NI SURA MBAYA SANA ! HEHEH !!

[OoooH]

> No one can say for sure how much torture Jesus
>went through, but to dedicate a whole movie to his torture
>took away any positive messaage that I could have got from the
>movie
The jamaa came for all of mankinds sins so eventhough the torture was graphic it was symbolic in that sense and for all the non belivers picture that then multiply by infinity hell is for real if the son of god went threw that imagine what hells is like.

[realtime]

To ODD and Oooh,

I think I am familiar with who Jesus is and why he came. The Bible tells his story very compellingly - actually come to think of it, the Bible is the closest thing to a factual documentation of his life, and yet the Bible does not dedicate entire chapters to his torture. Nowhere does the Bible talk about the devil carrying an ugly baby or one of the thieves being pecked to death by a crow.

This movie is simply Mel Gibson's interprettation of that story in the bible and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that except it did not impress me. I thought it was designed to appeal to the emotions of sympathy and fear too strongly for my taste. I would have been better served if there was more focus on Jesus' teachings, or a true historical background on the story.

Instead, although the movie is said to be in Aramaic, its a combination of aramaic and latin - which is kinda disconcerting because Aramaic sounds a bit like Kiswahili (Judas gets thelathini pieces of silver and witnesses are shahidis), while Latin sounds like Italian (someone is called 'idiota'). The parts about the crow and the devil will look very familiar to anyone who has watched the 'Omen' movies which I assume is where Mel Gibson gets his concept of the devil.

Its not a bad movie, but if I need a story on Jesus, I'll watch any of the other movies that focus on trying to stay faithful to the Bible.

[thierry]

I think you should focus on the title of the movie...The Passion of Christ.
In the past, there used to e these plays called "passion plays' which specifically dealt with the last hours of Christ's death.

Come on, the press surrounding the movie and even the hype machine always mentions that this movie deals SPECIFICALLY with the last 12 hours of christs death. I assume that one goes into the theatre expecting nothing else. I mean for you to complain that it doesn't focus on Jesus teaching is just a mystery to me. Of COURSE it doesn't. It's a movie based on those passion plays of the recent past.

The reason the hollywood Jewish cabal went nuts over anti-semitism is coz the title "the passion' sent them back to those plays. Those passion plays were highly and rabidly anti- semitic in their portrayal of Jews and also coz they were performed by catholic fundamentalists among other gentile groupings. Jews knows this and immediately you say "passion" it just takes them back to those plays. otherwise in what other way could you explain the fact that they were so against this movie even without SEEING IT first.

[OoooH]

, and yet the Bible does not dedicate
>entire chapters to his torture. OK I SEE WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM WITH IT , BUT YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION AS YOU SAID ITS THE DIRECTORS INTERPRETATIONOF WHAT THE LAST 12 HOURS OF CHRISTS LIFE WAS LIKE(BIG UPS THEIRRY) OK I AGREE THE BIBLE DOESN'T HAVE CHAPTER UPON CHAPTER OF CHRISTS TORTURE BUT THATS LIKE ME ARGUEING THAT KNOW WHERE IN THE BIBLE DOSE IT SAY THAT JESUS HAS/HAD BLUE EYES LIKE "PREVIOUS MOVIE ABOUT JESUS WOULD SUGGEST. >
. I thought it was designed
>to appeal to the emotions of sympathy and fear too strongly
>for my taste. >OF COURSE IT APPEALS TO THESE EMOTIONS HE WAS INNOCENT AND DIDN'T ARGUE HIS CASE ACCEPTED WHAT HIS FATHER HAD IN STORE FOR HIM CONSEQUENTLY BECOMING A MATRY, ABEACON IF YOU WILL SO WE ALL CAN ALL GO TO HEAVEN AS FOR FEAR IF GOD THE ALMIGHTY CAN SEND HIS SON ONLY BEGOTTEN AND ALL TO DIE FOR US BELIVERS THEN WHAT WILL HE DO TO NON BELIVERS...... LEAVE THAT TO THEIR IMAGINATION ETERNAL FIRE AND ALL

ONE!
>

[thierry]

finally watched it
Was not as violent as i thought it would be but it was still quite shocking what that jamaa went thru...eh! ata kama he was the son of God..man they didn't have to unleash for the guy like that..

Anyway Mary was my strength during the movie. I looked to her. Her depiction as a strong tough woman was a pleasant surprise. I was expecting the ultra-feminine -why are they doing this to my son!!- hysterics with weeping and rivers of tears but she was very quiet and strong. So i said if that woman can see those men doing that to her son and be kawa then i can watch it also.

I also liked the representation of evil as an androgynous prescence..ambiguous and sexy.I liked that because in Africa especially we are taught that evil is horrible and terrifying and we should flee screaming in the opposite direction when it confronts us. It is quite the opposite. I remember being chastised by a born again for suggesting that evil is also a "still small voice" enticing and unassuming and just...nice even. It is not threatening at all.

I like that Jesus was very quiet and unflinching when he was being 'tempted'. He just lengad then from nowhere kanyagad that snake like a nonesense when it and we the audience least expected it. Christians of today can learn a lot from that on how to approach temptation as opposed to bible thumping,hallellujah - quick let's huddle and pray- approach that most apply, somehing that irritates me quite a bit.
Calm and cool are our best weapons in the face of evil.

Lakini Mel Gibson overdid some metaphors there! I chewed lock on what 'satan's baby with it's hairy chest and ma bodily hairs and all was supposed to mean. Shetani ali hit puberty mapema nini? That i didn't gitch.

Otherwise when i left the movie hall i was proud that i didn't fall apart like my fellow movie goers who flooded the place with their tears. That is not the point of the movie. In fact in my opinion, such a reaction cheapens the message. I don't know maybe i'm being too intellectual about this. Divergent opinions are welcome.
Lakini watching movie with mexicans is just another experience there anyway.
I would highly recommend this movie if anyone cares to have interest.