Artwork by
Dennis Murphy

For the students, by the students

Controversy over "Passion"
Megan Cooper, Corner Post Staff

March 5, 2004 - Admit one, two . . . or two hundred. Mel Gibson's, "The Passion of the Christ," led people of all different religious and faith backgrounds to movie theaters across the country to see what some call the greatest story ever told. The film officially opened in 2000 movie theaters nationwide on Ash Wednesday. In Columbia alone, the crowded Hollywood Theatres had 50 different show times offered from the opening day on Wednesday, February 25th through Sunday, February 30th.

Two huge debates about the R-rated movie began long before the movie came to theaters. The public had conflicting feelings on whether or not the movie was anti-Semitic against the Jewish faith and the excessive violence in the movie.

In a recent interview on ABC-TV's Primetime Live with Diane Sawyer, Gibson said those who accuse him or his film of sparking anti-Semitism avoid the central point he had hoped to make.

"I don't want people to make it about the blame game," Gibson said. "It's about faith, hope, love and forgiveness. That's what this film is about. It's about Christ's sacrifice."

Intensely violent scenes sparked a great deal of controversy with some viewers. Jan, a member of the Southern Baptist Church in Columbia, who asked that her last name not be disclosed, was fearful about he content in the movie as she stood in line waiting to view the movie.

"I don't want to see it because I know it's going to be very brutal and heart-wrenching, but as a Christian, I feel like it's something I need to do," she said.

In Gibson's interview with Diane Sawyer, he admitted that the film was very violent, but added that, "if you don't like it, don't go…If you want to leave halfway through, go ahead."

"I wanted it to be shocking," Gibson said. "And I also wanted it to be extreme. I wanted it to push the viewer over the edge so that they see the enormity-the enormity of the sacrifice-to see that someone could endure that and still come back with love and forgiveness, even through extreme pain and suffering and ridicule."

Darren Meyer, MU freshman that will soon be going to a Catholic seminary college said, "It gave me a better visual. He had to go through all that hell. I mean, I knew it would just be flesh ripping, but I never knew it would be that bad."

The movie was told in primarily Aramaic and Latin, with captions running in English at the bottom of the screen. Some thought it was a challenge to have to read all the words in a movie, but Meyer said, "I could have watched the movie and heard no sound and completely understood it. The movie was just that real."

Understanding why Gibson wrote and produced this movie comes from what he has endured as a person both physically and spiritually in his life.

Gibson's father moved his family from New York State to Australia when Mel was just a young boy. Gibson had dreams of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or becoming an actor. He worked at the local shipyard while he was waiting for a job to open up. One night he was going home from work and was attacked by five thugs who robbed him. Instead of just giving up his money, he resisted. The thugs mashed his face with their boots, kicked and beat him brutally with clubs, and left him to die. When police came, they assumed he was dead so they called the morgue.

On the way to the morgue, a policeman heard him gasp for air and they immediately took him to the hospital. When he was placed on a gurney, they discovered he no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull. While his life was spared after spending over a year in the hospital, his body was healed, but his face was still mangled. For five years no one would hire him for work and he became very depressed; he even had thoughts of suicide.

One day as he passed a church, he went in to find comfort. He met a priest who had seen him crying. The priest told Gibson that he would do everything possible to restore his dignity and life if he would in turn be the best Catholic he could and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life. Gibson did just that. It just so happened that the priest had a good friend that was a plastic surgeon. The doctor restored his face and it was a miraculous success.

He became everything he promised God he would be. He was blessed with a wife, kids, and many successes in the acting industry. His life was the inspiration for the production, "The Man without a Face." The ups and downs in his life were also the inspirations that led him to write the newly-released, powerful movie, "The passions of the Christ." Because of the pain, suffering, and ridicule he faced in his life just as Jesus did, he came back with dignity to fight the fight for God as a conservative Catholic.

At the First Christian Church in Columbia, Dr. John Yonker gave his sermon on the crucifixion of Christ last Sunday, like many other preachers in the area. He pointed out to the audience the importance of not relying totally on the movie to get the facts, but rather to do some reading on your own to find out how the event was portrayed in the Bible. He concluded his sermon by saying, "If you liked the movie, just wait until you read the book."

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