The Passion of the Christ.
 

I know, I know.... (sigh)
It has been 38 days since its release, and probaly y'all have arlready seen it. (Talk about who hasn't)

this is a pretty large forum:
So tell me What y'all think about it.

Didn't see it. Not going to. The South Park summation was good enough for me. :)

I will see it when I can borrow it from a fundie co-worker for free on DVD. Morbid curiousity, really. I'm as much interested in hearing Aramaic spoken as I am in seeing gratuitous violence.

liked the book better.

-sm

of course
 

why not?

the book is definetly better because it talks about the before, the after and even interactive instructions to participate in the glory and majesty of Him who is watching us.



(apologies to those who don't agree) i hope you get to know Him better someday though.

I'm having a pogrom for this Easter week! Who's with me?

Only if I can be part of the mounted unit that rushes through the center of town overturning the meagerly stocked vegetable cart of the hunchbacked old lady with the shawl ... (note, please, my open-mindedness, as Oester was over two weeks ago. You guys gotta catch up).

I expect I'll see it someday.

I was chucking about the billing driving by one of the local duo-plexes:

The Passion of the Christ and Hellboy. Its a double header. Get the big barrel of pop corn!

Passion was unseated by Day of the Dead, and then eventually Hellboy.

Execution -> Resurrection -> Apocalypse.

It all falls together.

The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre? I'm probably not going to see it. I have no need to see some poor slob nailed to a cross (INCORRECTLY!) after he's been beaten for two hours. If masochism is needed, I'll go read some of the Old Marquis or go hang out with my ex's.

Went to see it tonight.

Thought it was good ... no religious revelations or conversion as a consequence, however. (okay, so there was a minor revelation ... speculated on notion of Christ as Shaman for a bit, but then got over it).

Have to confess to flashing on that scene in A Clockwork Orange where Alex is in the prison and he gets religion ... reading the bible and envisioning himself as one of the Romans doing a bit of the tolchocking and all ...

Probably the most popular extreme B&D film ever made.

You know why Jesus died on the cross?

Because he forgot the safe word.

I thought it was an atrocious film. Two hours plus of a man being tortured in gory, close up detail. Ick. Gag. Puke.

I found it very moving, even if hard to watch.

I was deeply moved. I don't see how anyone would be "converted" by it, though. If you're a Christian, it reminds you of the pain you caused an innocent man by your sin. If you're not a Christian, it's....welll, it's a 3-hour torture session. It's a 3 hour torture session for some Christians as well.

Oh well, let us have our moment. Anti-christians get the rest of the decade.

I think people ought to be able to believe what they wish, and be respected by others in the process.

If I gave offense at my take on TPOTC, I apologize. I'm sure that, for the Believer, it must be an awful experience to see the gospels represented in such literal and graphic fashion.

Ding Ding Ding! Most tasteless Cellar joke award nominee.

I humbly accept this nomination on the grounds that I thought it was one of the most tasteless, yet hysterical, jokes I'd ever heard.

I've always liked the one where Jesus keeps calling to John from the cross, and John keeps trying to reach him but is repeatedly beaten by the guards, etc.; finally, John manages to get close to Jesus, and just before the guards drag him away for a final beating, John says, "Yes, Lord?" and Jesus says, "John...I can see my house from up here!"

Btw, I've heard that the Devil in 'PofC' is scary, but I'll bet he/she isn't scarier than Viggo Mortensen in 'The Prophecy'. As The Comic Book Guy might say, "Best Satan ever!"

I was discussing it with a friend of mine, and I threw out the following idea that seemed to sum up the film pretty well.

The Passion is like a magnification mirror - you take out what you went in with, enhanced by ten. If you had anti-Semitic feelings inside going in, they were on the outside coming out. Same for people alert for - the uncharitable would say "paranoid of" - hints of anti-Semitism. So on and so forth.

What I loved was that there was all these people protesting the movie before they saw it. I saw it in Teaneck, NJ, a town with a very large Jewish population. People were saying, "Oh, it makes us Jews out to be the evil ones!" I said "Did you see the movie?" "Well, no, but we know without seeing it!" It's amazing that these poeple were that stupid, considering that one of them was a rabbi. Yes, some of the high priests were in on the killing, but several were stongly opposed to it. They were promptly ignored. However, the make-up effects were outstandinig, and the camerawork was able to intensify scenes.

