I saw "The Passion" this evening.

[mourningdove92]

I know many of you here do not approve of this movie. Thats ok, we all are entitled to our opinions. I thought this was a very powerful experience. Yes, I am a Christian, yes there really and truly are Liberal, Democratic Christians in the world. Oh yeah, and I am lesbian also. So here I am, fellow DU'ers, a liberal, lesbian, democrat, texas Christian, who believes this movie is a truly moving experience. Has anyone else seen it?

[everythingsxen]

1. Don't have to...

I can imagine it just fine.

[SammyWinstonJack]

40. Exactly, which is bad enough thanks to some clips I've seen on TV

I even turn away from those. Not being a religious person, and not liking violent movies, I don't feel the need to see this movie.

[trumad]

2. I saw it

It's a great piece of fiction....

[TXlib]

3. Where's Mineral Wells?

KCDem and I are in Houston.

[Lisa0825]

6. Howdy Houstonians!

I live in Texas City, but work in Houston.
:hi:

[beachbum]

17. Near Houston

Angleton TX

[mourningdove92]

7. Mineral Wells is about 50 miles west of Fort Worth

:hi:

[rocktivity]

4. Thanks but no thanks

I've read the book; I know the ending.

:headbang:
rocknation

[Liberal Veteran]

5. I won't be seeing the movie, but...

...I can appreciate that some would find it moving.

I'd rather see a movie about the life and teachings of Christ.

[Rowdyboy]

8. As a gay, male, liberal Episcopalian Dem who hasn't seen the movie

I look forward to it. There are more of us liberal Christians here than you'd think.

[Indiana_Dem]

9. I might be seeing it here tomorrow

because a friend said she had the tickets through her church that bought 100 tickets. I was originally going to wait until the crowd dies down but I may go see it tomorrow. I am a liberal born-again Christian, too!!! Don't fret! You're not alone!

[TSIAS]

10. I'm not opposed to seeing the movie

It's more a matter of time than anything else. I'm sure I'll see sooner or later when it's relased on DVD.

[Rabrrrrrr]

11. I'm maintaining the integrity I established when I spoke against

the people who protested "last Temptation" without seeing it first, and so I also will be going to the movie.

I'm surrised at the number of DUers who are taking the route of the "Last Temptation" protestors and refusing to actually make informed condemnations.

If people don't want to go, taht's fine.

But I don't see how people can condemn it without having seen it. I mean, really.

I'm quite intrigued to see it. I have a feeling I'll be slightly offended, though I do appreciate (so far) the fact that someone has finally made a film that shows what crucifixion is like and what Jesus actually suffered (though I have the suspicion I'll feel that Mel went overboard on it, but I'll wait to make that judgment until I've actually seen it).

Count me in as another dedicated, very liberal, unashamedly Christ-confessing Christian in the DU camp.

on edit: spelled unashamedly correctly

[Rowdyboy]

14. Damned excellent comment!

Thank you. I'm open to any serious interpretation of a movie but if you've never seen the damn thing you really have no right to criticize.

Last Temptation was an excellent film. Hope Passion lives up to it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. Thank you!

I hope it lives up to temptation as well. I really need to read the book, I know, but I thought the movie was provocative and offered much to think about, and was very faithful to the text (the biblical text, that is).

I'm sick and tired of these DU idiots who condemn the movie based on hearsay and knee-jerk emotionalistic responses because they hate Mel, hate the church, hate the fact that white people are in it, or hate religion.

I totally respect anyone who simply doesn't want to see it. We all make decisions on movies based on hearsay and trailers and reviews. But the amount of vitriol spewed here on DU from people WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS IN THE MOVIE BECAUSE THEY HAVEN'T SEEN IT is amazing.

Sheesh.

[Rowdyboy]

16. Many of our fellow "liberals" here allow their prejudices

to lead them into knee-jerk responses. Still, the very idea of raising hell about a movie you haven't even SEEN blows my mind...

[OneBlueSky]

18. usually, I'd agree with you about condemning a movie you haven't seen

but this case is a bit different, imo . . . I've probably read 50 reviews of this movie -- some positive, some mixed, some negative -- which unanimously commented on the fact that the graphic violence pretty much extends from beginning to end, with only a few brief interludes . . . I hate graphic violence in movies, and I don't much like Mel Gibson movies generally, so I won't be seeing this one . . .

