February 26, 2004

like lambs to the slaughter

Neil Conan was talking about Mel Gibson's new movie The Passion of the Christ today on Talk of the Nation. There were lots of concerns raised and they weren't really about the same topics. The concerns, you see, were about theology and spirituality and textual interpretation and dramatic choices and a whole bunch of other stuff.

it's the official poster

One of the things that was quite contentious was the amount of blood that shows up in the movie. One of the people on to comment was really appalled. Another thought it rich in symbolism. Yet another was a fan of the verisimilitude and historical accuracy.

I've been kind of interested in seeing this movie. Film. Talking picture. Knowing the amount of, well, torture that's being pictured within it gives me pause. My conception of the Christ goes something like this:

a kinder, gentler version of kindness and gentleness

So I went to the website for this film and I found Mel's statement about the website. I'm surprised and amused by his cavalier behavior. It seems to me that he's auditioning to be in another Lethal Weapon movie. Be careful how long you stay in that site! You might not come out! That's what the man says.

At any rate, far from making a choice about going to see the movie because of theological or spiritual or academic reasons, I've decided that I'm not going because I don't want to see that much cruelty and gore. I can't decide what that makes me, other than a person who's gone to see one fewer movie. So I just won't worry about it.

I wonder how long the rhubarb (means the same thing as brouhaha and ruckus) will stay stirred up around this film. Will it be like The Last Temptation of Christ? Lots of angry angry people so lots of theaters around here didn't show it. (One of the ones that did show it had the kookiest thing happen: Someone was so pissed off that they drove a school bus into the building. The bus was more hurt than the building, unsurprisingly.)

And there it is. No review of the movie. I can't possibly review it. I'm just not going.

Posted by dotty at February 26, 2004 10:55 PM