The Passion of the Christ, a non-Christian Review

[Jack_Dubious]

OK so this is like last months news, and I know that The Passion has been overtaken by other movies of the same "risen from the grave" genre....i.e. "Dawn of the Dead". But I thought I would give a quick review anyways...

If you dont know....The Passion of The Christ is the story of the last 12 hours of the life of a liberal jew carpenter, named Jesus. (pronounced "Hay-Seus", for you non-spanish speakers)
This is perhaps the movies greatest problem. If a person is a non-Christian or doesnt know the Bible Story that well, they may have a hard time understanding what is going on. The movie tries to fill in some earlier parts of Jesus's life by using quick flashbacks, once again if you know everything about Jesus then these make sense, if not then they dont help you make any connection with him.
As you may heard The Passion is very violent, due to the fact that in Jesus's last 12 hours he is arrested, beat down, put on trial, and then he really gets his *** kicked. Some people might even say that this movie should have been renamed to " Jesus, You Got Served".
While I have no problem with violence....hey who doesnt love watching flesh get flayed, I just never felt any connection with this guy. If the movie had show his entire life then perhaps the viewer would understand his struggle, and feel a connection to him. But instead of feeling sad and sorry for him, i just think "damn those Romans are some sadistic bastages".
Christians seeing the film will still feel a great connection, because they believe that is thier God on the screen getting executed. I guess I might feel the same way if Hugh Hefner was being tortured.

Language: Yeah the movie is in Aramaic, Latin, Hebrew, and I believe a few lines of Klingon, for good measure. I personally think this was great. I wasnt sure how it would make it, but I found it a really good experience. It gave the movie a much more authentic feel. e.g. In the movie "Last Temptation of Christ", Judas was played by Harvey Keitel, that just killed it for me...like watching Resevoir Dogs Meets Jesus.

Mary Magdelene: Smokin Hot. Seriously, the scenes where Jesus was on the cross, and they would show Mary Magdelene, I was like "Damn, Id like to tag-team her with my wife".

Favorite Character (other than Satan): Pontius Pilate. Im not sure why but man I like Pilate, its almost like he is a good guy in this film. You can see he really doesnt want to condemn Jesus, and puts up some weak excuse about pleasing the mob so it doesnt make trouble for him in Rome. But you can see he really is troubled about putting Jesus to death.
Too bad history tells a different story about Pontius Pilate, being a tyrant to the people he controlled, someone who would never bend to the will of the Jews. But history always gets in the way of a good story...

Anti-Semitism: The Movie holds pretty close to the Bible, so if there is any anti-semitism that people perceive in the movie, then there there is just as much, (if not more), in the New Testament.
People need to understand that when the books of the New Testament were written, the writers were under the rule of the Romans. ARound 300ad, the Romans decided to vote on which books would make up what we know now as the bible. IMHO The Romans werent going to create a bible for thier new religion and show that it was they who were responisble for Christs execution. Hence Pontius Pilate being indifferent, try to be neutral, washing his hands of it all, and the Jews repeatedly calling for his blood, wanting a murderer realeased instead of Jesus, etc.
On a side note, there is a subtitled line that is removed from the movie, when the Jewish Head Priest proclaims that Jesus's Blood is upon them and upong thier children. So remember Jews, jesus's blood is all over you.

Overall: The Passion was a good movie, id recommed that people see it. If you are a Christian then its probably a great movie. But i would have rather seen a movie about his entire life than just concentrating on his death. But for some that is all they care about.
Bottomline, Braveheart was still better. :)

[Fred]

WHOOOSH!

That was the point going right over your head. :(

As much as I think you may have had a good intention with your point of view for this movie review... You're baiting the Christians among us to make this a religious thread, which would get it closed right quick.

---Fred

[yeahthatsme]

Originally posted by Jack_Dubious

Mary Magdelene: Smokin Hot. Seriously, the scenes where Jesus was on the cross, and they would show Mary Magdelene, I was like "Damn, Id like to tag-team her with my wife".


LOL good review.

[Thordic]

hahaha, oh man that was hilarious.

I need to paste it over my my forums just so it doesnt get lost.

