'Passion' Opening Draws Massive Crowds

[demdave]

SALT LAKE CITY - The opening of "The Passion of the Christ" drew everyone from conservative churchgoers to confrontational New Yorkers more than willing to roll out their soapboxes as screenings got under way.

----snip----

Watts said he was intrigued but would need permission from his bishop, since missionaries are not allowed to watch films or television under church protocol. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stresses family values and frowns upon members seeing R-rated films.

----snip----

The movie took in an estimated $15 million to $20 million after just one day of release, remarkable for a religious-themed movie. It opened in more than 3,000 theaters — an unusually large release for a religious film with English subtitles to translate the Latin and Aramaic its characters speak.

----snip----

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League who saw "The Passion" before opening day, said he was still worried about reactions to the film when it comes out in places like Argentina and Europe, where there's been less debate about its content.


Note: This article touches almost all subjects regarding this film, from the woman dying, anti-Semitism, violence and box office receipts. I just tried to snip a few examples.

[readmylips]

1. I have no interest in this movie...at all..

All these religious nuts have come out of the woodwork in support of this movie. Guys, It's Just a Movie, for cheeze sake! It's like the religious nuts are in a race of their own to gain church-goers. The Catholic guy (Donohue??) who has been screeming on tv all week in support of this movie, makes me feel ashame of being Catholic. Whatever! Can't wait until next week until all this madness quiets down and we can get back to the real problems facing this country.

[mr_hat]

2. One cinema reports adoring crowds won't leave lobby; >

the Virgin's face seen in popcorn machine.

[Yavin4]

3. Reminds of the line from Elton John's "Tiny Dancer"

"Jesus freaks
out in the street
selling tickets..."

I forget the rest.

[Terran]

5. Jesus Freaks

"Jesus Freaks
Out in the street
Handing tickets out for God." (or "Gaw-awd," if you really want to imitate how Elton sang it)

Actually, I kind of miss the Jesus Freaks. They were mostly what became of thw Hippies, and were more or less harmless compared to what we have today.

[progressivebydesign]

4. Has Gibson lost it?

I saw a clip of him on the Daily Show... Gibson appears sorta crazed.. "God ordains EVERYTHING, God made my bed!". He said that in response to the question, "did GOD make this film?" He really thinks GOD made the film! WOnder what God's take of all the box office receipts will be, or perhaps the hideous nail jewelry and other tie-ins. He looks kind of deranged, like he's stuck in that character from Lethal Weapon, when he does the whole reckless, crazy thing. He talked about the devil inside of all of us (speak for yourself, Mel!), and I wondered if his battle with alcoholism and skirt-chasing has led him to religious fanatacism. Addictions are addictions.. people often replace one for another. He was freaky. It also freaks me out to see people subjecting themselves and their children to a MOVIE that some actor made, as though HE was the ultimate authority on their religious icon. It's his interpretation of events that may or may not have happened at all (if you even believe the Biblie is non-fiction), and people are flocking to it. We are under siege by religious fanatacism right now.. fueled by 9/11, worsening economy, world events, and the merchandising of fundamentalism as a consumer product. This film is a dangerous precedent.. does a filmaker need only to base his film on a Christian character to circumvent humanity? This is mass hysteria... plain and simple. Already, on other message boards, people are attacking Jews because of this movie.

[sybylla]

9. I second your "crazed" impression.

Took me by surprise. I haven't seen him looking so whacked out since his character in the Lethal Weapon movies. I'd say he's had more than his share of the kool-aid.

[NashVegas]

31. I Saw That Too

I didn't watch the Sawyer interview. From the clip, Mel appeared to be quite the zealot, and erm, possesed by the spirit, so to speak. I wonder if he was like that for the whole interview?

[oneighty]

6. I wonder

how much of "The cash take" for opening day came from church coffers-monies to be replaced by Faith Based Federal Funding?

Oh! Boy a free movie time outa school, outa work. WhoooHooooo!

180

[zbdent]

7. Never before has the religious terms "sheep" and "flock" been so aptly

applied.

[saigon68]

11. My friend who saw it, told me this AM it was Perversion and Depravity

Said it was worse than the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" for gore, filth and violence.

Said it was unfit for anyone and especially for children.

Regretted going and opined that some religious kook is going to go off in a rage and hurt someone because of it.

Not exactly a glowing critical endorsement.

My take--- pornogaphic violence posing as religion.

