Crime of Passion?

I finally went to see "The Passion of the Christ" Saturday night. It was never high on my list of must-sees, but the alternative was "Along Came Polly." Yuck. And a bad night out of Longtan is still a night out of Longtan.

I'd heard from a number of sources I respect that the movie was anti-Semitic, but I'd always figured I really ought to see it myself before passing judgment of my own. I couldn't help but think of the morons who think "Huckleberry Finn" is racist just because it portrays racism honestly, or a number of people I knew in college who refused to watch "Forrest Gump" on the grounds that it was "a celebration of anti-intellectualism" - most of whom had never seen the movie. I never missed a chance to ask "How can you tell if you haven't seen it?", but to the best of my recollections I never got a reply. In any case, no matter the risk of spending my money on something that would only offend me, I was not about to fall into that uninformed opinion club.

And the verdict? Well, there's no question that it serves as fodder for those who already are anti-Semites, but I'm a firm believer in not judging a work of art by what some extremely unreasonable people might think of it. Then there's Mel Gibson's own family background and his history of support for right-wing causes, which shouldn't be ignored. But taken at face value, I see nothing especially offensive. It tells the story of the crucifixion as it is commonly accepted, nothing less or more. The Roman soldiers are presented as at least as much at fault as the Jews, if not much more so. And as a Christian friend of mine said in the cab we took home from the theater, "The 'they murdered my lord' thing isn't even close to any real Christian doctrine anyway." So from where I sit, it's offensive only to people who want it to be.

Which is not to say the movie is for everyone. For one thing, it's extremely graphic. I don't think I've ever seen a more violent movie (unless you count "Kill Bill," but that violence was cartoonistic and clearly not intended to be taken seriously), and the subject matter is obviously going to be of an extremely emotional nature to a lot of people. Still, I think a lot of the controversy is overblown. And at least I can say I've now earned the right to say so.

By the way, could someone explain the pamphlets they give you at the box office when you buy the tickets? They didn't have any of them in English at the theater we went to. I seem to recall reading something about them being part of an effort to smooth the waters around the movie. Thanks.