Okay, about The Passion, let me get this straight. We have this

[harrison]

movie which was deemed by Roger Ebert as the most violent he had ever seen. And it was made by a conservative Catholic who believes that the Vatican II reforms should be overturned. And this Catholic moviemaker's father denies the existence of the Holocaust. And right now, millions of evangelical Christians are flocking to see this movie, many of them weeping when they exit the movie. And many of these same evangelical Christians who are flocking to the moviehouses are wont to believe that the Conservative Catholic moviemaker is not really deemed a Christian, because he hasn't been "born again."

Now, do I have this straight?

[Mick Knox]

1. seems about right.. i'm sure theres a point...

[On the Road]

2. Yes

It's no stranger than anything else in the history of Christianity.

[BigDaddyLove]

3. What does Gibson's born again status have to do with the......

subject matter of the film that the evangelicals are flocking to see?

[unblock]

4. sounds about right. and it's all about a jew killed by romans,

by the ruling roman empire, who often liked to kill jews, among others.

and somehow 'the jews' are to blame.

[Frances]

5. When I was a girl

the Baptists would say that the Catholics focused on what happened before Jesus was crucified while the Baptists focused on what happened after the crucifixion.

Times have sure changed.

(They would point out that Catholic churches showed Christ on the cross, while their churches had an empty cross symbolizing the fact that Christ had arisen from the dead and ascended into heaven)

[MrPrax]

6. Your straight...

The rest of the world is crooked...

It is brilliant tho...

There was a testimony on the local news about a 'lay' worker who went to the movie and by her own admission, she hadn't been to a moving picture since the 1940s

If she is a good indicator--a whole bunch of people, who live blightly unaware, are escorted to the local multiplex through a Mall in most cases and are staggered by the blinking lights, the mall 'kids', the poverty of materalism, the glitz and glamour and are finally led into the staging area--the multiplex.

There they see the arcade machines, the smells of the camphor (popcorn), more mall kids, the dizzying array of titles on the marquees, the ads for coming attractions...and finally! The emotional wrought of torture. murder and redemption.


I might be out of line in this comparison, but the medieval catherdral was based on this powerful overload of emotion--a staid building whose floor plans mimicked the 'city of God', the Stations depicted as a proxy of the real pilgrimmage, the stained glass and the incense that cleansed the few that entered...

It's a good marketing tool and a good invite into the modern world

[regnaD kciN]

7. Not only that...

...but the Conservative Catholic moviemaker believes that the same millions of evangelical Christians, who he used to market the film, are all going to Hell because "there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church."

:crazy:

[peacetalksforall]

8. Gibson and his father put us back about 40 years...as I remember...

that is out the time that the Catholic Church made a major effort to stop blaming the Jews and to find all the commonality and brotherhood they could. We had 40 years of progress and now this.

So what is going to happen to the Evangelical - Jew partnership in the cabal as represented in PNAC and the planning division of the cabal?

Who make the bloodier film - Arnold or Mel?

What are the differences in their Gods?

Will Sharon kick Christians or Evangelicals out of Israel?

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

9. Two points I would make (not directed at you, but the public in general)

Bad people can make good art (Roman Polanski and Woody Allen in film come to mind, both had wierd sexual relationships with minors, Wagner was a great composer, and a Nazi sympathizer, etc). I never judge the quality of the art by the reputation of the artist. Bad people can make good art, Good people can make bad art.

Secondly, I don't understand why people criticize the film who haven't seen it. To me, it reminds me of all the red neck conservatives criticizing "the last temptation of christ" without seeing. If you haven't seen the movie, don't criticize it. If you want to offer an opinion, go see the movie, and than offer your opinion

[MrPrax]

10. A correction...

Bad people can make good art

Maybe...but 'bad' people would disagree (a great flick on the role of an artist might be Mephisto (1981)...'but I am only an artist' The central character suggests that there is a larger context to ART beyond tabloid assertions regarding Roman or Woody.

Secondly, I don't understand why people criticize the film who haven't seen it.
I haven't been to South Africa, but I know I don't like Apartheid...
I have not been to Christ's trial and I know I don't like presecution of unpopular sentiments...

To me, it reminds me of all the red neck conservatives criticizing "the last temptation of christ" without seeing.

Nikos Kazantakis's novel was on the Catholic banlist way before American Evangelicals decided it was 'kosher' to market their particular brand of censorship

If you want to offer an opinion, go see the movie, and than offer your opinion
So one has to pay first...and then exercise their OPINION about theology and marketing?