[demdave]

15. As I recall, the first 20 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan" were hailed

as showing the truth about the real horror of war. I also remember how many, here and elsewhere, encouraged parents to take children in order to remove any "romance" about war.

As a parent I would not take my children to this, they are not old enough yet. If they were older than 15, I would see it first and then decide. As a Catholic I remember when "Jesus Christ Superstar" came out. I was in 6th grade and we listened to the entire album in Catholic school religion class. I still get chills during the lashing track. It made a very deep impression as to the pain and sacrifice of Christ. I believe that is what was intended here.

Suitable for children...no. A graphic reminder for the faithful....perhaps.

[saigon68]

18. I kind of agree with you too.

But pose the following in friendly debate O.K.? :-)

Saving Private Ryan may have been hailed as showing the truth about the real horror of war.

But if it did, it didn't change the following from happening


Lena High School grad killed in Iraq

http://www.ocontocountyreporter.com/page.html?article=101706

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

Oconto County Reporter

Pfc. Nichole Frye, 19, daughter of James and Lisa Frye of Hogsback Road, Town of Little River, became Oconto County's first casualty in Iraq on Monday, Feb. 16.

She died when a roadside bomb exploded near her convoy in Baqouba, Iraq, the Department of Defense reported. Three other military personnel were critically injured.

She had been in Iraq only 16 days, and had been called to active duty on Jan. 4, after the Christmas holidays. She was attached to the 415th Civil Affairs Battalion, Kalamazoo, Mich., but had been with Brown County-based 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion-----

***

I was a combat photographer. I never saw or photographed someone in the act of having their face shot off. But I got to photograph dozens of corpses in all stages of dismemberment, including those who had been in the hot sun for more than 10 days.

Pictures are bad-- but for me the smell is worse.

But I digress sir.

My friend (who I trust) says the movie is pornographic violence---
I can't dispute him, any more than the creator of this "Masterpiece"

or in the immoral words of now retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in an opinion uttered the famous "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it."

[Hell Hath No Fury]

8. Opening weekend takes...

mean very little.

Look for the tally from weekend two -- that will tell you if this film has legs or is going to tank.

It's not uncommon for a film to have a big opening weekend and then have attendence fall off 50% the next.

[Onlooker]

10. Jesus was a failure

Whether he intended it or not, by dying for our sins he cleaned the slate and let us start all over. In his wake comes centuries of fundamentalist hate-mongering in his name. If he was the son of God, then he allowed himself to be raped by those who use his name to justify prejudice, war, and greed. I'm not going to see the movie because some people feel threatened by it. I cannot think of the last time that I intentionally saw a racist, homophobic, or even sexist movie. It disappoints me that so many progressive are going to see this movie. With regard to this movie, one can better honor the values Jesus stood for by staying away from it.

[PATRICK]

12. I think in some quotes from Jesus

he exactly shared your pessimism and then some. I am not sure he could have imagined the horrors that perverted "success" could create without killing real Faith. The wheat and the weeds parable is meant for a general philosophical take on how the mess will go on. The scale is mere repetition.

Thankfully he reins in the popular apocalyptic escapism too. Those quotes obviously come from a time of the failure of his mission to overcome the evils without violence, before his death. We still have a new glimmer of hope that instead of self destruction we might be changed for the better without a general Judgment Day genocide of a failed and botched experiment redeemed by one rejected. One way or another redemption comes from the same source. Uncompromising unconditional Compassion. Truth.

He saw the prophets especially the Baptist as having been killed the same way but however you interpret Jesus he was unique in his mission and how he determined the outcome. Gibson of course skews it to portray all the worst fears as repellent as it must have felt in Gethsemane. It may not redeem Hollywood but destroy it, and the effect on Gibson is typical of those playing with this particular fire for the wrong ends.

For once the movie critics seem to have gotten the right analysis. Maybe they should cover politics and real news with as much brutal honesty as this film inspired.

[LeftyChristian]

13. Slam Christains harder

Make sure you guys slam ALL Christians and Christianity a little harder. Lump every Christian into the same group and get some good licks in about how backwards we are. Such fun and such an easy target!!

</SARCASM>

[Rich Hunt]

21. NOT 'anti-Christian'

Criticism of this film is NOT 'anti-Christian'.

Many Christians are not happy with the film. Yesterday, the religion columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that she was not happy with it. Many Christians feel that religion is a more private matter and don't believe in making a gratuitous spectacle of their beliefs. I was raised Catholic, and know many Catholics who feel this way.

