PVCC Puma Press: March 2004

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	AP Photo by Philippe Antonello
	Jim Caviezel, portraying Jesus Christ on the set of "The Passion of the Christ,"carries the cross to Golgotha and crucifixion.
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In the year 2004, controversy in film is certainly anything but new. Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" was considered so disturbing it was banned in England for 25 years. The violence in Oliver Stone's,"Natural Born Killers" seemed to split both moviegoers as well as critics in two. Even the "Rain Man,"Dustin Hoffman, found himself among film controversy when in 1971 "Straw Dogs" was released. The movie, which featured one of the most violent and graphic rape scenes of all time caused the movie to be banned from even British video stores.

In a nation which is constantly intrigued by sex and violence, it comes as no surprise that a motion picture can divide art lovers. When the motion picture, however, interweaves religion and Jesus Christ in the mix, film controversy begins to take on a whole new meaning.

Mel Gibson's "The Passion Of the Christ" has by far stirred up more controversy in the film world than any film in recent memory. Just when people have adapted to seeing sex and violence on the big screen, Mel Gibson, a strong Christian, has directed and produced a film which focuses on the last days of Jesus Christ, more specifically, on his crucifixion, in what is already being called one of the most intense moments ever captured on film.

It is not the fact that Christ is being crucified that has people in an uproar. It is the people who are doing the crucifixion. The film depicts Jews crucifying Jesus Christ, which has the Jewish community outraged. Many have dubbed Mel Gibson anti-Semitic, stating the film will only stir up problems for the people of their community.

Christians on the other hand are dubbing the film a masterpiece, saying it merely states the facts written centuries ago in the Gospels.

"People are accustomed to the cross being something seen on a shirt or around the neck," says Kendall Felton, youth minister at the Church of Christ, 10935 W. Olive Ave. "Many have become so accustomed to seeing the cross in that manner and are not fully aware of the true history that surrounds it."

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Gibson says his critics 'don’t have a problem with me', it is the gospels they dispute.
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While many in the Jewish community feel the movie is unjust to cast the Jews as the only bad guys, others feel that the emotions the movie may stir in Christians could create a problem.

"I do not believe Mel Gibson is anti-Semitic. I do not believe the move is anti-Semitic," says head of the anti-defamation league Abraham Foxman. Foxman recently spoke with the crew of "Primetime" in a full, one-hour feature, which focused on Gibson's film. "But while I do not believe the film is anti-Semitic, I believe the movie does have the potential to not only fuel anti-Semitism, but to reinforce it."

It would appear that no one is happy. The Jewish community wants the film banned. The Christians want the Jewish community to "face facts," and filmmakers are screaming it an injustice for people to tell Gibson how to make a film.

"Religion and film has always been controversial," says film director John Fedkiw." Fedkiw has written and directed religious films in the past including the motion picture, "Blind Eye," which focuses a great deal on both faith and religion. "When Scorcese did The Last Temptation of Christ it was controversial. When Monty Python's "Life Of Brian" was released it was controversial. Regardless, not only do most people have the right to make a film the way they want to but especially in Hollywood, they're going to do whatever it is they want to do anyway."

Still others argue that while filmmakers do have the freedom to film what they please, they at the same time have a certain responsibility to uphold.

"People are going to see a filmmaker's work," says PVCC film major Angela Vitucci. "They are going to see a filmmaker's work because they respect what that filmmaker does. Mel Gibson may not want the responsibility but he should at least insure he's careful in what he portrays. If he paints a picture of the Jewish people and only the Jewish people being responsible for the death of Christ, some ignorant viewers out there might just seek revenge."

Religion major Alex Martin argues, "Mel Gibson is not a babysitter. He can't be held responsible for what some moron might go out and do after the movie. If a child leaps from a roof after seeing Spider-Man, Tobey Maguire isn't responsible."

But regardless of what his intentions may be, Mel Gibson has the Jewish community outraged due to the fact that they feel the motion picture points a finger at them.

According to the interview Mel Gibson gave on "Primetime," pointing fingers was far from what he hoped to accomplish.

"By His wounds, we are healed," Gibson told "Primetime." That is the point of this film. It's not about playing the blame game. It's not about pointing fingers. It's about faith, love and forgiveness.?

Still many who have previewed the recently released film disagree and say it makes the Jewish community look like a mob of monsters. Abraham Foxman snuck into a preview intended for people of the Christian faith and has been the film's leading critic since. Others are not so quick to pass judgment.

"These people are outraged and they have yet to even see the picture," says Martin.

Mel Gibson has done something with his passion. He's created it into a film he feels stronger about than maybe anything in the world. Ironic, the definition of "passion" in the film's context comes from the Greek meaning interpreted as suffering. Ironic, because critics say Gibson's film career may do nothing but that from this point on.

"Critics of the movie don't have a problem with me," Gibson told "Primetime." "(The critics) simply have a problem with the four Gospels."

And as for the accusations that Gibson is an anti-Semitic himself, Gibson states it's simply an impossibility.

"To be racist in any form, to be anti-Semitic, is a sin. To be anti-Semitic is un-Christian," he adds.

And as the passion put into the making of this film proves, Mel Gibson is anything but that.