Thanks Thomas for providing yet nire reasons to avoid this movie: boredom. I take it you won't become a Methodist any time soon.
Ron >-----Original Message----- >From: Doubting Thomas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 11:09 PM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: RE: [ZION] More on "Passion" > > >I went to Passion last Sunday when a Methodist neighbor >invited me. His >church had bought out a showing with the apparent hope >of converting a few >Mormons to "real Christianity". This allowed them to >hand out a lot of >literature, etc. I was good for a free movie and wanted >to see what all the >fuss was about. > >I thought the film was good in some respects but very >bad in others. Of >course it was all done very realistically with good >actors. The focus was >entirely on the torture and death of Jesus with only >the smallest tidbits of >his life and resurrection. I've never been able to see >anything spiritual >about a man being tortured to death, and this film only >reinforced that >perception. It seemed like the Life of Jesus with all >the spiritual stuff >removed! The trip from the court to Golgotha took what >seemed an eternity. >As if the New Testament account wasn't enough, they >threw in lots of extra >little acts of torture. I had to roll my eyes a lot. > >But that wasn't what I found most "bad" about the >movie. First, it suffered >from the same problem as every other Jesus film I've >seen: Jesus is never >portrayed as a realistic character. He says all the >familiar words, but >they're said in a soft voice with no emotion, yet >everyone is listening with >baited breath. That just doesn't work. The words are >profound because >they're familiar to us. To become famous they needed a >good original >oration. I don't picture Jesus as a quiet, boring guy >with a few profound >things in his head, but that's how he's always >portrayed. The only time in >the entire film that they made him human was a short >flashback (with no >spiritual content) where he was teasing his mother >while building a table. > >Next, the film completely failed to make a persuasive >case for why anybody >wanted Jesus dead. The Jesus portrayed in the film >would have been dismissed >as a crank by everyone (and was by Pilot, Herod, and >others). The only thing >even remotely offensive was Jesus quietly admitting to >a couple heresies >(never loud enough for the "offended" crowd to even >hear him). So the whole >plot of the story made no sense. I realize that we're >already supposed to >know about Jesus cleansing the temple, etc., but the >Jesus character in >Gibson's movie didn't fit that role at all (and there >was never a flashback >to that). > >There were other odd things about the movie. There was >a devil character >that kept popping up in a cloak (I think a woman, but I >was never sure). Her >purpose was never made clear (to encourage the death of >Jesus, or prevent >it?). Then there was mother Mary and her entourage >(Mary M & John). They >were always following along trying to get close to >Jesus through his ordeal, >always shedding a tear but perfectly solemn--totally >unrealistic to say the >least. I thought these repetitive scenes would never >end. It was a relief >when the movie was finally over and I could get out of >the theater and do >something useful. The film didn't move me at all. It >was so boring I almost >fell asleep a couple times. > >Well there you have it, Doubting Thomas� review of the Passion. > >________________________________________________________ >_________ >Store more e-mails with MSN Hotmail Extra Storage � 4 >plans to choose from! >http://click.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200362ave/direct/01/ > >//////////////////////////////////////////////////////// >////////////////////// >/// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// >/// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// >//////////////////////////////////////////////////////// >///////////////////// -- ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------
