Upon seeing "The Passion of the Christ".

[grafficane]

Last night, my wife and I saw "The Passion". It's a powerful, if a bit gory and bloody. It was nice to be able to watch a movie on the big screen and still be able to understand what is being said. It is clear that Mel Gibson poured his all into this movie. Of course, he seems to be more interested in how Jesus died than what Jesus' message was, although you do get hints of that in the occassional flashbacks that dot the movie. In fact, it is only during these flashbacks that you even seen Jesus clean and well-groomed. Otherwise, right at the beginning of the movie, he is all sweaty and, in fact, sweating blood. The flaying scene, in which a whip tipped with hooks is used, does cause a bit of squirming in the seats. I thought Sue would not be able to watch this, but she didn't turn away or cover her eyes, like I thought she would. Hmm.
Religious beliefs aside, one can't doubt that Jesus was am actual person. The suffering we see here, I have no doubt, was probably pretty accurate, considering how brutal earlier times were--Not that too much has changed in the last 2000 years. Man is still pretty rotten to man.
The movie is worth going to see. If not for religious feeling, but then for the quality of the filmaking--the bluish colors of the Prayer at Gethesmane, the yellows of Pharisees in the temple, the use of an adrogynous actress to portray Satan.
Now...next on the movie list is...uhh....oh, yeah, "Debbie Does Dallas 3".