Why I am not discussing "The Passion of the Christ"

[truthspeaker]

I haven't seen it.

I am old enough to remember when two movies came out that were, allegedly, offensive to Christians. The first was "The Last Temptation of Christ". It was greeted by protests from various Christian groups who felt it was offensive to them. Except almost all of them had never seen it. From what I understand, the "offensiveness" of "Last Temptation" was that it painted a slightly different picture of Jesus than those Christians believed in. I have a hard time understanding how that could be offensive, but I have an even harder time understanding how someone can protest a movie that they haven't even seen.

The second was Kevin Smith's "Dogma", which I actually saw. "Dogma" has swearing, crude sexual dialogue, crude scatalogical dialogue, and violence. But I didn't think it was particularly offensive to Christian beliefs; in fact I think it would be very faith-affirming to sincere Christians while poking fun at humans who try to profit off God's name. But, that movie was also protested by people who hadn't seen it.

So you can imagine my dismay when I heard people calling "Passion" anti-Semitic before they had even seen it. Maybe it is anti-Semitic. Maybe there are other negative things about it. But the shoe's on the other foot now. A movie about Jesus is out that many evangelical Christians and traditional Catholics approve of. If we're going to criticize it, let's do it the courtesy of watching it first so we know what we're criticizing.

[Forkboy]

1. you're discussing it now

;-)

[truthspeaker]

4. nah, I'm discussing the discussion of it!

It's a meta-discussion.

[NNadir]

12. Then I'm not going to discuss the discussion of the discussion. n/t

[molly]

2. I remember when 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail"

hit the shelves......

http://www.hiddenmysteries.com/item100/item179.html

[Gman]

3. Dogma was more of a comedy than anything

Any movie like Dogma that has Jay and Silent Bob in it can't be taken too seriously. The criticism of Dogma proved the RW "christians" talk before they know what they're talking about.

[Forkboy]

5. truthspeakers point

(if I may presume) is that we're doing the same.

...the RW "christians" talk before they know what they're talking about.

[truthspeaker]

6. yep, that is my point

[Gman]

15. The "christian" RW's reaction to Dogma

just underlined they open their mouths before they even know what they're talking about.

[Sgt. Peppers]

7. I loved it. (special viewing)

But that is just my view.

[Bridget Burke]

13. Can you give us details?

What were the best parts? Did you take your kids? If so, how old are they--what did they think of the movie.

We've had lots of opinions from people who haven't seen the movie (I've offered a few on other threads). As someone who's actually seen it, you can do us all a big favor by writing up a review!

[Loonman]

8. I'm gonna wait for the DVD

I can't deal with the jackasses protesting it.

[Taeger]

9. Kevin Smith

I heard Kevin Smith on NPR before Dogma premiered. He sounded pretty hard core Catholic to me.

Remember, paleo-Catholics ARE NOT the same thing as fundamentalists. They really don't get along on religious issues at all.

What I REALLY liked about Dogma was that explored angelic mythology that was intentionally excluded from the bible.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

10. Smith calls himself 'pro-faith, anti-religion'

[NashVegas]

11. I Went out and Bought "Last Temptation"

Just as my own little personal protest over the CC's glomming onto Mel's movie.

[bushisanidiot]

14. I Hope Mel Makes A Movie About Jonah and the Whale Next!

it's about time that story got told. I want the whole world to see just how much of a struggle it was for Jonah to survive 3 days and 3 nights inside a whale's belly.

Imagine "survivor", but with no oxygen, fire, water, light, etc.. for 3 days! Holy Cow!

I'm sure Mel could bring the intimate, graphic details of Jonah's struggle to the big screen in a way that no one else could!