Interesting Contrast

"It's interesting to see movie critics suddenly concerned over what they perceive as gratuitous violence and anti-semitism in cinema. Would they express outrage over the graphic depiction of the Crucifixion if, instead Mel Gibson, the writer/director's name were Oliver Stone or Quentin Tarantino? . . . I think not."
David Horowitz

"Anyway, this is a film review, not Sunday school. The paradox of wishing something horrible to stop even as you want it to continue has as much to do with moviegoing as with theology. And Mr. Gibson, either guilelessly or ingeniously, has exploited the popular appetite for terror and gore for what he and his allies see as a higher end. The means, however, are no different from those used by virtuosos of shock cinema like Quentin Tarantino and Gaspar No?, who subjected Ms. Bellucci to such grievous indignity in "Irr?versible." Mr. Gibson is temperamentally a more stolid, less formally adventurous filmmaker, but he is no less a connoisseur of violence, and it will be amusing to see some of the same scolds who condemned Mr. Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" sing the praises of "The Passion of the Christ." -A. O. Scott, New York Times Film Critic

I know I said I was bored with this controversy (and I am), but did think these two quotes were interesting. Oh, and apparently any film critic who pans the movie is an evil liberal. Nice how that works out. Of course, I'd be interested to know what Mr. Horowitz thinks of fellow conservative Jeff Jacoby's review of the movie, which was pretty negative.

"If you didn't know that Jesus of Nazareth was born and died a religious Jew, you certainly wouldn't learn it from "The Passion." Almost nothing in this movie connects him with the Jewish people. He does not refer to himself as a Jew or take part in any recognizable Jewish ritual. His reason for being in Jerusalem was to celebrate Passover, but there is never any mention of that Jewish holiday. When he is glimpsed praying or teaching, it is always outdoors, never in a synagogue. Only once is Jesus identified as a Jew: when Judas, about to betray him, greets him with, "Hail, rabbi."

Many Christians will see other gaping holes in what "The Passion" conveys about its main character. The movie has precious little to say about Jesus's life and ministry. There are a few brief flashbacks; occasionally Jesus utters a familiar line; but on the whole there is nothing that makes clear who this Galilean was, why he attracted a following, or why anyone in Jerusalem would have given him a second thought.

And if there is next to nothing about his life, there is even less about what followed his death. The last few seconds of the movie seem to show Jesus walking away from his tomb, but there are no words of explanation, no context, no answers. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that for Gibson, what is most important about Jesus is not that he lived and preached, nor that he rose from the dead. All that matters is that he died a bloody and agonizing death."