Gibson Clues Dismissed in "Passion of the Christ": Press must address now

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Tim Rutten: Regarding Media
Clues Dismissed in Time of 'Passion'
August 5, 2006

....If Gibson were not a wealthy and widely admired celebrity, he'd be just another lush dragging around a mental rat's nest of kooky opinions and morbid animosities. However, he's not a noxious nobody; he's a noxious actor and filmmaker dragging around a mental rat's nest of kooky opinions and morbid animosities — and the only part of this affair that legitimately concerns anyone but Gibson and his family is whether any of those views made their way into his work.

More to the point, why hasn't the press reopened the discussion of Gibson's financially successful but controversial movie, "The Passion of the Christ"? When it was released two years ago, there were some who argued that, apart from its lurid sadomasochistic aura — critic Leon Wieseltier called it "a sacred snuff film" — Gibson's narrative was studded with the kinds of anti-Semitic caricatures once associated with medieval passion plays. A much larger number of commentators and clergymen, particularly those hand-selected by the filmmaker and his people for private screenings, solemnly assured their readers, audiences and congregations that this was all a lot of anti-religious nonsense. More important, many of them personally vouched that Gibson is not an anti-Semite.

Looking back, it's hard to see how so many people could have so completely overlooked the obvious warning signs.

From the outset, Gibson was clear that the principal sources for his retelling of the crucifixion story were the Gospel of Matthew, the most problematic of the four Christian passion narratives, and the writings of Anne Catherine Emmerich, a 19th century nun and mystic who recorded her anti-Semitic "visions" of Jesus' arrest and execution. The filmmaker, in fact, reportedly keeps a relic of the nun.

Then there was Gibson's repeated refusal to disavow the views of his father and spiritual mentor, Hutton Gibson, a notorious anti-Semite and Holocaust denier, who cheerfully shares public platforms with unrepentant neo-fascists like the odious Willis Carto. No one can demand that another person repudiate their father, but it's perfectly possible to say, "I love my father, but I don't agree with his ideas." Somehow, Gibson's refusal to do that never bothered "The Passion's" fans....

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-rutten5aug05,0,6739019.column?coll=la-home-entertainment

[OneBlueSky]

1. when I attended Catholic schools as a young child . . .

I recall that "the Jews killed Christ" was common knowledge that wasn't open to question . . . whether it was explicitly taught, I don't remember . . . but it was certainly explicity accepted . . .

anti-Semitism in this country no doubt has many causes . . . but US Catholic schools were a significant reinforcer of the prejudice during the 20th century . . .

[skooooo]

2. Joe Scarborough...

...has been all over this. He refused to believe that Gibson's movie was anti-semetic when it was first out. Now he says he was wrong - that Gibson has those tendencies, and that critics of the movie were correct.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Seems Scarborough surprises on a fairly regular basis! nt

[Little Star]

3. "a sacred snuff film"

My opinion also when I saw it at the theater.

[Benhurst]

5. Ok, so antiSemitism makes Gibson's

homo erotic sadomasochistic snuff film unacceptable.

So what's left to take the kiddies to see on a Saturday afternoon? :shrug:

[FloridaPat]

6. The Jews didn't kill Jesus - the Romans did. Jesus broke a Roman

law. He went before a Roman judge. He was crucified and died by the hands of Roman guards. The Jews may have did everything to get him convicted, but they didn't kill him. The Romans crucified a lot of people throughout their empire. All messiah claimants were crucified. Jesus wasn't the first or last of messiah claimers.

[Kailassa]

7. The Jews have proved their ability

to co-ordinate and defend themselves.

What bothers me is the extroadinary amount of anti-Muslim sentiment that we have learned to accept.

I know many Muslims who are having trouble finding jobs, because Australians don't want to employ Muslims any more. Muslim girls are becoming afraid to go out, because of threats and racist insults.
It's teaching kids to hate, and moulding some into the people that current notions already suppose them to be, and this bodes very ill for the future.

As they say, "give a dog a bad name..."