The Passion of the Christ (2004)
If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.
THE SUMMARY: The son of God is betrayed and arrested for his blasphemy, then beaten, crucified, and resurrected in perhaps the most famous story ever told. The Passion is a brutally violent retelling, but that’s obviously the point, and it stays true to the scripture, no matter what the ADL says.
NO MOVIE-PICKER COMMENTARY: The Passion is a special selection for Easter Sunday, or, if you prefer, the White House-designated Transgender Day of Visibility 2024.
JAMIE AND JEANNE’S AI FACESWAP ART:
If you think Blonde as Jesus is blasphemous…
…please accept Blonde as Satan to offset it.
It’s not a hard choice, actuallly.
THE BEST:
It hits the right philosophical points: The Passion is heavy on Jesus’ suffering and light on his philosophy, but it does begin with some of his teachings, and intertwine them throughout his trial and execution. It wasn’t just a beatdown - it did have me thinking on several points.
Live by the sword, die by the sword: Jesus rebukes Peter after he slashes Malchus’ ear, ‘those who live by the sword shall by die by the sword.’ Most are generally familiar with the phrase, meaning if you bring violence to others, violence will be brought to you. But I haven’t thought much about the phrase’s Biblical intent. Its origin is Matthew’s Gospel, which we haven’t yet read in Bible Study.
A simple reading of the line might suggest pacifism, or absolute non-violence, not even in self-defense, as Jesus didn’t defend himself in this arrest situation. Until we get to this passage in Bible Study, I’ll speculate there’s more to it than that. Choose violence, and violence will come to you, but there are times when we are confronted with violence by no choice at all, and violence is the only reasonable response. I don’t think the intended message is to surrender to an abuser. It’s to avoid violence whenever there’s a choice. Be smart and morally restrained with violence, in other words.
If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first: Jesus says it as he washes his apostles’ feet in a flashback during the whipping, a reference from John’s Gospel. This passage was discussed in my Bible Study’s December 3, 2022 session. I gather that in context, Jesus is speaking to his disciples specifically, preparing them for the persecution they may face for following him. But there’s broader wisdom here too. No matter how difficult your struggles may get, you are not the first, and you are likely not unique. There is always a moral obligation to persevere through them, in this context, just as Jesus persevered through the anguish.
Prioritize money at your own peril: Judas’ betrayal is history’s most famous backstabbing, but we often forget why he did it: money. Or at least, that’s a reason. There are other explanations for his behavior too. Judas’ subplot is one of the best parts of The Passion. Sure, money is fun. Sure, money provides security. Sure, it takes money to build a home and a family. But that’s exactly it - money toward what end, and at what cost? Love of money without moral principle to constrain it is evil, not just in that it will abuse others, but just like Judas in this movie, because it will destroy you too. Judas is tormented by demons until he hangs himself in disgrace and misses Jesus’ death and resurrection entirely.
It stays true to the scripture (mostly): Aside from a few slight deviations and creative liberties, like Satan’s snake in the garden of Gethsemane, and the demon children taunting Judas, The Passion is largely faithful to the Gospels. At least based on what I’ve read. I’m no authority on the scripture of course, but any criticisms for Biblical inaccuracy I see deal with small points exaggerated, or presentational style, or adding some sort of dramatic effect, not fundamentally changing the sequence of events as told.
The ADL hates it: I should make The Passion an automatic Five-Wicky based solely on this point, but the ADL has several pages of its website devoted to hating the movie. In a review of the movie at the time of its release in 2004, the authors describe their ‘feelings of anger, disappointment, and pain’ after seeing it, and they warn it may not cause pogroms, but it will still get people hating the Jews. In a Q&A from 2013, the ADL bemoans that Mel Gibson presented the Jewish high priests as ‘bloodthirsty,’ but simultaneously offered no explanation for how Gibson’s presentation was not accurate to the Gospels. The ADL was so wildly biased against the movie they pre-condemned it. In a statement in June 2003, more than six months before the movie even released, the ADL called the script anti-Semitic and issued recommendations to fix it.
All of this controversy, of course, because of the fear that viewers will conclude ‘the Jews killed Jesus,’ itself an anti-Semitic myth according to the ADL. But the movie follows the Gospel events: Jewish high priests tried and convicted Jesus and brought him to the Romans for execution. And yes, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, hesitated to do it, finding Jesus not guilty, but ultimately agreeing to execute him to appease the mob. Exactly as Mel presents. To recognize this account in the Gospels is not to blame all Jews, or today’s Jews, for the act. I don’t blame today’s Brits for the actions of King George, but I am a patriotic American who understands the history of the revolution. Same idea, but nobody complains about the danger of anti-limey-ism if you watch The Patriot.
Anybody who wants to hide information from you and prevent you from deciding for yourself is an enemy. I didn’t choose that, ADL - you did.
Remember that it hated me first.
Stacking silver is cool, but your soul is cooler.
THE WORST:
Not a family-friendly presentation: It’s kinda like that famous Simpsons meme - ‘stop! Stop! He’s already dead!’ Except, he isn’t. Well, only very briefly. The latter half of the movie is just pure brutality, interrupted only with a few flashbacks to key moments in Jesus’ teaching. Jesus gets whipped. He gets thorn-crowned. He has to drag that heavy-ass cross all across town and up that big hill. He gets his hands and feet nailed. He gets cross-flipped. He hangs there for a damn long time while a raven pecks that other crucified guy’s eyes out. Until finally, he dies. And all of those scenes are horrifically bloody, gory, and physically painful to watch, for over an hour.
I get it - that’s the point. Jesus suffered unimaginably to pay for your sins, and to understand the significance of that sacrifice, it should be torturous viewing. I’m not saying the reason for this graphically brutal presentation makes no sense. I’m saying it does have a trade-off. If, one day, I want to introduce my children to the story of Jesus’ death and resurrection, The Passion is not an option, at least while they’re young. I presume Mel would say it isn’t intended to be an entry point for your kids like that. Fair enough. I suppose I could say the same thing about Saving Private Ryan - it’s not an option to teach my kids about World War II, because it’s too violent. Yeah, so was the real event.
No sugar-coating
THE RATING: 4/5 Wickies. It hits what matters and tells the story faithfully. Its major fault is it’s incredibly difficult to watch, but I’m sure actual crucifixions were too.
YOUR RATING: Vote here ⬇ Note: if you get a notification saying you have already voted and you haven’t, this is because of an issue with iOS (Apple mobile devices). Try voting on a desktop or laptop computer.
DISCUSS OR REVIEW THE MOVIE WITH OTHER LISTENERS: Check out the dedicated channel on the community Discord server.
NEXT WEEK: Red Dawn (1984)
Note: prior to the last vote, I was unaware there is a 2012 remake of Red Dawn. I’m 99.9% sure Jason, the movie nominator for April, meant for the original 1984 movie to be the pick, so that’s what I’m going with. Sorry for not clarifying in the vote.
AFTER THAT? YOU PICK - VOTE! April’s nominations are from listener Jason. Note: if you get a notification saying you have already voted and you haven’t, this is because of an issue with iOS (Apple mobile devices). Try voting on a desktop or laptop computer.
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