The Passion of the Christ: Blooper Reel

The Morning News ^ | March 2, 2004 | Paul Ford

[Psalm 73]

"You can climb down off your soapbox, cross, or whatever now."

I just opined that I didn't think it was funny, why the nasty reaction to my two-word opinion?

[thackney]

These are NOT outtakes

I cannot speak to the other, but I heard James Caviezel talk about his mom calling in one of the interviews after the filming. Remember the story, but don't worship this film.

[marktuoni]

Would you think a similar treatment of "Schindlers List" funny?

I thought History of the World part One was funny...Moses: God has given us these 15(drops a tablet)...10 commandments...

[Modernman]

If Michelangelo while paiting the Sistine Chapel dropped some paint on a priest walking by, would THAT have been funny?

Sure. God is dripping on you.

[bird4four4]

Obviously it is not real. Unless every actor and director on set were fluent in Arabic and Latin, how could they do these?

[GladesGuru]

The short answer to your questin is "Yes." Such outtakes are often funny, regardless of the movie's subject/plot line.

Got a source for such an outtake?

[AmishDude]

How do you know that?

I thought it was obvious. Come on, an actor has a cell phone in his costume during filming??? If you don't believe me, check out the author's previous work: 2/23, here he interviews a Dolphin. Need more?

[Theo]

Exactly.

I wrote my master's thesis on humor from a biblical perspective, FWIW: http://www.ijot.com/ted

[eyespysomething]

The movie was a tool, so hopefully people would open up their bibles and read, go to church, start acting more Christian. I know I have.

But this was people making a movie.

[Dialup Llama]

>I have to admit, "I can see my house from up here" is funny.

It is. But that comedy bit will be in the minds of many people who see a portrayal of the crucifixion. I wonder if there is a spiritual force which would like to immunize people against being impacted by the message of the cross?

[Capriole]

I've been part of movie-making in one capacity or another for a number of years; my father was a cinematographer and I got sucked into being on movie and TV sets, appearing as an extra or in small speaking roles, from the time I was a child. I still do it occasionally for fun, for a bit of money, or for some good cause.

From my experience, these exchanges sound right on target.

There is always humor and horseplay on the set of a movie. Things go wrong. The special effects don't work. There are mistakes, and sometimes the mistakes are amusing. Cell phones do go off in the middle of tense scenes. People do blow their lines--you have no idea how hard it is to remember all those lines!--and that can be treated with anger or with humor; it's much better to handle it with humor.

There is a lot of stress and pressure on the set of a movie, and people relieve it by making jokes or dissolving into giggles that are provoked by tension. Very often the jokes are coarse if not obscene, for movie people as a group are not highly educated, beautifully mannered, or reverent. The fact that these exchanges were all so clean and mild indicates to me that they were real, but were tempered by the actors' knowledge that they were working on a project that was holy in its way.

In making a movie like this one, in particular, it is going to be impossible for everyone to maintain an attitude of agony and misery all the time or they'd go insane.

[Labyrinthos]

These are NOT outtakes, they are just a lame attempt at comedy. Would you think a similar treatment of "Schindlers List" funny?

Very.

[Hon]

Sheesh. Are people really so dense as to think these are really out takes and that there exists a blooper reel and that this "comedy writer" for a freebie newspaper has seen it?

This was a very lame attempt at comedy. It wouldn't have been printed except for the film it is trying to spoof being a target for some.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I know that from looking at teenagers. Someone told me that teenagers were God's way of getting parents ready to let go of their children.

[Psalm 73]

"Are you kidding?.... Lighten up!"

Hey, all I said was I didn't think it was funny. Period.
You thought it was funny - good for you - what's the big deal.

[TheSpottedOwl]

I know I probably shouldn't have, but I laughed anyway.

[marktuoni]

Not sure where I fall on the subject...looking forward to the responses to this thread...

After deep reflection over the past twenty minutes, and four years in the eighties in a Catholic high school, I conclude that this is both irreverent and funny.

[nina0113]

Are people really so dense as to think these are really out takes and that there exists a blooper reel and that this "comedy writer" for a freebie newspaper has seen it?

Yes to all three. Frightening, isn't it?

[nmh]

Can you imagine something like this being circulated about Mohammad, the Islams guy? I can't.

It's not funny. It's disrespectful.

[Labyrinthos]

I thought History of the World part One was funny...Moses: God has given us these 15(drops a tablet)...10 commandments...

And "Life of Brian" is still one of the funniest movies ever made.