[wyn1370]

very good review, even better it was funny vs. the fanatics that have been posting on this crap lately

[Crime Dog]

*is proud to wear the title "fanatic"* I wonder if that was meant as an insult???

I'm with Fred. Point on the deciding what would be canon: I don't believe that was all Romans that made those decisions.

But anyway... I understand the confusion for someone that doesn't know much about Christ. The Passion of the Christ does make much more sense when one knows who Jesus was, and why He was here to begin with. But hey...director's choice, ya know?

Thanks for the review...interesting to read a Non-Christians review of it! (What I was looking for in a thread I had started previously, but got shut down I believe.)

[FactsOfLife]

JD man that was hilarious 8)

Once again the AO master of sarcasm strikes!

[hitech]

Interesting. My wife thought it was one of the worst movies she has ever seen. She thought it had WAY TO MUCH unnecessary graphic violence. The story (for her) was completely lost amongst the graphic violence. I don’t think most would call her a Christian, but she knows the story of Christ well. She can’t understand why all that was necessary in a movie. It did not, in her opinion, help tell the story. Quite the opposite, it hurt the telling of the story.

[Crime Dog]

Tell her she should be glad she wasn't there in person then. The movie doesn't compare what really happened still...

So. Anyway....

[phantomhitman]

great review. hay sues, lmao

[AssassN]

Our preacher thought it was inaccurate, but what does he know.

[1stdeadeye]

J DUb,
You beat me to it this time! Funny stuff!

Resevior dogs meets Jesus.:D

[NJPaint]

The Passion of Christ is a very moving and emotional film. As someone who has spent extensive time studying the Bible, in my personal opinion it holds true to the Bible, almost verbatim. Give me a scene in the movie and it can be found in the Passion of Christ parts of the Gospels. I spent hours pouring over my three copies of the Bible (King James, Jerusalem and a modernized Episcopal version) after seeing it the first time. It follows the non-synoptic Gospel, John closest of all (the least studied because it is shorter and doesn't have the same fairy story as the others). People can claim all they want that it doesn't follow the bible that it is "Mel Gibson's interpretation", but I have yet to see any evidence of it. I've heard a lot of Jewish kids at my school whining that it doesn't hold to the Bible. Not a single one of them have read a passage from the Bible, much less the Passion of Christ. I am sorry, but transfering the Bible to the screen was fairly straight forward. Were parts embellished? Made more fluid? Yes, of course, like any movie. However, these were director issues, not things that are in the story itself. Anyone who claims otherwise should be put under scrutiny. They haven't read the Bible for comparison, can't read (Bible is 50+ languages), or are being led like sheep by their rabbis. (or a combination of those)

Anti-Semitism.

Depends what you mean by anti-semitic, if you mean the Jewish lobbyist meaning; anything that doesn't portray Jews as the chosen people. Then yes, it was anti-semitic, well, then every Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Budahist is anti-semitic.

If you mean inciting hatred for jews... Which is a more logical term, though wholely incorrect... (Anti-semitic means anti-samites, which includes Jews, and Palestinians (Arab), since they are all samites) Well then... The Passion of Christ was no more anti-semitic than the Bible is. If you want to call the movie Anti-semitic, then you are calling the Bible anti-semitic, which I don't have a problem with. But then spell out the facts, admit that you are calling the Bible anti-semitic. (I think it is to a certain extent, as does anything proclaiming a group as the people of God)

People can bring Gibson's father into this, and his 'sources'. I think that it is absurd to consider anything except Gibson's final work. Did he take those works into consideration? As well as his father? Of course he did. Does that make him anti-semitic? No.

Overhyping movies... Well, it was the Jewish lobby that hyped it, not Mel Gibson. He spent $15 million to advertise it, tiny by movie standards. I heard about the movie 2 years before it was released because the ALU was making a huge deal about it and as part of AAADC (anti-arab-american discrimination committee), we pick up anything the ALU does. Nobody hyped it because of the violence, people watched it because it follows the most known story to modern humanity.


It is a movie. People have the right to see and not see what they please. I think that it was a great movie. It is something that I encourage people to see. Not because I want them to follow Christ, but because these issues plague our modern society. Half of the US population believes in the litteral translation of the Bible. Dispute it if you will, but it is an important world to know and understand. Going into it as a 'convert movie' is the wrong attitude. That is not what it is meant to be. It is an piece of art depicting a very graphic and emotional story of Jesus, The Son of God (to Christians).

