The Passion of the Christ

Mel Gibson has made a film for all time. It might be more appropriate, given the vernacular of the times, to say he has directed a film, produced a film, and co-wrote a screenplay that led to a film for all times, but to do so, to suggest so, would be to a disservice to him and all those involved in the film resulting, "The Passion of the Christ".

Mel Gibson has made a film for all time. He has given his resources, both creative and financial, his energy, his passion--in all ways, to make a film. From him has come this film, and what a film it is.

But to understand what this means, what it entails, one must know certain things first: 'Passion', as used here, is not about love as we know it, but suffering, as only the Son of God could know it.

And what does the Son of God know? That he died for all mankind's sins.

Mel Gibson, in making this film, almost did the same.

"The Passion of the Christ" is clocked at 126 minutes long in its theatrical release. This may seem a great amount of time, but be assured time will not matter as you watch what Christ, according to the Gospels, went through in the last 12 hours of his life: The suffering, the pain, the torture at the hands of his Roman masters, the condemnation by his Jewish leaders, the visceral, unbelievable, horrific death that finally led to his ascension.

Horrific? Without a doubt, without hesitation, I say this film is among the most explicit and violent I have ever witnessed. But unlike other films that find glory and delight in such carnage, here the bloodshed serves a higher purpose. Because it does I found myself not enthralled by it, not engrossed by it, not even sickened by it.

I found myself coming to terms what a rotten lot humanity can be, individually and collectively, if proper direction is lacking.

I do not desire to dwell on the explicit gore that goes to make up much of the film, but I must point out something with regards to it: As I watched the Roman guards flay Christ, as I listened to them laugh with delight over the pain they deliberately inflicted, I realized something: In 2,000 years humanity has, relatively-speaking, done very little to achieve the level Christ held, when it comes to doing what is right and proper. I realized this and I suspect others realized it as well. Which may go to explain why so many were so quick to condemn it without benefit of viewing it accordingly.

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