Right now,
”
The Passion of the Christ
”
has stirred up an enormous amount of controversy. The media has
had a field day with the upcoming movie and looks to add fuel to
the flame with every new detail discovered about this tightly kept
secret,
”
The Passion,
”
which opens Wednesday.
Right now, “The Passion of the Christ” has stirred up an enormous amount of controversy. The media has had a field day with the upcoming movie and looks to add fuel to the flame with every new detail discovered about this tightly kept secret, “The Passion,” which opens Wednesday.
It is not Jesus Christ that is getting all the publicity, nor is it the story of his life, but more how the story is being acted out on screen. The film encompasses the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life right before his arrest and crucifixion.
Now, this doesn’t seem like much of a controversy considering it is the depiction the Bible gives in the four gospels and that 60 percent of Americans believe the Bible is true, according to the reports on an ABC special with Diane Sawyer.
The Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, which fight for protection of the Jewish people, is up in arms with the portrayal of Jews in the film. The movie paints them as blood-thirsty people who are out to crucify Jesus along with his groundbreaking ideas.
Though the ADL recognizes that the film is not anti-Semitic and director Mel Gibson’s vision of the 2,000-year-old story was not made to label Jews as ruthless killers, they still caution viewers to realize that they should not let the movie fuel any hatred towards them.
Despite all the commotion of how the movie will affect the world it can’t be denied that Gibson’s passion is at the heart of the reason this film is coming out. He is the executive producer spending an estimated $30 million of his own money to make sure this story comes to life. He has poured hours and hours into a film that may very well end his career. Why some people may ask?
In an interview, Gibson says he felt compelled to make the film. Why the last 12 hours? He says the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life were the pinnacle of his life, it is the foundation of the Christian faith, according to the ABC-Diane Sawyer interview.
San Benito High School sophomore Naseem Zamboni speaks about the movie: “I think that people are making to big of a deal about it. They should go see the movie and judge for themselves. They shouldn’t criticize Mel Gibson for creating something he is passionate about.”
Along with the already touchy subject of the life of Jesus, how he died and the supposedly anti-semitic undertones of the film, it looks to shock viewers with its accurate depiction of the suffering Jesus went through before his death.
The movie has been under fire for over a year now and with its Wednesday release date approaching, viewers are waiting to see what the hype is all about.
Controversy has been a good thing in some ways for the movie, allowing a lot of exposure without any need for advertisement.
Speaking as a high school student, I welcome this movie with open arms. I am not one to judge something until I have seen it. I don’t think the film will affect any students who are Jewish in a negative way, but will really educate people about the death of a man that has shaped the world with his life.
When all is said and done, it is still a movie, and, as art, it should be treated as art – not censored because of the fear that someone will be offended. I think many students will go see it for their own reasons whether it’s to satisfy their own curiosity of the film or purely for entertainment.
Ben Bannister is a senior at San Benito High School.