And no, I am not Christian. I am agnostic. Anyone who says for sure that God doesn't exist is claiming to know as much as anyone who claims that God does exist. (not that I fault either category) Both sets can develope an unbridled pride that they know more about the universe than everyone else. My stance is, I don't know if God exists or not. What I do know is that it is impossible to prove either way and there is too much to information to crunch to get a meaningful answer, therefore I can't ally myself with a fanatic group.


(my opinion I saved from another forum that I posted this on)

[Crime Dog]

That's fair man. I can respect that.

[shartley]

Originally posted by Crime Dog
That's fair man. I can respect that.
I agree.

As for the first post….. I guess it would be funny if you have no respect for the subject matter… I however do. And I would have respect for a similar movie made about any religious figure Christian or not.

I guess it is a matter of what I personally think is “off limits” for joking about. Now keep in mind though that I have found spoofs on religion to be funny…. Monty Python does it well for example. But to make a joke about a serious movie with serious subject matter of this type…. that I call “off limits”.

But to each their own….

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by shartley

As for the first post….. I guess it would be funny if you have no respect for the subject matter… I however do. And I would have respect for a similar movie made about any religious figure Christian or not.


Then I guess I wont post my reviews of the movies:
"When Krishna met Shiva"
"Hello Dalai!...Lama"
"Muhammad 3: The Rise of the Islamics"
"The Passion of L. Ron Hubbard"

:p
JDub

[aaron_mag]

Originally posted by Jack_Dubious
Mary Magdelene: Smokin Hot. Seriously, the scenes where Jesus was on the cross, and they would show Mary Magdelene, I was like "Damn, Id like to tag-team her with my wife".


http://romanticmovies.about.com/library/graphics/matrix2pubw.jpg

Tag....you're it.... :)

I thought about seeing the movie for that reason only.....

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by Jack_Dubious


Then I guess I wont post my reviews of the movies:
"When Krishna met Shiva"
"Hello Dalai!...Lama"
"Muhammad 3: The Rise of the Islamics"
"The Passion of L. Ron Hubbard"

:p
JDub

ROFL!!!

What about "Budda, Budda, Budda..belly"?;)

[The Action Figure]

good review, but your missing the point of the movie. first off whether you believe it or not, Jesus died for you on the cross, why didnt he run? why didnt he hide? he had to do this to fullfill prophecy and save his fathers creation. This movie somewhat depicts the real physical and mental responces Jesus went through during the last 12 or so hrs of his life.

[mcveighr]

Hahaha, good review, almost as good as Maddox's review of Dawn of the dead.

Warning: Vulgar language.
http://maddox.xmission.com/c.cgi?u=dawn_rules

[FactsOfLife]

The responses to Jdub's parody are a little bothersome to me.

Are we that uptight about our faith in HIM, that we can't poke some fun at ourselves?

I would hate to think I have a belief in God that HE doesn't have a sense of humor as well.

Of course, JDub is going to burn in the blackest charnel pits of hell for it, but it is funny stuff.

I mean come on guys, if you can't have some fun with our faith, we end up having a faith the same way AL Qaeda does.


Now there's a group of people with no sense of humor at all.;)

[Mateo]

I wonder how all the Christians would react if somebody made a movie about Mohammad and his trials through life? Probably along the lines of "Jesus is the one true savior! That movie is all BS!!!!!1!!11" while it could be a very nice movie indeed. Amazing how things turn around when its not your faith.;) Just sit back and enjoy JDubs comedy before you go on a tangent.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by Mateo
I wonder how all the Christians would react if somebody made a movie about Mohammad and his trials through life? Probably along the lines of "Jesus is the one true savior! That movie is all BS!!!!!1!!11" while it could be a very nice movie indeed. Amazing how things turn around when its not your faith.;) Just sit back and enjoy JDubs comedy before you go on a tangent.

Except that Mohammad never sacrificed anything for anyone. He was a warrior/general who became a prophet after he kicked everyone's arse around him!;)

[RenagadeOfFunk]

Good review...you got your point across :)...

