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MEL'S PASSION
By Edward L. Daley
February 28, 2004
When I woke up today I found myself suddenly motivated to comment on something which, of late, has been much on my mind, as well as the minds of millions of Americans, and probably people from many other countries the world over. What I'm referring to is, of course, 'The Passion of the Christ', a new movie created by film icon Mel Gibson and released a short while ago to theaters nationwide.
Now before I even start I should probably point out that I'm not what you would call a religious man, nor do I usually concern myself with motion pictures or most other artistic endeavors in my writings. So it is somewhat surprising, especially to me, that I should find myself addressing such a subject. It's just not what I do. Be that as it may, I am addressing this one for reasons which I hope will become clear later on in this article.
Let me also make it quite clear that I have yet to see the film in question. I am, however, as familiar as most people are with the subject matter and the principle characters involved. Let me see if I can recall the basic story... it's been years since I really thought much about it, so I trust you'll forgive me if I am not 100% accurate in my simple retelling of the story. Those of you who know it well should feel free to skip down several paragraphs at this point.
>From what I understand, the Gibson film is a fairly accurate account of the final hours of Jesus Christ's life. If memory serves, Jesus, a Jew living in Roman-occupied Jerusalem, was considered a threat to the chief Jewish priests of the day (called Pharisees) because he was going around calling himself the Messiah (the one anointed by God to deliver mankind out of darkness) and performing miracles. His ability to persuade and convert people to his way of thinking was remarkable and, consequently, frowned upon by the Pharisees, who were what you might call religious hard-liners.
You see, Jesus had been gaining a following among the Jewish people around him, and had once entered a temple, throwing out the merchants and money changers, saying that a temple is a house of God, yet this one has been turned into a den of thieves. As you might expect, this act angered a lot of powerful people, but even though a large number of folks believed in what Jesus was doing, they were afraid to admit it openly, feeling that they would be expelled from the faith (or perhaps worse) by the powers that be.
This had happened a few years before Jesus' final hours, but I think it's important to point out that particular detail. Anyway, time passed and one day one of Jesus' twelve disciples, named Judas Iscariot, met with the high priests who were opposed to Jesus' actions and teachings, and conspired with them to get rid of him. They paid Judas 30 pieces of gold for his betrayal and set their plan in motion.
Jesus knew all this was going on, but instead of trying to stop it, he met with his disciples for one 'last supper' and explained to them that they should not be upset if he was killed. He told them that he would prepare a place for them and all who believed in him in heaven. After supper he and his disciples went out to pray in a garden and were met by Judas (who had ducked out earlier), some priests and a bunch of other people. They beat Jesus up and took him before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate.
Pilate interrogated Jesus and decided that he hadn't done anything to warrant severe punishment, but the crowd started yelling for him to be crucified. Not wanting to aggravate the crowd, and not really caring one way or another about Jesus, Pilot reconsidered his position and had Jesus whipped and then crucified as the people had demanded.
As Jesus hung on the cross he had been nailed to, he awed a lot of onlookers by saying "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Keep in mind too that his mother, Mary, had been watching his torment and suffering all this time and prayed beneath him as he hung on the cross. Later in the evening, Jesus died after being further tormented. His final words were "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!"
Now that's what I call one powerful story, and it is no wonder that Jesus is so revered by so many people to this day, some 2,000 years after his tragic and agonizing death. I guess what stumps me is why so many people are so upset by the fact that a Christian man, Mel Gibson, who is devoted to his faith, to the teachings of Jesus, and to making quality movies for our enjoyment, would feel compelled to retell such a story on film.
Lately I've been hearing some of the most inappropriate and unjustified remarks being made about Mr. Gibson and his movie by everyone from Jewish Rabbis to Hollywood movie moguls, and the detestation and dread in their voices comes through as clearly as sunlight through a window pane. One Rabbi I saw on television the other night was deeply upset because he felt that Gibson's 'Passion' had unnecessarily characterized the Jews as being stupid and cruel. He insinuated that Mel was anti-Semitic, yet this criticism is difficult for me to take very seriously when I consider the fact that Jesus himself was a Jew, as was his followers, his mother and virtually everyone else around him accept for the Romans. Heck, of course some of the Jews involved in this story would be portrayed as stupid and cruel, after all, they did torture Jesus to death for simply believing something which they did not!
I'm sorry Rabbi, but you're going to have to come up with a more convincing argument than that if you want me to believe that Mel Gibson has an anti-Semitic streak in him. After all, it's not like he invented the story. Again, I have not seen the film in question, but I have yet to hear anyone who has, say that it wasn't a reasonably precise portrayal of what actually took place. No one would expect a Jewish person to be jumping for joy over a movie about the last day in the life of Jesus Christ, but what all responsible people expect is a little fairness and acceptance of the fact that someone who makes a movie about such a thing is not necessarily unsympathetic toward Jews or hateful in his heart.
Today I read about several motion picture big-wigs who are very angry with Gibson for making this movie, and a couple have even said they will no longer work with the man. Other critics of the film from among the Hollywood elite have remarked that it is too violent and disturbing... this from a group of people who have hailed pictures such as Gladiator and Hannibal, the latter of which being a purely fictitious account of a cannibalistic serial killer. Since when have people who make movies like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre been concerned about there being too much violence in films?
Another very liberal individual I saw on television the other day announced that Gibson was like Hitler, mentioning that Mel's father had once questioned the veracity of the historical fact that millions of Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II. This is perhaps the single most despicable charge I've heard leveled at Mr. Gibson by anyone to date! While it may be true that Mel's father actually said what this man claims, all that proves is that Hutton Gibson is a very deluded and, perhaps, even hateful individual. But the sins of the father do not damn the son, at least not in the mind of anyone who has a shred of fairness or human decency in them.
I've also heard several people say that Gibson is exploiting the death of Jesus for the sake of profit, yet these same folks would never dare contend that Steven Spielberg was exploiting the mass murder of the European Jews by making Schindler's List. When one considers that Mel Gibson is a millionaire many times over, it's hard to believe that he produced this movie just to make money. Suffice it to say that many complaints emanating from certain left-leaning individuals in this country concerning Mr. Gibson's production seem to be, at best, ripe with hypocrisy and devoid of candor. At worst they are the result of what I can only describe as a rabid hatred for the man's strongly held Christian beliefs. How sad it is that the story of a man who willingly died in the most horrifying of ways in order to free all of humanity from eternal damnation is met with such contempt. How lacking in understanding, compassion and grace are so many of the very people for whom Jesus sacrificed himself.
I may not be a religious person, but I do consider myself to be a good and fair-minded man. I may not pray to Jesus Christ, but I certainly can appreciate the agony he must have felt, bloodied and dying on that wooden cross so long ago, and why he chose to do so. I may not call myself a Christian, but I do believe that behaving in a Christian manner is something that a lot of people out there would be greatly improved by, as human beings. The sort of selflessness and love for one's fellow human beings exhibited by Jesus is truly wondrous and worthy of all the praise that any decent person can muster, no matter what their religion. The sort of courage and devotion to such a man and his philosophy is also worthy of praise, so to Mr. Gibson I say congratulations, and God love you Mel.
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