I also know, however, that the movie focuses pretty much exclusively on the crucifixion while spending about a minute on the resurrection . . . my understanding of Christianity (authentic Christianity, that is) is that the meaning of Christ's suffering is to be found in the resurrection, not in the crucifixion (which was a pretty common occurance in those days) . . . two hours of this kind of gratuitous violence devoid of the real message of Christianity (love, compassion, redemption, etc.) is nothing but ugliness and brutality . . .

Gibson got it all ass backwards . . . he won't be getting my ten bucks . . .

[Auntie Bush]

38. You read my mind!

[thom1102]

31. I am not "protesting" the movie...

and Jeff wants to go see it, I just don't have any desire to put any money into the pocket of Mel Gibson, and his church after hearing how hateful they are. I will see it when it comes to HBO, or Stars, or Showtime, and reserve my judgement til then. Jeff will just have to go with someone else (which is fine, since I have a buddy who goes with me to see all the Sci Fi movies I want to see.)

[dtseiler]

12. You almost had me there ....

until you said you were from Texas.

[argyl]

23. You almost had me there till I found you were a Cheesehead.

xx

[DieboldMustDie]

13. I read the book.

[Quixote1818]

19. I saw it and became numb

I saw it today and I was open minded about it as I think the Jesus Story is wonderful even if I don't believe he was God but perhaps a very amazing person. I was really not that impressed with the film and felt it was very dark and depressing. I walked out of the movie wanting to see something uplifting. Someone called it a two hour Jesus snuff flick and thats basically what it was. Gibson tried to milk the suffering of Jesus as much as possible to stun everyone. Basically, after about 15 minutes of the torture I was numb and so by the time it got to the actually crucification I was emotionally drained and just wanted the movie to be over. Lets face it millions of humans have suffered as much or more than Jesus. Many suffer today and want to die but Christians won't let them and they go on to suffer like Jesus did for years. I do think Gibson was trying to send a message to Jews that they are wrong. Just a gut feeling. Gibson may be in denial about this but I think deep down he has some animosity for Jews as taught by his Father. I worry that the movie will cause some unbalanced Christians to kill or attack Jews because the movie will just bring out those kind of emotions right or wrong. All in all I thought the movie was average but I was moved by Mary coming to the aid of Jesus. Her expressions for her child were very moving but I felt that was more of a mother son kind of love. The kind of love we all can identify with as powerful and wonderful. I cried when Mary ran to be there for Jesus but that was really the climax and it got boring after that. I would wait until it comes out on video.

[maveric]

20. Its a movie! And perhaps not an accurate account.

Would you feel that a movie about the last hours of a lynching victim would be as powerful?
I swear, people act as if this film was actual video footage of the "alleged' event.

[asteroid2003QQ47]

35. Accurate account?

Consider that an accurate account might well more accurately comprise one hundred and twenty six minutes of blank screen.

[maveric]

36. Exactly!

I watched this woman on the news who just saw the movie and she was crying expressing that "everyone should see this and appreciate what he did for us".
C'mon people, you knew that he suffered. Will this grisly movie restore some peoples faith?

[K8-EEE]

21. Would Prefer Root Canal

And I'm a liberal Catholic....I've suffered through enough Passion plays in my life, one with more blood & gore just doesn't appeal to me. Besides, I read the book!

[Piperay]

22. I would be more interested in

a movie about Jesus' life and teachings rather than how he died. Whether one believes that Jesus was God or not his teachings were powerful and the World would be a better place if people took them to heart.

[Crewleader]

24. Very moving, it strengthen my faith even more how much

Jesus has done for us!

[VOX]

25. Yes, it's only a movie, but it's being used by fundies as a "cause"...

Several posters on DU have shared first-hand accounts about how they have been righteously told by right-wingers (in words to the effect)to either "see The Passion," or "every liberal should see this movie," etc.

I have no intention to see it, since it doesn't appeal to me, and since Mel Gibson's methodology doesn't appeal to me either. I have seen several of his movies where his characters have been beaten, hanged, tortured, nearly committed suicide, maimed, hobbled, shot, pierced, quartered, and tormented emotionally. I have no doubt that "The Passion" continues with this rather brutal fascination quite effectively, but I do not wish to be a participant in that, or to be reduced to the status af a lab animal receiving a series of visual/aural jolts in the furtherance of a very specific exclusive message.

And to top it off, Gibson appeared on Leno and said, "I forgive the critics." Please. Pardon me while I put as much ground between me and Gibson (and his oeuvre) as possible.

