So I saw 'Passion' (NWS)Follow

Warning: Post contains blasphemy and racist commentary. Actually, this post possesses absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

I had debated seeing it on opening day, but my fear of the relgious fanatics setting the theatre on fire wasn't enough to keep my curiousity in check.

I live in North Hollywood. I'm no expert on demographics, but I'd wager that 40% of the people in NoHo are White, 30% are Hispanic, 20% are African American, and the remaining 10% would fall under the 'Other' category (actually, most of the remaining 10% would be Armenian, Lithuanian, Czech, Russian... ya know, dirty Eastern Europeans). I'd say there were about 400 people in the auditorium, 2 of which were caucasian, and 1 of which was African American. The rest were of Hispanic decent. If this movie accomplishes nothing else, Mel Gibson can sleep well knowing that yet another generation of ******** will name all of their children Jesus and Maria.

Anyway, my impressions...

It was bloody. By the time the crucifixion comes, Jesus' flesh is so tattered and torn you can actually see his ribs sticking out of his flesh. It's ironic in a way, up until now the bloodiest movie I'd ever seen was Hellraiser. It was almost as if Jesus had been swallowed by the whale, and not Jonah- but instead of being released without harm, Jesus had been squirted out the whale's razor-lined baby-hole.

Move over bacon, here comes something Jesusier!

It was actually a pretty emotional movie. I had to scratch my eye with a tissue once or twice. It was pretty well acted, with the exception of 'The Bad Guys'. They didn't strike me so much as actors portraying bad characters, but rather, absurd caricatures played by bad actors.

Jim Caviezel, in the lead role of Jesus, gave a pretty good performance. My only real criticism is that Jesus seemed a little too rigid, a little too stern. Obviously, I didn't expect him to break out in a song-and-dance number, fart once or twice, and then tell some Skeeteresque jokes, but I would have liked to have seen some more of the kindness and love for which he's reknowned. In all seriousness, I think it would have strengthened the message of the movie.

Do I think the Jews have reason to be upset? Were they portrayed as evil hate mongers with a mob mentality?

When I went to the movie, I was expecting that the Jewish community was being too sensitive. And then I saw the first hour of the movie, and I started to suspect that my expectations had been wrong. The Jews were portrayed in a pretty bad light. They all had the stereotypical large, hooked Jewish nose, spoke in that cliche'd annoyingly nasally voice, and came off as cruel, vindictive, hateful, and really really bad dressers.

But then I started to notice that the Jews weren't alone; they weren't the only pricks in the movie. Jesus' followers were all pretty much bastards too, but not quite to the extent in which the Hook-Nosed Semites were.

And then the Roman Soldiers came along. And, that pretty much forced me to change my mind about changing my mind. The Jews weren't portrayed any better or worse than anybody else in the movie. Really.

The only people in the movie who always behaved kindly and nobly were females: Mary, Mary Magdelene, Claudia, and whoever that ugly chick with the Shroud of Turin was.

Basically, if your name is not Mary or Jesus, you're pretty much an as[i][/i]shole. At least I think that's the message Mr. Gibson was trying to get across.

But the aspect of the movie which struck me as the most compelling, the most fascinating, and the most moving was...












Monica Belluci. Hot damn that woman knows how to jiggle. Chunks of flesh were getting strewn about the screen, people were dying and screaming all over the place, crows were pecking out eyeballs, there were a bunch of spooky Satan sequences, our Lord and Saviour was dying for our sins, and all I could think of was, "Damn, I'd like a piece of that ***!"

I won't suspect you know this since I'm not sure what religious beliefs (if any) you suscribe to, but passion plays typically don't deal with anything other than the passion, i.e. mostly the suffering of the Christ which lead to his death. By that time, Jesus is just as scared and doubtful as anyone that thinks God has abandoned him, and as pissed off and stern as anyone who is being judged incorrectly yet knows he can do nothing about it.

The resurrection, at the end, is meant as the moral of the story so to speak, to give a sense of that kindness and love. That he would willingly endure this on behalf of all mankind, which is the sole central belief of all christians.

I thought it was a little much when the Halley Jo Osmond character and the puppy rescued Christ at the end, but that's hollywood for ya I guess.

I'm also a little fuzzy on the sharp toothed Satan-babies who convince Judas to hang himself. I must have missed that part in Matthew.

I'm totally confused. I would have assumed you to be the type of person to think my post was in very poor taste. Actually, let me rephrase that; Everybody knows my post was in poor taste, but I thought that would have prevented you from having anything positive to say about the ideas and opinions I expressed therein.