Ever notice on some statues of the Christ, there's a sign above his head that reads "INRI"? That means "I'm Nailed Right In".

From what I remember, the reaction after the initial screening in certain theaters by Christian groups was that they were not overly happy or unhappy with the film. In fact, most of the people that were interviewed said they left the theater in amazement. The tone of their voices told the story: breathless and wonderment. They seemed pleased with the way the film was shot and the acting. And I guess for some, it cemented their faith.

Not sure if I even want to see the film, but I thought the reactions were quite interesting.

Actually, Mel is oddly catholic. I think they call themselves First Family or some such.

Well, maybe...but I didn't see anyone coming out of the last Matrix movie crying about Neo being The One, or that Trinity died to save them. :D

I dont really think I want to watch this film. ...I find it hard to suspend disbelief as soon as it involves events I was taught by my teachers to view as history and then discovered were actually up for interpretation.....

I find any movie that takes as it's base an assumed existence of God or an assumption of historical accuracy on events that are unproved difficult to get into. Not just the serious stuff. I found that Jim Carey film fell flat for me for the same reason. ....Just the way I am. I dont mind films where the characters hold a religious belief, I can empathise with them and their belief...I just find it hard to get into a film which needs the audience to assume an existence of God or the truth of those events for the plot to work.

I am intrigued though to know how you guys got along withthe Aramaic? Did it work? Did it heighten the sense of immersion in a time and place?

Well, DanaC, I feel that the Aramaic and Latin helped the movie. If it had been done in English, I don't think it would have worked too well. (Remember "Robin Hood" with Kevin Costner? Robin with a California accent? "Dude, he swiped yer girl! What a bummer!") TPOTC uses subtitles, but they're onscreen long enough to read them and not lose track of the movie.

That's true of "Johnny Tremain" as well.

And I suspect you have linked the wrong AIG.

Most of the "corroboration" of bible stories and events connected to the alleged Messiah strikes me as very dubious. That there was a Rome and that there was a Judea I have no doubt. That people were crucified is a matter of record. Jesus was a common enough name. I think more likely is that the events described in the Passion of Christ are an amalgamation of several people and events. The existence of "Jesus of Nazereth", son of Mary and Joseph of Aremathea have not been proved nor can they be.

That's a pretty goofy page, but at least it's got this.

Maybe because it reeks of "made up" pseudo science?

Well....mostly I just see a circular path whereby the creationist seeks his evidence primarily from within the bible.

I also see a bunch of attempts to refute what proper scientists have discovered/hypothesised.

I see no serious evidence in favour of creationism that isnt derived from an attempt to refute the scientific work of others.

Well yes.....and its the testing of the hypothesis which I dont think is being done as thoroughly as good science would dictate. Good science wold dictate that the scientist test his hypothesis to breaking point and if it breaks discard it.

I dont believe that these creationist scientists have tested their theories to the limit I think they have tested it enough to conclude that the earth was created.....

Perhaps I am being unfair, I am trying to find some kind of science on this page but all I seem to be able to find are either links to adverts for books about creationism or a list of things NOT to say to us evolutionists....

Perhaps you could help me isolate some actual science on here please :)

No I would not. I did not say that good science meant the scientist had to be able to prove his hypothesis I simply said he must do all he can to try and break his hypothesis. If after he has thrown all he can at his hypothesis, testing it against every available shred of evidence to the contrary it still holds water then its acceptable to propose it as theory. I think that's my main problem with whatI have seen of Creationist scientific theory. Its not a case of being able to prove your theory so much as being unable to disprove it despite great effort to do so.....Being able to find measurable evidence helps of course :P


This has plenty of scientific evidence and links to articles without attempting to sell me the answers in a book.

The Scientific Case For Common Descent

I am still trying to find a link that takes me to something useful. Maybe I am on the wrong page. Could you post a link to on of the scientific articles? I seriously cant find them,...I did listen to that radio thing. Ken Ham......verrrrry cheesy. So cheesy I think he should change his name to Cheddar Ham

It occurred to me that we have hijacked a thread about the Passion of Christ and turned it into a discussion on Creationism :P Maybe we should move this on to a new thread

New Thread. Evolutionary Science -v- Creationism