A critique of the Mel Gibson movie "The Passion Of The Christ"

"The Passion of the Christ" has sparked controversy since the time period before it was released. Everyone seemed to have a different opinion. Jewish people seemed to think that the movie made them seem evil, much like Nazis were made to look evil in "Schindler's List". Catholics seemed to have no problem with the movie, citing the fact that it is told from the point of view of a Catholic person (Mel Gibson). Gibson says that the movie merely reflects what he was taught throughout his life. However, no one seems prepared to answer one major question; religious beliefs set aside, was this really a good movie? "The Passion of the Christ" is so focused on the savagery and negativity of Jesus' final hours that it actually seems to succeed more in assaulting the spirit than uplifting it.

This movie is the construction of an extremely unnerving and painful show that ends up being almost depressing.

film chamber

Photo of Mel Gibson at the premiere of Air America...

English: Mel Gibson at the Cannes film festival

Most films of a religious nature similar to this one are not as lacking in grace. In fact, Mel Gibson has departed drastically from the tone and spirit of earlier American movies about Jesus, which were design to soothe the audience rather than terrify it.

This version of the gospel is extremely violent. The final hour consists of a man being beaten, tortured, and killed in very graphic and lingering detail. Once he is taken, Jesus is cuffed and kicked. He is the flogged first with canes and then with whips that had rocks and pieces of glass on the end. By the time the crown of thorns is put onto his head, he is a barely recognizable mass of bloody flesh moaning and screaming in pain.

While the movie may be biblically accurate, it seems to have more of a horror...