As hesitant as I am to admit it, I think my respect meter has gone up for you a bit as well. First, you were a pretty good sport about the 'Coffee Flame' thing, you had the good sense to enjoy my post about Angua's boobies, and now I see that you're capable of enjoying a person's brand of humor despite your desire to castrate that person, and despite not agreeing with that person's perspective.

Flea, you're probably completely right. To be honest, I didn't even realize that 'Passion Plays' were a particular genre of plays.

I thought carefully about what you wrote and looked past your bravado and insults to see the ideas and opinions that you had.



You saw a story about an historical event that was not sugar coated. A vivid event in which changed the world forever and you got emotional about it.



To be kind and loving sometimes one has to be stern and rigid, because the people that you are being kind to often take your kind gentle approach for granted. Heck, at the point of crucifiction I believe Jesus was even having doubt about what and why he was going through with everything. Remember Jesus was here as a man, his rigidity and sterness was probably from the nature of man.



Pretty much that is the truth. All of us are sinners, even Christians that have accepted Christ as our Saviour are still ********. We still have committed sin and will continue to commit sin, but we know that what Jesus did that day, our sins where washed away by his blood. Thank God for that.



This is a tough thought process to try and decipher, yet the most telling about you, and what you saw. You comprehend what the story is about and the significance of the events that took place those last few hours that Jesus was on earth, yet you still do not believe the truth, but you see there is more to what happened than you had before.

Did you know that the answer to the questions that may have been going through your head after seeing the movie... "Did Jesus truly die for ME..." can be answered positively by you talking to God with an open heart and accepting his existence and the fact that Jesus died for YOU. By accepting these facts and asking God for forgiveness you can know the truth. This does not need to be done with anyone else. This is a private matter between you and God. This does not need to be done in a church. All you have to do is talk "pray" to God and with all your heart and knowing in your heart it true profess that he is real and you are a sinner and Jesus is your Lord and Saviour and the Son of God.

If you have any questions or still need guidance, I suggest that you find a member of a church or a friend that you know is a Christian and talk with them. If you do not have access to either one then I recommend that you find a bible and you will be guided to the passages that you need to see.

I realize some of this may sound corny but if you truly want to understand please, in all honesty try.

I provide this response as a friend.

As an agnostic I would be open to a movie about Jesus's life from 30 to 33, but I am avoiding this flick because of the gore. I had planned to see this one until I read 3 or four reviews, all of which described a cat o nine tails and ribboned flesh.

I have read the gospels and generally agree with most of the ideas expressed by Jesus about how we treat each other as individuals and a society as a whole. I think it would be a nice fresh breeze for this country if we all really stopped and considered his words, not about heaven or god but rather about how we treat each other, especially the powerless. Jesus never addressed efficiency or accountability, but spoke of treating the least of men with respect and rejecting material greed.

A bloodbath is not holy, it is stomach turning. I have been hearing rumors that we are finally going to catch Osama. How we treat this enemy, powerless in our grasp, will have heavy implications in the future. I dare not make a stand on what we should do to him, but I think we should debate long and hard about it lest we create a martyr out of a madman.

You are correct that is what Thundra stated... however have you ever had more than one train of thought going on? I know I have had especially when my wife is talking. :)

k

Gotta love how Jesus is *still* being portrayed as a tall white guy.

--DK

I heard Brenden Frasier was the 3rd pick for the role of Jesus.

Living in the Bible Belt, I have to say a couple of things about this movie. I went to go get tickets for a Sunday mantinee of this movie (when people are in church) and found out that most of the churches in my areas are SKIPPING SERVICES to see this movie. The big church in my area, Sherwood Baptist, rented the ENTIRE theater for one day. No one could see anything else, they had the whole damn place. Anyways, so me and my friends ended up getting tickets for the next available showing, which is Wednesday night.

Now for the disturbing news. Reading today's paper, the big local chuches (Sherwood Baptist, Byne [Six Flags Over Jesus] Baptist, and one other that I can't remember it's name) have teamed up and are pressuring the movie theater owners to let the have minister's at the beginnning and end of each movie ask if anyone wants to repent, blah blah blah. Let's just say I am kinda hoping this happens, because my paintball gun hasn't been used in awhile.

Yes I wanted to take in a movie, but I don't want people breathing religous rhetoric down my neck while I take in a movie, and yes there are other things playing, but i've either seen them already or have no interest in seeing them. TO be honest, the only reason I want to see this movie is to see why everyone is saying it's so bloody, etc.

Were people really thinking it was going to flop? I know I say this with the benefit of hindsight, but it seems pretty obvious to me that it would be a huge hit since it is a must see for both film and religious enthusiasts.