Harsh Critics Of "The Passion" Miss The Big Picture An essay by Julie Anne Fidler

Fidler On The Roof ^ | March 22, 2004 | Julie Anne Fidler

[JAFid79]

A few weeks ago, I had the good fortune of being able to see Mel Gibson’s “The Passion Of The Christ.” I was excited about it from the moment I first heard about it, over a year ago. Before the movie even hit theaters, people who had seen advanced screenings warned us, “You can’t see this film and not be changed.” I’m a skeptic in many ways, but I went into this film with an open mind, and I was expecting to be moved. Not changed, necessarily, but certainly moved.

I’m no movie critic. Honestly, I don’t see enough movies to be able to judge one against another. The only thing I could compare “The Passion” to was the old standard, “Jesus Of Nazareth,” in which Christ is portrayed as a stoic, emotionless, non-blinking superhuman entity. Although “The Passion” was almost entirely about the final excruciating hours of Christ, the occasional flashback to earlier, happier times portrayed a much more accessible, much more down-to-earth version of Jesus Christ. The Jesus in “The Passion” cried, feared, rejoiced, and even joked around with his mother. That in itself made the film more appealing to me.

Indeed, it was a moving film. I walked away with a better understanding of what Christ went through for me. I walked away knowing that He could have avoided the situation entirely, leaving me to fend for myself and try to (unsuccessfully) make penance for my sins. Instead, He chose to die, beaten and scourged, humiliated before the jeering crowds. I will never understand the ins and outs of why He had to die that way. I only know that He must have loved me something fierce, and that it is a love I’ll never fully grasp in this lifetime.

So why all the harsh criticism? For every viewer who has heralded this film as the best portrayal of Christ’s crucifixion to date, there is someone on the opposite end of the spectrum, picking it apart, detail by bloody detail. The New York Post even went so far as to compare it to porn:

Eventually, "Passion" becomes a kind of pornographic catalog of Christ's suffering. And like pornography, it's initially powerful but eventually becomes numbing. (1)

Others criticize the film for being “too Hollywood.”

Anyone who has actually read the Gospels will find glaring inaccuracies such as Mary Magdalene (in a bafflingly uninteresting performance by Monica Bellucci) being portrayed as a whore (She wasn’t. Look it up.), the destruction of the Jewish temple from the earthquake caused by Jesus’ death and the resulting repentance of the Jewish priests, and the creation of the infamous “dinette set” amongst others. (2)

Mostly, people just didn’t get it.

So what? Director Mel Gibson chooses the most unenlightened and mundane elements of Jesus’ life to show us. He chooses the least effective of the “Beatitudes”, the least inspiring talks to his disciples and the most ridiculous moments in Jesus’ life to show us. Did you know that Jesus invented the dinette set? According to Gibson he did. Perhaps the Jews were angry because now they had to sit in chairs at a high table rather than on the floor with a short table. (2)

Does anyone else find it troubling that the same author who tries to get us to believe that he is a Bible scholar (Anyone who has actually read the Gospels will find glaring…) is the same guy who thinks the Beatitudes were uninspiring? Weren’t the Beatitudes meant to teach Christians how they ought to live? Or was that just Mel Gibson taking artistic license, too?

Who is this film for? It’s for the Christian followers who haven’t really read their scripture. It's for those who have been preached to and forced to memorize verse out of context. (2)

Sadly, it seems as though this author is describing his own experiences.

While I am deeply saddened that many found themselves feeling more turned off by Gibson’s portrayal of the crucifixion, I believe it can be chalked up to one thing: a closed mind. Nowhere in the Bible is Satan portrayed as a literal, in-the-flesh female. Likewise, there is no scripture to reference Satan holding a baby that resembles an elderly man. Want more examples of inaccuracy? How about the little devil children who chased down Judas and eventually drove him to commit suicide by hanging himself? You won’t find that in scripture, either.

The question I have is, does it really matter? If Satan is portrayed as a woman caring a very ugly baby, or demons are chasing Judas uphill to his death in the film, does that change the basis of the whole story? In my view, “The Passion Of The Christ” is a movie, not a religious experience. Many people wept during the film, and more power to them. It was obvious, from the silent shock on the faces of many movie-goers, that this was a life-changing event for them. I will let them have that. God bless anyone with a heart pliable enough to be transformed by a blockbuster movie. Sometimes I wish I were not so immovable.

But regardless of whether or not you took this movie to heart, the message of it is universal for everyone who goes to see it: Jesus loved you enough to die for you. He suffered great pain, both physical and spiritual, to make sure you had a room reserved in Heaven. He didn’t have to do it. He had every chance to run. He was the Son of God - He could have supernaturally gotten down from the cross and walked away. But He didn’t. Most of us would have been so horrified by what was going on around it, we would most likely want the cruelest possible fate to fall upon our attackers. Jesus Christ saw their ignorance and extended grace and forgiveness. Could you have done that? Could I have been so merciful?

Two thousand years ago, Jesus dealt with harsh critics much like the ones cited above. Their eyes took in amazing things, but they were unable to see their depth because they were so focused on the mundane, unimportant details. Jesus healed a paralytic, unable to walk for 38 years, and yet some in the crowd were rendered incapable of rejoicing, because they insisted on nit-picking.

1A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. 5When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven." 6Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" 8Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? 9Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, 11"I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!" (Mk. 2:1-12, NIV)

A paralyzed man was suddenly able to walk. He didn’t stumble around like a newborn deer. He didn’t need months and months of intense physical therapy. He just got up, took his mat, and walked away. The critics of the day wouldn’t allow themselves to stand amazed at the miracle that took place before their eyes, because they were too busy getting their robes in a knot over whether or not Christ had the authority to forgive this man’s sins. Who does this Jesus character think he is?

I believe this is why some people absolutely detest “The Passion Of The Christ.” They can’t see the Big Picture, because they are looking for something to pick apart. And if they can’t find something, they’ll make it up as they go along. Forget forgiving your murderers. Forget rescuing an adulteress woman from being stoned. Forget being raised from the dead after three days in a tomb.

For some, the story behind the movie is about God’s amazing grace. For others, it’s about the ugly little baby Satan was holding, and all the other “glaring inaccuracies” that pop up throughout.

It is my hope that you are able to see the forest for the trees.

1.Bliznik, Jay. “The Passion Of The Christ.” FilmThreat.com 2.Foreman, Jonathan. “The Goriest Story Ever Told.” New York Post Online.

[JAFid79]

Christianity has a history of missteps and abuses.

The salvation of Christ, however, is the big picture.