A Free Thinker's Web Log

All we have is this freedom, which does carry with it some responsibility. As long as we don't impinge on someone else's freedom, we can express ourselves freely. This blog will serve as my blogger journal. I try to stay open to ideas. I don't think there's anything wrong with changing one's mind, but there have to be some fundamental beliefs that remain true.

Tue, 01 Mar 2005

The horror that won’t go away.
Last night I saw a commercial for the re-release of The Passion of the Christ. The movie has already been out in video, so it’s ridiculous to release it theatrically again. Recut by Mel Gibson, just in time for Easter, this movie is just not going to go away. It’s intended to fleece the Neo Christians one more round. I suppose it’s Mel Gibson’s revenge against the Academy Awards for ignoring him this year by not nominating him and his movie for the Oscars. The movie didn’t even win an Oscar for cinematography, which it might have if the movie wasn’t such a horrific experience. The first version of The Passion of the Christ was banned by Israel. It might be the only movie banned by Israel. I’ve never heard of such a thing before, but The Passion of the Christ is truly a most prejudicial portrayal of the Jewish people in the history of cinema. It’s mind boggling that so many Protestant Christians actually think of this movie as a magnificent article of faith. I think it’s horrible. It’s like a suicide bomber’s idea of an exploitation movie. Osama Bin Laden couldn’t have come up with a better way to attack the Western World. The movie comes out at the worst time also, just when the negotiations between Palestinians and Israel are beginning to show some signs of fruition. Of course, Mel Gibson made six hundred million dollars with the first release of the movie, so after being snubbed by the Academy Awards, he decided to bring out this horror film again. It’s really nothing more than a horror film, because its theology is terribly flawed. On the one hand the movie goes against the Catholic Church’s position that the Bible was recorded mostly in Greek and Latin and not in Aramaic; on the other hand it jumbles up the Aramaic and produces a garbled version of the Aramaic spoken at the time of Jesus. There’s absolutely no truth or authenticity in this movie. Still, I expect that this terrible movie is going to do well at the Box Office one more time. It’s like the Neo Nazis' version of a Christian movie. Too bad, because my Aramaic Bible translation project has generated some truly positive portrayals of Jesus Christ; this film could be the kiss of death for any genuine portrayal of the loving Messiah that we all yearn for. I give this movie two thumbs down.

posted at: 10:52 | path: | permanent link to this entry

In the end, it's what we do, not what we say.

Hope you enjoyed reading my web log. It wasn't meant to be earth-shattering, just some random ideas in my journey of life -- vic@v-a.com.