01 March 2004 01:41
Mel Gibson, my take in the form of numerous random observations.explanation: i browse the imdb.com message boards occasionally. i respond here and not there because i didn't want to join the fray. sarcasm is not the way i want to approach a nonchristian, and if you don't have anything good to say, don't say it. most of the people on the boards arn't open minded anyway, they just shout differing beliefs at each other all night long without having any impact on anyone. makes me wonder why they write. also makes me reluctant to descend to their level eh? here i'm not trying to have an impact, so it's okay if i don't end up making one :).
whatever happened to the freedom of speech/expression? i can burn an american flag but can't breath a word negative about jews?
irony: people speak of gibson's agenda to make money... it is their controversy about the film that is making him money.
i agree with many people that there are double standards, who upon watching "gladiator" raised hue and cry about its anti-romanism? if it's got blacks, or more recently jews, all of a sudden its inflamitory.
i agree with many people that to gain an anti-semitic perspective of this movie, you have to go in with that mindset in the first place.
watching this movie you can see two things. brutality or beauty
one non-Christian critic said of the movie, "jews didn't kill Jesus, Jesus killed Jesus by not resisting". enough said.
i see this movie as a tool, for use on non-christians, but importantly to me, on myself.
i would never have considered even the possibility of this movie being anti-semitic on my own, i only consider the possibility because it was brought up. maybe i'm just too naive.
if you don't like it, don't watch it. duh. this is a free country, that includes freedom of religion.
the people who oppose this movie on basis of "anti-semitic" content are in the same group as the people who blame columbine on the nra.
quote from Darrell Scott (click and read the whole thing, highly recommended). "The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart."
i have not yet seen this movie. but i fully expect to leave the theatre humbled, subdued, ashamed, and above all convicted. I sincerely hope it will be a life-changing experience. i'm sure you're supprised to see that leaving the theatre shotgun in hand to go kill as many jews as possible isn't on my list. get a life.
if the jews want to fear something about htis movie, they should fear being converted.
it's interesting how defensive the anti-gibson camp has gotten. almost like he touched anerve. i see it as a very good sign that his movie will meet a need in america.
speaking of anti-gibson, the jew lovers don't seem all that concerned about him, they're quite willing to tear him to shreds.
i liked gibson's interview iwth diane sawyers ABCNEWS. his theology has issues, but he answered his critics well.
"Critics who have a problem with me don't really have a problem with me in this film," Gibson said. "They have a problem with the four Gospels. That's where their problem is."
this movie, "the passion" has stirred up a lot of passion. including my own. this is the first place i've really talked about it. i try to avoid getting hatefully sarcastic...this was done by Jesus out of love, I want to emulate that love. but the reason my passion was stirred has nothing really to do with the content of the movie. what gets me up in arms are the idiots who attack it blindly with no clue what they're up to. all this talk about anti-semitism is going to do nothing but incite anti-semitism. three quarters of america didn't even know what the term meant until a month ago. their controversy is also drastically increasing the number of people who will go see the film in the first place. without the hue and cry, i wouldn't have been surprised if the movie would've flopped. after all, who want's to see a movie with the stilted title "the passion of the Christ"? Just renaming it "Golgotha" and liberally mentioning "skull" in the advertisments would have doubled it's first weekend take.
the critics may be right about america's reaction, who knows. but they are fundamentally wrong about my reaction.
as a Christian I fully believe that the Jews are the chosen people of God. Even though they have rejected his Messiah, or worse, rejected Him, he has still not rejected them, nor forsaken them. God's attitude towards them has had its effect on me as well. I have never had the pleasure of interacting with Jews, but i can assure you that they have my respect. pacifism aside, i would harm a hair on a gentile's head long before i harmed a hair on a jew's head. they still have a very special place in God's heart, and things will not go well with those who mistreat the jews.
much hoopla is made of the holacaust. yes, it was terrible. but it wasn't the end of the world. and jews arn't the only ones being persecuted. many more than six million of my brothers and sisters in Christ have been killed over the years. my own ancestors were persecuted as recently as the civil war, and that in america ("land of the free"). the founders of the anabaptist movement were hunted and killed in the 16th and 17th centuries, prompting the move to america. so i think jews could stand to lose some of their self-pity, but they're making too much money off of it to stop now.
it is said about every other movie, why not this one? "it's just a movie."
not all christians believe as i do, evidenced by the fact that most of them believe its okay to go around killing poeple if the government okays it. so i'd be willing to bet that a majority of christians think jews missed the boat and soyanora. even so, i would hope htat christians don't go around blaming the jews for Jesus death. irony: that accusation would be a sin, which inturn would be added burden to Jesus' shoulders. i don't think he appreciated the irony at that point.
it's true that jews for the most part ignored the boat (missed is a misnomer). but Jesus has already proven that he doesn't exactly need a boat to get around on the water...
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