Personally, I think it's disturbing that people take criticism of this film as criticism of all Christianity - that's like saying that if you're a Christian, you MUST agree with this film : it's not very ecumenical (which is probably why it appeals most to conservative Christians).

[LeftyChristian]

26. Criticize the film all you like

Do you think the comment of seeing the Virgin Mary's face in the popcorn machine was critical of the film or Christianity?

Mel is off base with politics and may be off base with this film as well, but it seems that Christians on this website seem to be the convenient whipping boy for some. It is unfair to label all Christians based on the actions of only a few (Robertson, Falwell et al).

As a Christian, I do not think that people MUST agree with this film. I feel that IF you do go see this film (everyone's personal choice), do so with an open heart and mind...not with who made it or who supports it or opposes it or for whatever reasons, but with the opportunity to explore or reconnect with the message that Christ loved us so much that he endured torture and death. I also believe that this is not a film for children under 17 (yes, I have seen it and yes it is graphic).

Agree disagree, love it hate it, see it don't see it, but please refrain from bashing Christianity as a whole. Most all of us are good people.

[demdave]

40. This is NOT criticism of the film......

All these religious nuts have come out of the woodwork in support of this movie.


the Virgin's face seen in popcorn machine.


"Jesus freaks
out in the street
selling tickets..."


Never before has the religious terms "sheep" and "flock" been so aptly applied


Jesus was a failure


Daddy, I wont a lemming-mentality pendant RIGHT NOW...

[Yavin4]

14. I Believe That Jesus Did Return To Earth and Continues To Do So

He takes on different forms and even different religions. He came back as Ghandi, as Martin Luther King, as Lech Walesa in Poland, as any person anywhere that works for social justice and humanity through non-violent means.

I believe that we have to separate the message and the meaning of Christ from the people that want to use Christ's followers for their political purposes. When the Romans saw that feeding the Christians to the lions still didn't break their faith, they realized, "Hey, this is a means of keeping people in line". From there on, religion has been perverted.

I don't believe in any organized religion, as they are nothing more than man-made institutions designed to give a few MEN, and I do mean men, power over millions of people. I do however believe in Christ's philosophy of using love, not violenece to improve our lives as humans, a message that's found in other religions as well.

I won't see Gibson's film because it's propaganda. There's no need to see a man be tortured. That only promotes anger and hatred, not love and understanding.

[demdave]

16. The Romans had gods long before Christ came along.

The lesson of using religion to consolidate power is as old as man.

[Yavin4]

19. Yes. I Agree

But, I believe that they saw how much more effective Christianity was.

[rednek_Liberal]

33. Hmmm Another thought....

Maybe He came back as Howard Dean... :evilgrin:

[Pathwalker]

17. A local reporter reviewed it from outside the women's restroom,

where more than fifty women had gone...to throw up. The anchor asked the female reporter if she was going to watch the rest of the movie.She said; "No...I'm waiting in the line to throw up." Called the movie "sickening". We laughed heartily, for a while.

[DrWeird]

20. Expect attendance to plummet.

nt

[Zerex71]

22. My take

Greetings all,

Since I don't have a web journal of my own, and since I'd like to say a few words about this movie and all the hype surrounding it, I figured it's safe enough to do here.

(Just for the sake of background, I'm a Catholic but "not a very good one" by the Church's standards. Not that I care. I'm a Catholic in the same way that I'm a gun owner but don't belong to the NRA - which addresses a larger issue I don't have time to discuss now, which is, namely, this growing demagoguery and feeling that to belong to some group or organization, you need to be slavish, unthinking, even Pavlovian in your allegiance to it - be it the Catholic Church, the Republican Party, or the NRA. Also, I have not seen the movie yet but judging from the dribs and drabs that have come out, I'm sure that everything I'm saying here will be completely backed up by my viewing of it.)

For starters, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of the movie but have been a bit ticked that Gibson has done so much to supposedly placate his 'special invitees' (i.e. the carefully selected prescreeners). My feelings about him as a director and a person have certainly lessened the more that I have learned what he has really been up to on this quest. I wished he would have been more steadfast and risked offending more than he did. I refer to his near-rabid Catholic ideology which has been on display incessantly in every interview online and otherwise. Whether or not it's for the sake of stirring the pot - which could conceivably be a part of the total charade - it's not something I find particularly palatable. Thus, I'm not as likely to take his message and his work as seriously as I might have otherwise.

