The Passion of the Christ (2004)

Too bloody!!!

I understand Mr. Gibson wanted to depict the agony Jesus suffered.
He succeeds, brilliantly.
Too bad the movie is so gory it's almost unwatchable.
A little more of his teachings would have been nice in between all the carnage.
The language seem pretty authentic and lends realism to the movie and it is pretty to watch the scenery behind the violence.
Gibson's a great director but his movies are just too bloody for my tastes.
Yes Jesus suffered greatly, but was it necessary to depict it so graphically on film?
I say no.
I say the best movie ever on Jesus is still "Jesus of Nazareth".
I remember when The Passion came out and all the fundamentalists were rushing to see this movie and celebrate Easter.
I remember video being shown of parents bringing in their kids.
This is the part where I start screaming.
These are the same people that want everything under the sun BANNED because it infringes on their moral beliefs.
And for these VERY irresponsible "adults" to bring their children to this movie is just deplorable.
Not only that but at the end of the movie, a part of Jesus' rear end is clearly visible.
This is after the resurrection.
Can Gibson make ONE MOVIE without someone's rear end in it???
I didn't want or need to see Jesus' butt!!!!!!!
Would Jesus want children to see this movie?
Doubt it!!!
Do I recommend this movie?
If you're curious, sure, go ahead and rent it.
Don't be surprised if you have to turn it off due to the violence.
June 23, 2008

Grand Theft Religion

By their works shall you know them. Well, this crew is clearly into pain and misery. I can only imagine who their target audience is... this views like something from the galaxy of Warhammer 40k. In teh grim darkness of the past, there is only ... the devil?

I can only cringe at the high praise this has received from the so-called leaders of `christianity.' What this showcases is a very narrow perspective. If you are interested in history, to the suicidal foresaking of everything else... if you think that the current views on the ancient world are largely accurate, if you like religion to be as conforming with `facts' as possible.... if you don't enjoy the supernatural aspects of faith... if you want to see a figure widely regarded as a Messiah mangled repeatedly, well, then, this is your film.

While the end of the movie offers the glimmer of hope, I can't really imagine that there was any purpose to this other than to make people feel ashamed that it was somehow their sins that caused these atrocious events... I suppose there's something to be said for grimness... but I really can't find the words. I feel like Gibson, and his ... psychotic adulators ... well, I can't really bring myself to say it, but you know... stole my religion, fed it through a meatgrinder, then tried to sell it to me as an extra-rare hamburger. At McDonalds. I guess his name Gibs-On is appropriate, due to his lust for gore. Really, it's like hell broke loose, and everyone thought it was their religion. What's worse is that this film is nearly in the top ten money-makers of all time, and is easily the bloodiest. And it's supposedly about Jesus. Clearly, a large portion of those poor sheep fell into the twilight zone while someone wasn't paying attention. Jeez, I hope it wasn't me... :(

Furthermore, I resent the insinuations that all good christians think this is the best movie evar. Try washing your own brain first, chum. June 3, 2008

With complete passion...

I still cannot believe that people made a fuss over the "violence". I will admit that it's pretty harsh but Mel was trying to fit the Isiah 53 description of Christs' death. I like how it touched base with Christs' last temptation which WAS NOT temptation for a woman but satan tempting Him not to die for us because we don't deserve it. I also liked the relationship status briefs it shows on Him and His disciples. For a believer, and someone whom is a reader of the Bible and believes it, this will bring to life what you have read, and for those whom do not believe..this film will probably be just another over-dramatic film (I've heard these terms from some folk thats why I mention it here).
Over all, the acting was great but of course I do agree with some when they say this is not a film that you watch over pop corn and soda pop...

However, I just wish they would have left the first version of Mel's film alone, how funny to complain about an accurate descriptive film (that includes violence) and yet we except pornography and MUCH more violence in everyday films...just go to show how our world is running today. I loved the film because it's my roots, whether or not people want to believe it, thats a different story...do you own research...



June 3, 2008

Brilliant!!!!!

This is a masterpiece! Not so sure if you will be as moved if you are not a Christian. However, the film depicts what Jesus Christ did for ALL of us. May 28, 2008

The problem with Gibson's passion

I was one of those who was surprised by the extensive critiques of the film as anti-Jewish....believing the film simply reported what was in the Gospels.

Many years later, my understanding of the critique has deepened. Christianity has for two millenia treated Jews as responsible for the crucifixion, and utterly rejected Jesus' commandments to Love Thy God with all thy heart, and Love Thy Neigbhour, as well as other important commandments to not embrace Mammon, and not Exalt themselves. The history of Christianity is a history of Hate Thy Neighbour especially the Jewish Ones, and follow Mammon at all costs including the colonization of other nations, the slavery, exploitation and even genocide of their people (eg. the millions of Natives killed in the Americas).

How does Gibson's film feed the anti-Jesus practices of Christianity? It focuses on the Church's teachings that Jesus' suffering 'paid' for humanity's sins, so that those who 'believe' in Him are 'saved', whereas those who do not, especially the Jews, go to Hell. Simply put, Jesus never said or encouraged such absurd notions. On the contrary, He specifically said 'I come NOT to save the world...'. and His parable of the Pharisee and the tax-collector specifically contradicts the arrogance of Christians who imagine they are already 'saved' because they believe in Him as the 'universal' Saviour, when He Himself contradicted these notions.

By focussing morbidly on the beatings, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus, carried out by sadistic Romans, not Jewish priests (who simply wanted Him dead), Gibson encourages precisely the wrong teachings of the Church, which Jesus' own statements deny and contradict. No doubt it is based on a sincere effort by Gibson to portray what he has been taught, but those teachings are a distortion of what Jesus Christ Himself said. But then it is foolish to expect a Hollywood star - later exposed as an anti-Jew in his arrest in California in a drunken state making rabidly anti-Jewish ravings - to understand, let alone convey, the true teachings of one of the great Masters... May 18, 2008

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