Shawn RiceOne of the most controversial films of our time hit theaters on Ash Wednesday, according to film critics Ebert and Roeper. Mel Gibson has directed “The Passion of the Christ.”
Starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus, the movie pays close attention to the final 12 hours of Christ’s life before he was crucified. The movie has brought up discussions around the world. Is this depicting anti-Semitism as a reason for Jesus’ death?
Gibson traveled for months going from country-to-country allowing sneak peaks of his epic. He showed these previews to religious leaders hoping to clarify the confusion, and conflict arising from the production. The idea of the blame being put on Jewish people of past and present is far fetched, according to Roeper. Ebert went on to say how protestors of the movie should watch the Passion before they decide to boycott it.
Who is depicted as the one’s who killed Christ then? One may ask. In this film, Pontius Pilot is much more conflicted with the decision to kill Christ. History has told us that Pilot left the decision making to the people. In the movie, the Roman’s, and their soldiers are the truly barbaric men, who demand answers from Jesus.
Gibson keeps reiterating that it is a film concerning history, and deserves to be told. Mike Evans of World Net Daily was invited to a special screening, and then questioned by Gibson on how he could avoid anti-Semitism.
Evan’s reply was simple. He wanted to prove that Jews suffered during the time of Christ as well. The Roman’s persecuted everyone who spoke against them, Jesus stood out because he was the supposed son of God. The message Evan’s wanted was at the end of the movie put this in quotes: “During the Roman occupation, 250,000 Jews were crucified by the Romans, but only One rose from the dead.”
Posted to the Web by Shawn Rice