To wit: Had Gibson essentially remade "Saving Private Ryan" into "Saving Jesus Christ" (i.e. to de-romanticize a historical occurrence in order to lift a long-lingering gauzy cloud from these events) as did Tom Hanks and Spielberg with their epic, I would have more likely had more respect for what they are trying to do. But now you've got saucer-eyed Gibson and the cultish doe-eyed Jim Caviezel both proclaiming this vehicle to be The Good Word Incarnate and it's all a bit much to take. At the end of the day, it's still just a movie.

Having established that I'm not a rabid Catholic a la the Opus Dei crowd, I do admit a certain fascination with the "old" Church (I can't speak of it in pre-Vatican II terms since that was well before I was born). In fact, much of my interest in the Church comes from the descriptions and experiences of the old Irish writers (e.g. Joyce) as well as my own early church experiences. I have always been much happier when church was that solemn, respectful, reverent, holy place and not the shopping-mall nuthouse (with few paying even modest attention to the proceedings) that most Masses have come to. One of the most moving events I ever experienced was during college when the women's choir came and sang in Latin, which was very visceral and just felt right, instead of the usual insipid guitar and flute folk-inspired noodlings of much of the church liturgy over the years.

But I digress; these are merely my liturgical preferences. The point is, my interest in seeing this movie is as a free-thinker and in satisfying a bit of my historical curiosity. I'm sure Gibson et. al. did a fine job of research for their epic. And there is precisely one more reason I don't fit into this society any more: I'm going for reasons totally unrelated to crowd mentality. (For what it's worth, I laugh at all the newly pious crowds fainting and crying at the movies as though they suddenly were visited by a religious conviction in the weeks leading up to the film's release. To me they are the religious equivalent of the "Lord of the Rings" goofballs who get so wrapped up that they are compelled to show up in Gandalf and Frodo outfits. Expect to see some filmgoers here in Roman Centurion garb, to say nothing of those lemming-mentality pendants many are wearing.)

My other gripe about the film is the predictable uproar by the Jewish community about them supposedly being implicated in the death of Christ. I'll admit my ignorance here in that I have never known what the fuss was about Jews historically (the Holocaust aside) and why, for what larger reasons, they have been persecuted. If it honestly is from the basis that they were supposedly responsible for Jesus' death, well...isn't that a damned silly thing to be mad at for thousands of years? It makes about as much sense as me feeling 'programmed guilt' over the fact that my ancestors were German and, by extension, I'm implicated in the Holocaust atrocities as well. (Of course I could equally claim victim status in that I'm also Polish.) Also, it would be silly of me to feel any sense of responsibility, being a white male, for slavery towards blacks, the inferior treatment of women, or the subjugation of children over the ages. So I say to the Jewish community: Go see the film, judge for yourself, and keep things in a proper perspective. And if in all of the historical research you do, you find that there were Jews involved in Christ's persecution, well, that's the way the cookie crumbles. But that does not mean a whole class of people is to be implicated just because of one act. Do Asians feel ashamed of the heritage of Ghengis Khan's rampages? Do Greeks feel likewise about their conquering heroes who visited death and destruction upon other lands? How about the Italians? How come they are not crying foul of this movie, when it was the Roman centurions who actually beat and flayed Christ?

Anyway, my points have been made.

At any rate, I'm sure this is just all a lot of hot air, none of which needs to be added to the ever-expanding balloon surrounding this movie. It's just my thoughts and opinions and I wanted to share them with you.

Regards,
Mike

[Hell Hath No Fury]

24. Since you don't know...

what the "fuss was about Jews historically (the Holocaust aside) and why, for what larger reasons, they have been persecuted" then I suggest you do some research. You write as if it's Jewish folks who have some sort of problem, some sort of residual "group guilt" for Christ's death.

The very thing Gibson based his film on - the passion - has been used for CENTURIES by various Christian denominations to demonize them as "Christ-killers". Christian passion plays were historically used in Europe as political tools to whip groups into an anti-semitic frenzy. With this as an excuse some terrible, terrible things have been done to them over time as a people.

As someone who was raised as a member of one of the religions that had participated in that demonization, I can tell you that the Jewish community has every right to be vigilante against any hint of anti-semitism.

Sometimes it may seem to be oversensitive to folks, but after you've had "Christ-killer" shoved down your throat for your history and millions of your fellow religious members slaughtered with the help of just such passion plays, you MIGHT be a little oversensitive too.