...can i have your ticket stubs people?
...I get 100 free paintballs with a stub at a field i go to...:) (its true!)

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye


Except that Mohammad never sacrificed anything for anyone. He was a warrior/general who became a prophet after he kicked everyone's arse around him!;)


Yep, Mohammad was a prophet, not the Savior.

[aaron_mag]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife
The responses to Jdub's parody are a little bothersome to me.

Are we that uptight about our faith in HIM, that we can't poke some fun at ourselves?

I would hate to think I have a belief in God that HE doesn't have a sense of humor as well.

Of course, JDub is going to burn in the blackest charnel pits of hell for it, but it is funny stuff.

I mean come on guys, if you can't have some fun with our faith, we end up having a faith the same way AL Qaeda does.


Now there's a group of people with no sense of humor at all.;)

Good post!!! Amen to that....

[Jack_Dubious]

I wrote that review right after I woke up. I just wanted to give my thoughts on the picture, with a few small funny/dirty quips. A full parody review would have been much more offensive......yet so much more funny. go figure ;)

FOL- Your post made my day. There is a place in paradise for you, my friend. :)


Gideon1331- I think you are missing the point of my review. *I dont believe that Jesus is God. i.e. I dont believe he died for ME* Hence the movie is not going to have the same impact to me that it will to a believer.
I was getting a little tired of people reviewing it and saying it was so great cause it showed how Jesus sacrificed himself for *me*. If someone believes in him and it makes for a movie that truly speaks to them, then I think thats great for them. But guess what, I dont know Jesus, Ive never met him....ive never bummed $20 from him....ive never borrowed his Girls Gone Wild DVD, or dated his sister. So Im sorry the "whether you believe it or not, Jesus died for you on the cross"...just aint gonna cut it.

Like I said its a good movie. But to a non-believer its still a movie about some guy getting the beatdown by the mighty roman jackboot...er...sandal. :p


oh and by the way- whether you believe it or not, when you die you will be reincarnated as a lower or higher life form, according to how you lived your previous life. :D

EDIT: Doh! I just realized ive probably sacrificed myself to the Thread Lock Gods. hehe

[Trigger_Happy]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife



Yep, Mohammad was a prophet, not the Savior.

Was he even a prophet? From what I've read he was a bum who tried to get rich and powerful by starting a religion and forcing everyone to convert or die. History tells us that after taking over the middle east he moved into africa. He (Or his heir as the case may be) was stopped before he fully take over/convert europe, but if he hadn't been stopped we'd all be muslim (or dead) right now.

But, hey, he didn't do too badly. Islam is the #2 religion, the fastest growing, and the whole violence for conversions thing still has a niche...:rolleyes:

[Jeffy-CanCon]

JDubs, was the review intended as parody, or was it a serious review with an irreverent bent? I think you have a good point, about how different the movie might be for a non-Christian who doesn't know the backstory. I don't see how any reasonable person can be offended by that.

BTW - I haven't seen the movie, and have no intention to see it.

[1stdeadeye]

I think everything J Dub does is a parady.

I thought is was cute. Like Facts said, you can't take yourself to seriously!;)

[shartley]

I fully understand parody…. And I fully understand poking fun of ourselves… but although I have a very good sense of humor, I do know what I consider appropriate and what I do not. And I can even acknowledge that some things that are not appropriate CAN be funny.

My point was not about whether what he posted was funny or not, but whether it was appropriate to post. I would have posted the same comments I did above about a similar “review” about Schindler’s List as well, and I am not a Jew.

Now, if the “review” was that of “The Life of Brian”, it would have been appropriate.

For me it has to do with the seriousness of the actual thing being reviewed. But I guess because it has to do with “Christians” it is okay to just say what you want, right? How would folks react if it was a serious movie about the rape and brutal murder of a teenage black girl in Alabama? Would it be okay to “poke fun” of ourselves then and write such an irreverent “review”? Would we all find the “humor” in it then?

Good questions….. IMHO

[FactsOfLife]

Sammy you have a valid point. But I think as people of the J/C faith, we've been getting condtitioned by the constant attacks on our Faith for so long we tend to get gunshy about anything said about our religion.

