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Top 12 Stories of 2003:#11: The Passion production causes controversy
Mel Gibson's next foray into the director's chair would certainly be worthy of some amount of news. He's a big star and an Oscar-winning director, so his next project would automatically be of some note. Of course, his choice to make The Passion of the Christ (AKA The Passion, The Passion of Christ) ultimately made it the biggest movie news story for any film not released this year.
First, his decision to make the film about the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus Christ in Latin and Aramaic without subtitles (he has apparently since relented to include subtitles) raised some eyebrows, but that was nothing compared to the maelstrom of controversy yet to come. The biggest issue is whether the film is anti-Semitic, which begets the bigger question of whether the story of the crucifixion is anti-Semitic. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) chimed in after reading a script and then after viewing a version of the film by expressing its concerns: "We are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, could fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate."
Things only got uglier from there (as is often the case when religion is in the mix). Gibson is a follower of the Traditionalist branch of the Catholic Church, which rejects Vatican II and essentially thinks the Pope is too liberal. Gibson's father was also brought into the fray when the New York Times printed statements in which the elder Gibson questioned at least the reported scope of the Holocaust, perhaps trying to indict the son with the words of the father. Gibson retaliated by claiming his critics were anti-Christian and that "modern secular Judaism" was trying "to blame the Holocaust on the Roman Catholic Church. It's a lie. And it's revisionism, and they've been working on that one for a while." He also reportedly said of the columnist who wrote the article on his father that, "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog."
Since then, various political and religious leaders have been given sneak peaks at the film and weighed in on either side of the controversy. Just when things had perhaps settled down a bit, The New York Post got into the fray by showing an illegally-obtained, bootlegged videotape to a group of people, including their own movie critic, and printing their reactions to the unfinished film. This constituted a major break in established journalistic protocol, and a step onto the slippery slope tread so often by Internet movie-rumor sites. This wasn't the Weekly World News printing a movie review by Batboy. Potential legal action is still pending for the bootlegged video.
As we close out the year and head towards the celebration of the birth of Christ, the movie about his last hours did receive some positive news. After seeing the film, Pope John Paul gave the film the Vatican thumbs-up, declaring of the film that "it is as it was." The rest of us will have to wait for February 25th, when Newmarket Films will release the movie, to express our own opinion, but The Passion of the Christ has already been one of the most talked-about films of 2003. (Dan Krovich/BOP)
The Top 12 Stories of 2003:Friday, December 19#12: Documentaries find box office success #11: The Passion production causes controversy Monday, December 22 #10: Hulk screener leaks #9: Greatest movie trilogy of all time comes to an end Tuesday, December 23 #8: Johnny Depp, box office star #7: Disney owns summer Friday, December 26 #6: North America to movie sequels: thanks but no thanks #5: Arnold the Governator Monday, December 29 #4: Gigli bombs Tuesday, December 30 #3: The Matrix sequels fall far short Wednesday, December 31 #2: Finding Nemo becomes top grossing movie of the year Thursday, January 1 #1: MPAA attempts to ban screeners |
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