{"id":7745,"date":"2004-03-12T08:05:16","date_gmt":"2004-03-12T08:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2004\/03\/still_arguing_about_the_passion.html"},"modified":"2004-03-12T08:05:16","modified_gmt":"2004-03-12T08:05:16","slug":"still_arguing_about_the_passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2004\/03\/still_arguing_about_the_passion.html","title":{"rendered":"Still arguing about the Passion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lots of differing views on the Passion at CT’s Film Forum<\/a><\/p>\n

It seems to me that with each passing day, more and more film critics are publishing opinions on the film that will, eventually, show them up as reactionaries when it comes to religious art. They are so troubled by the intensity and focus of this work that they reveal a great deal of ignorance about Christianity and the way it has been represented in art throughout history. Many\u2014perhaps even most\u2014are showing themselves far more guilty of discrimination and prejudice than the filmmaker they seek to condemn. If they are so willing to assume that Gibson is anti-Semitic, in spite of his claims to the contrary, in spite of the way in which Gibson’s film incriminates those who despise Jews, then why have they remained silent, or even praised other films that exhibit obvious, undeniable prejudice against Catholics and Christians? Their two-faced behavior is almost laughable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

FF also quotes:<\/p>\n

\nMichael Leary (The Matthews House Project) points out that “there are a number of films that ask much different questions about Jesus than Gibson does. The Life of Brian, Jesus Christ Superstar, and The Last Temptation of Christ just to name an important few. But there is also the rare film like Jesus of Montreal that does such a great job of describing Christ’s odd social significance that has mostly flown under the radar of the mainstream Christian audience over the decades. Not only are there other good Jesus films out there, but at the risk of sounding heretical, there may even be a few that are better than the one Gibson has offered us. \u2026 To be absolutely blunt, The Passion of The Christ is not the best film I will see this year.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus of Montreal is a good film – not suitable for young audiences for various reasons, but a good one. It’s in the tradition of “what happens to a group of people who are re-enacting the Passion” – Kazantzakis also wrote a novel on the premise entitled The Greek Passion<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Maybe my husband will write about a film he saw and had on tape for a long time – still does somewhere, I think. The Penitent, I think? It’s about the practice, in some countries, of ritually re-enacting the crucifixion by penitents who are actually crucified, or close to it. Someone famous is in it, but I can’t remember who.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lots of differing views on the Passion at CT’s Film Forum It seems to me that with each passing day, more and more film critics are publishing opinions on the film that will, eventually, show them up as reactionaries when it comes to religious art. 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The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. 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