the passion

[ current selection | soundgarden – black hole sun ]
[ feelin’ | swishy ]

so whens this ash wednesday everybody talks about? is it this week? fun fun. mel gibsons the passion of the christ is premiering on ash wednesay, and it got its first vicious panning at the hands of david denby of the new yorker today. to put the movie in denby’s words, “The movie Gibson has made from his personal obsessions is a sickening death trip, a grimly unilluminating procession of treachery, beatings, blood and agony…” which, while i have not and probably will not see the movie, is on par with many of the descriptions ive read from articles supporting of the film. where gibson and his supporters see a brutal, but “accurate” portrayal of the last hours of christ, denby sees a sickeningly gruesome movie from any perspective, religious or not. denby was pretty critical about the way the violence was the central focus, leaving little in the way of a positive message coming thru. “His obsession with pain, disguised by religious feelings, has now reached a frightening apotheosis…“

to the non-christian, it will basically be two hours of beatings, whippings, crucifying, and generally brutal imagery. to the religious christian however…they will see exactly the same thing, except they will interpret it as a depiction of their saviour and his sacrifices for their sins. or whatever. religion is such an odd thing. it distorts peoples perceptions and ideologies until it befits what they see is compatible with the beliefs they try and subscribe. violence can become something passionate, suffering to be sanctimonious, and cinema a vehicle for the evangelical.

while i respect mel for believing greatly in his faith, many people (without the need of faith and religion to determine right and wrong) would find his methodology to be a bit disturbing. his situation isnt helped much by the fact that he even stated in an interview that his wife was going to hell because his church said so. right and wrong apparently have no gravity in his mind, only whos beliefs you subscribe to. piousness is obviously quite relative.

“i have never made but one prayer to god, a very short one: “o lord, make my enemies ridiculous.” and god granted it.“
-voltaire

> new yorker review
> my wifes going to hell (via msnbc)