I have no doubt that they did try.
The media does that all the time to people they don't like. They'll have a photographer blaze away at a Bush press conference with an autowinder, then sift through the contact sheets until they find a shot where he's trying to stifle a sneeze or something and looks goofy, and they'll run that picture.
They always try to make him out like he`s nuts, the media does their best to drive him in that direction, but he doesn`t falter. It`s his faith that gives him strength. My brother is the same exact age as him, I mean to the day, same birthday, same year Jan 3rd `56, and before Mel made Passion they both looked the same age, and when it was finished Mel literally looked 10 years older than my brother.
I can`t even imagine the hell the press put that guy and his family though. That took major cajones to make that movie being that we are living in a time where anti-Chritianity propaganda in Hollywood is OK while those who follow a religion that condones death penalties for simple cartoons is left completely alone. Passion was the greatest, my favorite scene is the message of Jesus; "To love one another as I have loved you" something you`ll never get from the religion of death and hate that is protected and celebrated by the leftist media every single day.
Do they really? We had no idea.