I finally watched Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. I have avoided this movie because I heard so much about the violence in it, and I'm not a fan of that. To be perfectly honest, I sped through the scourging because my husband said he watched it and felt like he needed to throw up.
So Monday night, I sat down and watched Mel's take on the story. I will say, even avoiding the scourging as I did, Mel seemed to focus an awful lot on the violence. I'm not saying it wasn't this way historically, in fact, it probably really was this horrible. I wondered how he actually even made it to the Skull Place he was so beat up. But the focus on the violence was distracting at times. I'm fairly certain I don't need to be nauseated to know what he went through. Things I can imagine in my head are horrific enough and more than that, it wasn't just the physical that makes this story tragic. It was the way that EVERYONE, not just Judas betrayed him, with just a few exceptions. The disciples, except for John, are nowhere to be found. The sanhedrin and religious authorities are making stuff up to put him to death (holy men, my butt!) Even the people who welcomed him into Jerusalem 5 days earlier with such enthusiasm are caught up in the mob mentality. And let's not forget the Romans: Pilate bowing under the political pressure from Caesar and the Jewish leaders, and the soldiers who took delight in his pain (talk about no mercy). And finally, the thief, who, at his own execution can only belittle Jesus. Betrayal after betrayal after betrayal. THAT is what I wouldn't be able to stand up to - knowing that there was no one to comfort me, albeit that Mary and Magdalene were there too, but they were women and who cared what they thought, said or did.
Mel puts the devil right there in the midst of the people, too. First, taunting Jesus in the garden, then at the riot during Jesus' trial, appearing to Judas (seeming to make him possessed), and then cackling gleefully at Jesus' death. Didn't much care for that part.
Passion, by me, is taken only from the Bible. For several reasons, I didn't want to "create" any dialogue. Some of the translations took me right out of the movie. I think one soldier said, "Come on, we don't have all day," which seemed a little modern to me. We create and add new words to the dictionary all the time, but I don't think the slang or colloquisms were quite so rampant in that time. I could be wrong, but my feeling is that language in general was less developed than it is now and so formal language was the order of the day.
They did show Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Jesus off the cross and that was cool. It will be cooler when we do it, and very strenuous, but beautiful and touching and elegant.
So check that off the list.
So Monday night, I sat down and watched Mel's take on the story. I will say, even avoiding the scourging as I did, Mel seemed to focus an awful lot on the violence. I'm not saying it wasn't this way historically, in fact, it probably really was this horrible. I wondered how he actually even made it to the Skull Place he was so beat up. But the focus on the violence was distracting at times. I'm fairly certain I don't need to be nauseated to know what he went through. Things I can imagine in my head are horrific enough and more than that, it wasn't just the physical that makes this story tragic. It was the way that EVERYONE, not just Judas betrayed him, with just a few exceptions. The disciples, except for John, are nowhere to be found. The sanhedrin and religious authorities are making stuff up to put him to death (holy men, my butt!) Even the people who welcomed him into Jerusalem 5 days earlier with such enthusiasm are caught up in the mob mentality. And let's not forget the Romans: Pilate bowing under the political pressure from Caesar and the Jewish leaders, and the soldiers who took delight in his pain (talk about no mercy). And finally, the thief, who, at his own execution can only belittle Jesus. Betrayal after betrayal after betrayal. THAT is what I wouldn't be able to stand up to - knowing that there was no one to comfort me, albeit that Mary and Magdalene were there too, but they were women and who cared what they thought, said or did.
Mel puts the devil right there in the midst of the people, too. First, taunting Jesus in the garden, then at the riot during Jesus' trial, appearing to Judas (seeming to make him possessed), and then cackling gleefully at Jesus' death. Didn't much care for that part.
Passion, by me, is taken only from the Bible. For several reasons, I didn't want to "create" any dialogue. Some of the translations took me right out of the movie. I think one soldier said, "Come on, we don't have all day," which seemed a little modern to me. We create and add new words to the dictionary all the time, but I don't think the slang or colloquisms were quite so rampant in that time. I could be wrong, but my feeling is that language in general was less developed than it is now and so formal language was the order of the day.
They did show Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Jesus off the cross and that was cool. It will be cooler when we do it, and very strenuous, but beautiful and touching and elegant.
So check that off the list.
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