[Onlooker]

26. I just don't understand why progressive people are patronizing it

I didn't see it, and I don't intend to. I just don't understand why so many people are patronizing a movie that truly offends many people. Would you go see a superb movie that celebrates slavery? Would you go see a supreb movie in which a rapist is a hero? This movie not only offends a lot of Jewish people, but it's also being embraced by the country's leading bigots, homophobes, and right-wingers. By seeing the movie, you're empowering some awful people. That the movie manipulated you successfully is nothing to boast about.

[retread]

27. A suggestion--- Anytime anyone feels "tempted" to see this

movie put the cost of the ticket in a jar. When the Democrat nominee is decided send the contents to the campaign.

[Carolina]

32. excellent idea

[Raven]

28. I think the real problem with the movie is the violence.

I have not seen it, nor will I. I have seen enough clips to know that it turns my stomach. All else about this movie aside, and believe me, there are lots of other things to talk about, this movie is just gratuitus violence. Generations upon generations of people have devoted themselves to Christ after reading and studying the Bible and other written works about Christ and his life...they did not need a technicolor version of the Texas Chainsaw Murders to cement their faith.

This business of going to this movie to enhance one's faith or dragging young children to this movie to emphasise the magnitude of Christ's sacrifice, is misguided and demeans the ability of human beings to understand something without having to be clobbered by it.

This is just another example of Holliwood getting into something and overkilling it. And last I heard, the devout Mel Gibson was not sending his profits from this film to worthy causes...life solving the problems of child abuse in his own church.

[joeybee12]

29. If you're a lesbian, why are you supporting Mel Gibson, a huge

homophobe?

[Kamika]

30. I thought it was great aswell.

I think the best part is that it gives you a feeling of just what he went through, a feeling reading the bible wont really give.

I saw it with 2 guys and another girl from my church, we all thought it was great.

But you gotta keep in mind that the movie is not made to be critical or anything, it's just a dramatisation of an actual event.


I hope he'll do a prequel or something


edit: I much rather see a movie like this then the standard "by the book crap", Hollywood makes these days.

[meti57b]

33. I do not see the point of the movie. Crucifixion was a favorite form of ..

execution used by the Romans and they executed tens of thousands of people, this way. What is the point of watching a graphic depiction of how they did it. We all already know that civilizations of that time period (and others) were capable of great brutality.

[Raenelle]

34. I'm not a Christian, so I don't get how seeing some long-dead guy

get the crap beaten out of him could move me spiritually. Besides, Mel seems like a bit of a right-wing nut job, and I generally try to avoid giving such types my money.

[hyphenate]

37. Nowadays,

Since I'm unemployed, without receiving any further benefits (thanks, again, you Congress bastards, denying a second extension!!), my desire to see movies is very low. I did manage to catch Mystic River at a cheaper matinee, and I did go with friends to see a "twilight" showing of Return of the King. Before these films, it was about a year ago that I saw a film.

I doubt if I would enjoy Passion, anyhow; I hate really violent films. When people used to turn out in droves for "Freddy Krueger," Halloween films, Jason et al, I wouldn't go to see them either. There are only a few movies that I've really enjoyed that were extremely graphic, and one of them was Schindler's List. Some people can get too wrapped up in a film, and confuse what is fiction with reality. And a movie like Passion only plays into the hands of these people, by being about a "real" event two thousand years ago. Some people will go in believing (perhaps) that Mel Gibson has personally spoken with "god" and will try and follow through with the same amount of violence in their own worlds. Of course, people will say the movie didn't do it to them, but there are strange people out there who will believe in just about anything. (Remember, folks, we're talking about some people who believe everything that GWB has said over the last three+ years!!)

The radical religious right has already gained many strides in breaking down the wall between church and state, and this won't help.

Then again, the flip side of that is that the majority of people will see it, take it strictly as performance art, and not even consider the potential influence it might have on the public psyche. We are, as the old saying goes, "only as strong as our weakest link." And trust me--there are a lot of weak people out there, who will let the movie unduly influence them afterwards.

[Astarho]

39. Haven't seen it

So I'm going on things I've heard here pro and con.

I'm a pagan, but I think Jesus had a powerful message, and I do not understand why that message was not stressed, rather then focusing on his demise. I have heard Christians on DU saying the movie was not about the message so much as the sacrifce Jesus made for the rest of mankind. This is something that I fundamnetally don't understnad, as I do not belive we are all sinners in need of redemption, so I think the movie would be lost on me.