[rednek_Liberal]

34. OOhh OOOH

Daddy, I wont a lemming-mentality pendant RIGHT NOW...

[Malva Zebrina]

23. ah, the bread and circus

we have killed, actually murdered, ten thousand innocent people in Iraq,did so on the lies of an unelected leader, and we are all in a tither about a movie because it's main character is "jesus". That is enough to have the majority of people dead set against the ayrabs and ready to get all bushy eyed about invading another country of the infidels who killed Jesus. No wait--the movie says the Jews killed Jesus. OK-that was what was said for at least a thousand years and now we are treated to more of it.

We are indeed, in decline.

[DerBeppo]

27. possibly helpful

in order to understand this movie you not only have to have a familiarity with the story as a whole, but where gibson is coming from.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

I Corinthians 1:18

makes a bit more sense in light of the negative reviews i've read. most of them seem to miss the entire point of the movie and the message that gibson is trying to get across.

[saigon68]

35. It is not designed to promote brotherhood

I guess I am sad.

[dawn]

25. My mom, a devout Catholic, went to see it with a church group.

She found it very disturbing and distressing, and had to close her eyes at some points.

She saw it last night. She said people were absolutely silent as they left, and were visibily shaken and upset. She had nightmares about it all last night.

She thought it was a bit much to take.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

28. Gibby got his $20M personal investment back.

Ignore the man behind the curtain. This movie is about making money.

[llmart]

29. Yeah, and if Gibson...

was such a devout Catholic/Christian he would've taken that money of his and spread it around to some worthy causes throughout the world instead of using it to further promote himself. He disgusts me and besides that, I think he's gone over the edge. A psychiatrist would have a field day with this guy's persona.

[leQ]

30. what with all the free tickets being handed out EVERYWHERE

it's no wonder they're overflowing.

[NashVegas]

32. Box Office Mojo Est: $26 million

for comparison: RotK Wednesday opening - $34 million.

[TXDemGal]

36. This pisses me off

I went to see "Touching the Void" today (Brit docu-drama type flick about two young guys who ran into big trouble while climbing in the Peruvian Andes in 1985). Well, it was at the same theater as Mel's Jesus, and with only one person in the ticket booth I ended up missing the first 5 minutes of MY movie. The actual movie, not the 10 minutes of previews and commercials.

Why am I reminded of the scene from "Annie Hall" where Alvie won't go in to a movie because it started 2 minutes earlier. "I can't go in, I have to see the whole movie, because I'm anal," he says. "That's a polite term for what you are," humphs Annie.

[demdave]

37. I refuse to watch a James Bond movie if I miss the opening stunt.

I have actually gone back to the ticket taker and gotten a new ticket for a later showing.

[TXDemGal]

39. Good for you!

Tomorrow I'm gonna see "The Fog of War" (documentary on Robert MacNamara). I already bought my ticket so I won't have to wait in line with the Mel Jeezus people.

[Rochambeau]

38. in Europe ?

>...said he was still worried about reactions to the film when it comes out in places like Argentina and Europe where there's been less debate about its content.<


Hehe, Abraham Foxman doesn't know much about how France deals "quietly" and "without passion" with religious matters... Well, just imagine, in Paris catholic fundamuntalists did put A BOMB in a theater boulevard St Michel (near the Sorbonne university) because 'The last temptation...' of Martin Scorsese could be watched there !! Nobody was killed as far as I can remember but the theater was completly burned out!
I guess that the debate will be in France as tough as it is in USA when the movie will come out... Many news magazines are already talking about it with passion.


PS: Santé all, cheers again, it's my second post here on DU !

Go democrats Go !!

- edited for grammar. Sorry for my frenglish. I try to do my best :(

[young_at_heart]

41. Newspaper 's photo.........utterly rapturous faces with many uplifted arms

They asked people after the screening for comments. One person said it was the best movie she'd ever seen about Jesus and she would never be the same. Another said, "Mel Gibson was not afraid to show the truth...this movie showed what really happened"!

[scarface2004]

42. jesus chainsaw massacre is awesome man!!

i really dig the graphic violence..especially the part where jesus skin is ripped off in extremely slo mo with the tormented look on his face and blood spraying everywhere..man i had to laugh it was such totally over the top special ef.x, man gibson needs to make more movies, maybe step it up a notch!!!

[saigon68]

43. I wonder how many people are going multiple times

Somewhere a murder will be justified because the perp was just acting out the movie