I started looking at it like this, serious attack? Serious defense. Someone poking some fun? Laugh and let HIM deal with it.:D

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by shartley
How would folks react if it was a serious movie about the rape and brutal murder of a teenage black girl in Alabama? Would it be okay to “poke fun” of ourselves then and write such an irreverent “review”? Would we all find the “humor” in it then?
Good questions….. IMHO

you are right, that would make an awful piece...

Now if that black girl was tried and executed in a Roman Court 2000 years ago, and then she became Deified and worshiped by the largest religion in the world...

then YES it would make for some freakin high-larious comedy! nyuk-nyuk :p


JDub

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by Jack_Dubious


you are right, that would make an awful piece...

Now if that black girl was tried and executed in a Roman Court 2000 years ago, and then she became Deified and worshiped by the largest religion in the world...

then YES it would make for some freakin high-larious comedy! nyuk-nyuk :p


JDub



oh man that post put JDub at 666....

coincidence??

[Thordic]

*looks in the Bill of Rights for a right to not be offended*

[Trigger_Happy]

oh man that post put JDub at 666....

That's hilarious :)

I think it's fine to poke fun. There's nothing written to say that's morally wrong. Perhaps it's upsetting to read, I'll give you that, but I think it's valid to post regardless. I just don't hold that anything is 'sacreligious'. It's either sin or it's not. And if it's not sin, why not laugh at the joke?

EDIT:

*looks in the Bill of Rights for a right to not be offended*

I believe it's somewhere in there or we'd be allowed to scream hateful remarks at minorities we disliked?

[shartley]

Originally posted by Thordic
*looks in the Bill of Rights for a right to not be offended*
I wonder how the “Bill of rights” fits into the picture… on AO. ;)

AO does have rules and policy though, aside from what is protected by the "Bill of Rights"… Pornography and swearing are two of the things not allowed on AO. Both are found to be offensive by some people (or inappropriate at best), but both are also protected under the “Bill of Rights”.

I also will point out that I am being very reasonable in my posts, AND that I (as well as anyone else) has the same ability to post their objections to something they find offensive as those who posted the “offensive material. (Wow, that was rough posting while not using the word “right”. LOL)

If you are going to allow one post, you have to allow those who disagree with it, or find it objectionable to post as much also. And more so when from what I have seen, folks on BOTH sides have remained civil.

[shartley]

Originally posted by Trigger_Happy


That's hilarious :)

I think it's fine to poke fun. There's nothing written to say that's morally wrong. Perhaps it's upsetting to read, I'll give you that, but I think it's valid to post regardless. I just don't hold that anything is 'sacreligious'. It's either sin or it's not. And if it's not sin, why not laugh at the joke?

I don’t think you really want to go there….

Why?

Because some of what was written WAS a sin. ;) But then again, I should not have to point that out….. and will not go farther with it.

[Thordic]

Originally posted by Trigger_Happy

I believe it's somewhere in there or we'd be allowed to scream hateful remarks at minorities we disliked?

Uhm, you ARE allowed to. Check the whole freedom of speech thing. Theres a fine line between harassment and free speech in situations like that, but you can say quite a bit. Its your constitutional right to be a racist. Its the governments job to keep you from infringing on the rights of others, but you are free to believe whatever you want. And say such.

I'm not saying people can't objec to what JDub posted, but he is free to speak his mind. He didn't flame, or curse. I don't believe theres an AO rule against satire.

[Trigger_Happy]

*Begins writing his 'It's my right to say that' speech to be given following his arrest.*

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife




oh man that post put JDub at 666....

coincidence??

Oh my God. I knew it. JDub sold his soul to Satan to acquire his rapier wit!:eek:

:p

[Jack_Dubious]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye

JDub sold his soul to Satan to acquire his rapier wit!:eek:

yeah but I know what you sold yours for...

http://home.earthlink.net/~goodvibe/satan1.jpg



:p

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by Jack_Dubious


yeah but I know what you sold yours for...

http://home.earthlink.net/~goodvibe/satan1.jpg



:p

:eek: eek!

I hath doth been discovered!

:p


Very cute! ;)