Rodent Regatta

>From far and wide we’re seeing even more ”analysis” and writing that completely misses the point and the (often stated) objective of Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion of the Christ. Faith, hope, love and forgiveness – the question has been asked many times and the answer has always come back to these. It’s a movie about the most incredible sacrifice of all time.

Here’s where World magazine links to Entertainment Weekly’s ”in depth” discussion. It’s time for someone to begin to ask each of these writers, ”what was your motive when you wrote your article about the movie? What were you trying to say? Do you think the article will harm your career? What do you say to your critics who say you are simply slanting your article to a group of readers who believe as you do?”

In an entry titled Newsweek Takes on the New Testament, Dr. Albert Mohler takes on Jon Meacham, who wrote the piece for Newsweek. As Mohler points out, one of the common bases for criticism of Mel Gibson’s upcoming movie is the use of the Bible as a history book. Few people are digging deeply enough to gather the facts.

The worst offender in this area is a writer by the name of Christopher Hitchens. Writing for Vanity Fair, he produced a piece called The Gospel According to Mel. The article had not been posted to Hitchens’s web site at the time of this entry.

Know in advance that he began with an agenda consistent with his past work. Here’s a link to an interview with Hitchens at secularhumanism.org.

If you haven’t heard or read the story of the lifesaving club in a while, it’s always worth a refresher. Today’s world is full of ”lifesaving clubs” that believe you must do it precisely their way or the life isn’t really saved! Thanks to blogs4God for the link.

In the context and at the moment, I knew Mel Gibson’s effort was sincere. He had just been asked by Lee Strobel, ”What do you say about the youth. The movie is rated R, and you could have toned it down.”

Mel Gibson didn’t hesitate. ”Dude, I did tone it down.” The expression on his face told anyone who was watching that he understood what the last twelve hours in the life of Christ were like.

This was just one of the many moments in today’s interview at Azusa Pacific University in California that said Mel Gibson has deep reasons for having funded and made The Passion of the Christ. Another came when Gibson was asked what he’d like to tell people who are planning to go to the movie. The answer was simple, ”It’s hard to watch.”

The Church Communication Network (CCN) broadcast the interview from Azusa Pacific, and churches who wanted to take the satellite feed could hold events. At those events people were allowed to phone, fax and email questions.

Lee Strobel served as host and conducted the interview. Strobel spend a number of years at the Chicago Tribune and was an atheist for much of his early life. Since becoming a Christian he has written The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith and other testaments to his own search for truth.

With all of the early noise level about this movie focusing on whether or not it promotes anti-semitism, the answer came early in the interview. The movie is about forgiveness, love and sacrifice. This notion was supported by all the answers given throughout the interview process.

Here are some of the other highlights from Gibson:

• I’ve been thinking about and discussing this project for twelve or thirteen years.
• I didn’t really direct. A higher power directed. I just directed traffic.
• Deal with Jesus for a year and you can’t help but become deeply affected.
• I wanted to show his sacrifice for all sin for all time.
• Evil is always going to show up as something attractive and alluring. Time shows that there’s something slightly wrong!
• We had only an eighty-five page script, but it took 18 weeks to film it. Our plan had called for 10 weeks.
• The movie is not about hatred. It’s about the opposite of that.
• Two things happend after people view the movie. First, there’s silence as people sit there and just think. Second, they want to be with others and talk about it.
• Paul Lauer, Marketing Director for Icon Productions, said that 2500 theaters will show the opening on February 25th. His message was, ”If we can impact Hollywood, we can impact the world.”

Here are some additional links for those who are interested in learning more:

1. Primary web site:www.thepassionofthechrist.com
2. Marketing and promotional materials
3. www.studentshavepassion.com
4. www.thepassionoutreach.com
5. www.passioncommercial.com
6. www.thepassiondownloads.com

If this entry has held your interest, I encourage you to go back to a September, 2003 article by Peter Boyle that ran in New Yorker magazine. It will challenge you to learn more. To get a sense of what Gibson was facing in the press about that time, take a look at Frank Rich’s article and Elizabeth Farah.

There have been a few private screenings of various edits of Mel Gibson’s new movie. Already, there is this much speculation, controversy and debate. Remember that some who are in the midst of the arguments and debate have not seen the movie or one of the early screenings. They have simply chosen to be ”offended” by something they haven’t seen.

Ash Wednesday is February 25, 2004. The movie will be released in over 2000 theaters. What will the discussion be? Will the message of the movie get lost? Will the message of a risen Saviour get lost? Will the message of those who are offended drown the Good News? The Cross, the sins of mankind and the rejection of his followers could not silence Jesus Christ two thousand years ago. A movie and its aftermath will not silence the message of Hope today. If anything, it may be used as an instrument of instruction and peace in a world that desperately needs both.