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Received from Jody Dean, a Texas CBS news anchor.
>
>All...
>
>There've been a ton of emails and forwards floating around recently from
>those who've had the privilege of seeing Mel Gibson's "The Passion Of The
>Christ" prior to its actual release. I thought I'd give you my reaction
>after seeing it last night.
>
>The screening was on the first night of "Elevate!", a weekend-long seminar
>for young people at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. There were about
>2,000 people there, and the movie was shown after several speakers had
>taken the podium. It started around 9 and finished around 11...so I reckon
>the film is about two hours in length. Frankly, I lost complete track of
>time - so I can't be sure.
>
>I want you to know that I started in broadcasting when I was 13-years-old.
>I've been in the business of writing, performing, production, and
>broadcasting for a long time. I've been a part of movies, radio,
>television, stage and other productions - so I know how things are done. I
>know about soundtracks and special effects and make-up and screenplays. I
>think I've seen just about every kind of movie or TV show ever made - from
>extremely inspirational to extremely gory. I read a lot, too - and have
>covered stories and scenes that still make me wince. I also have a vivid
>imagination, and have the ability to picture things as they must have
>happened - or to anticipate things as they will be portrayed. I've also
>seen an enormous amount of footage from Gibson's film, so I thought I knew
>what was coming.
>
>But there is nothing in my existence - nothing I could have read, seen,
>heard, thought, or known - that could have prepared me for what I saw on
>screen last night.
>
>This is not a movie that anyone will "like". I don't think it's a movie
>anyone will "love". It certainly doesn't "entertain". There isn't even the
>sense that one has just watched a movie. What it is, is an experience - on
>a level of primary emotion that is scarcely comprehensible. Every shred of
>human preconception or predisposition is utterly stripped away. No one
>will eat popcorn during this film. Some may not eat for days after they've
>seen it. Quite honestly, I wanted to vomit. It hits that hard.
>
>I can see why some people are worried about how the film portrays the
>Jews. They should be worried. No, it's not anti-Semitic. What it is, is
>entirely shattering. There are no "winners". No one comes off looking
>"good" - except Jesus. Even His own mother hesitates. As depicted, the
>Jewish leaders of Jesus' day merely do what any of us would have done -
>and still do. They protected their perceived "place" - their sense of
>safety and security, and the satisfaction of their own "rightness". But
>everyone falters. Caiphus judges. Peter denies. Judas betrays. Simon the
>Cyrene balks. Mark runs away. Pilate equivocates. The crowd mocks. The
>soldiers laugh. Longinus still stabs with his pilus. The centurion still
>carries out his orders. And as Jesus fixes them all with a glance, they
>still turn away. The Jews, the Romans, Jesus' friends - they all fall.
Everyone, except the Principal Figure. Heaven sheds a single, mighty tear
>- and as blood and water spew from His side, the complacency of all
>creation is eternally shattered.
>
The film grabs you in the first five seconds, and never lets go. The
>brutality, humiliation, and gore is almost inconceivable - and still
>probably doesn't go far enough. The scourging alone seems to never end,
>and you cringe at the sound and splatter of every blow - no matter how
>steely your nerves. Even those who have known combat or prison will have
>trouble, no matter their experience - because this Man was not
>con******ed. He went willingly, laying down His entirety for all. It is
>one thing for a soldier to die for his countrymen. It's something else
>entirely to think of even a common man dying for those who hate and wish
>to kill him. But this is no common man. This is the King of the Universe.
>The idea that anyone could or would have gone through such punishment is
>unthinkable - but this Man was completely innocent, completely holy - and
>paying the price for others. He screams as He is laid upon the cross,
>"Father, they don't know. They don't know..."
>
>What Gibson has done is to use all of his considerable skill to portray
>the most dramatic moment of the most dramatic events since the dawn of
>time. There is no escape. It's a punch to the gut that puts you on the
>canvas, and you don't get up. You are simply confronted by the horror of
>what was done - what had to be done - and why. Throughout the entire film,
>I found myself apologizing.
>
>What you've heard about how audiences have reacted is true. There was no
>sound after the film's conclusion. No noise at all. No one got up. No one
>moved. The only sound one could hear was sobbing. In all my years of
>public life, I have never heard anything like that.
>
>I told many of you that Gibson had reportedly re-shot the ending to
>include more "hope" through the Resurrection? That's not true. The
>Resurrection scene is perhaps the shortest in the entire movie - and yet
>it packs a punch that can't be quantified. It is perfect. There is no way
>to negotiate the meaning out of it. It simply asks, "Now, what will you
>do?"
>
>I'll leave the details to you, in the hope that you will see the film -
>but one thing above all stands out, and I have to tell you about it. It
>comes from the end of Jesus' temptations in the wilderness - where the
>Bible says Satan left him "until a more opportune time". I imagine Satan
>never quit tempting Christ, but this film captures beyond words the most
>opportune time. At every step of the way, Satan is there at Jesus' side -
>imploring Him to quit, reasoning with Him to give up, and seducing Him to
>surrender. For the first time, one gets an heart-stopping idea of the
>sense of madness that must have enveloped Jesus - a sense of the evil that
>was at His very elbow. The physical punishment is relentless - but it's
>the sense of psychological torture that is most overwhelming. He should
>have quit. He should have opened His mouth. He should have called 10,000
>angels. No one would have blamed Him. What we deserve is obvious. But He
>couldn't do that. He wouldn't do that. He didn't do that. He doesn't do
>that. It was not and is not His character. He was obedient, all the way to
>the cross - and you feel the real meaning of that phrase in a place the
>human heart usually doesn't dare to go. You understand that we are called
>to that same level of obedience. With Jesus' humanity so irresistibly on
>display, you understand that we have no excuse. There is no place to hide.
>
>.
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