OK, so it’s no rapture, but Christian moviegoers are
eagerly awaiting the next best thing ““ the release of Mel
Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” Not
everyone, however, is so enthusiastic.
Even though the film won’t be released until Wednesday, it
has already stirred up a great deal of controversy. But while
critics of “The Passion of the Christ” seem
well-intentioned, they are ultimately misguided.
Jewish groups worry the film will inspire anti-Semitism. As
“Newsweek” reports, the problem revolves around the
question of who really killed Jesus. According to early screenings,
Gibson’s film depicts angry mobs of Jews calling for
Jesus’ head ““ juxtaposed with a reluctant and
sympathetic Pontius Pilate (the Roman governor who ordered the
crucifixion).
Gibson has also come under fire for including the line,
“His blood be on us,” in an early cut of the film,
seemingly implicating all Jews in Jesus’ death. However, the
line will be deleted in the movie’s final cut. But many do
not believe this adjustment will be enough to mitigate the damage.
Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, for example, stopped
in Rome last week to request the Vatican officially state the
Church’s beliefs are not represented in the film.
As Gibson explains, his picture is not about pointing fingers a
specific groups. As the story goes, Jesus died for mankind’s
sins. Thus, according to Gibson, we’re all equally
responsible for Christ’s death. He told the Global Catholic
Network in January, “It’s not singling them out and
saying, “˜They did it,’ that’s not so. We’re
all culpable. I don’t want to lynch any Jews. … I love
them. I pray for them.”
So, is “The Passion of the Christ” historically
inaccurate in its depictions? Probably. But then, so was
“Braveheart”. This doesn’t make Gibson an
anti-Semite.
Still, some have pointed to Gibson’s father, who is a
vocal Holocaust doubter, as evidence of anti-Semitism in his
family. Gibson refuses to publicly comment on his father’s
beliefs, in fact getting irritated when asked to comment. As he
told Diane Sawyer on ABC’s “Primetime Live,”
however, he does affirm his own belief that “(the Holocaust)
was an atrocity of monumental proportion.”
According to Gibson, “The Passion of the Christ” is
the product of his deeply held spiritual beliefs and is not an
anti-Semitic tract. He told Sawyer that his movie is about
“faith, hope, love and forgiveness,” and that he felt
compelled to make it. A pretty strong compulsion, considering he
coughed up $25 million to finance, direct and co-write the film.
“The Passion of the Christ” seems to be a personal test
of Gibson’s devotion to his beliefs.
Gibson’s detractors would do well to remember that
it’s just a movie ““ and a deeply personal one, at that.
It is produced in the same spirit as “Schindler’s
List” and “Roots,” celebrating the perseverance
and heroism of one group, rather than indicting another for its
wrongdoings.
Additionally, “The Passion of the Christ” has a very
specific target audience: the 83 percent of Americans who identify
themselves as Christian, according to an ABC News/Beliefnet poll.
As “Newsweek” further reports, “evangelical
congregations are buying out showings, and religious leaders are
urging believers to come out in the film’s opening days
because of the commercial and marketing significance of initial
box-office numbers.” It seems Christians are quite passionate
about the “The Passion of the Christ.”
But most Christians are equally passionate about making sure the
movie is not used inappropriately by anti-Semites. For example,
after previewing the film, Dallas minister Mike Evans met with
Gibson regarding this concern. Evans told the Los Angeles Times,
“I told Mr. Gibson that night that I don’t want my
savior to be used as a sword to injure Jewish people.”
Evans has started a Web site asking people to send a letter to
Gibson urging him to add an additional line at the end of the film:
“During the Roman occupation, 250,000 Jews were crucified by
the Romans, but only one rose from the dead.”
Other evangelicals, such as Franklin Graham, the son of Billy
Graham and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and
Gary Bauer, a 2000 Republican presidential candidate and president
of American Values, a Washington-based non-profit organization
advocating conservative Christian values, have offered public
support of the ADL’s efforts regarding this film.
The vast majority of American Christians have no interest in
using the film as a device of anti-Semitism. The fact that the film
could be regarded that way is a matter of concern for them.
Whether it is historically accurate or not, we will never know.
But, according to Gibson and many Christians, the actions of a few
individuals does not and should not indict an entire people.
Especially the imagined actions of a few people in a period
piece.
The release of “The Passion of the Christ” is a call
for much excitement and celebration for this portion of America. I
say, give it to them without hassle; it’s just a movie.
Dang is a third-year political science student. E-mail him
at ndang@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.