Pain and Gibson's "The Passion"
by Carol Wolman, March 04, 2004

Dear Friends,

I'm back in cyberland, having spent the last week at the American Film Market in Santa Monica. One remarkable thing about this market was the scarcity of talk about the film event of the millennium- the release of Gibson's "The Passion" on Ash Wednesday. This international market, the largest film market in the world, was all about buying and selling. There was some talk about the incredible box office success of "The Passion", but very little about the content.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but have been following the reviews closely. Frankly, I'm a bit afraid to see it, since it's hard for me to witness pain- I'm very empathetic. And all the reviews say the film is about pain. Some condemn it as excessive and exploitative, while others focus on the love of humanity which enables Jesus to bear the pain/

Jesus said to his disciples:
"The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected
by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised."
Luke 9: 22-23
http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/022604.htm

How much suffering would it take to compensate for the sins of humanity? There are six billion of us now, and our greed and selfishness are rapidly destroying the planet. This is especially true of Americans, as we all know.

Lots of movies depict suffering, but usually the ones who suffer are the villains, with whom we have no sympathy. They can be killed by the thousands on screen, and we are thrilled. The hero tends to fight through all obstacles unscathed, with many close calls, or to ignore his wounds and fight on in a superhuman manner. Usually suffering on screen increases our callousness. Gibson's depiction of Christ's suffering reportedly moves many to tears and to deep life changes. If Gibson has succeeded in resensitizing us to suffering, that woulld be a great accomplishment.

We are psychically numb. Catastrophes and threats of catastrophes are hitting us faster than we can absorb them. Global warming and a new ice age in the Northern Hemisphere. Strange, scary plagues like Alzheimer's and mad cow disease. A messianic madman in the US White House, with his finger on a button that could destroy the planet, with a history of blowing up frogs in childhood. We have already lost much of God's wonderful creation, and don't know how to grieve. We are bequeathing a bankrupt, wasted planet to our children, and don't seem to care. What would make us feel our own pain?

I am preparing myself to meet Gibson's concept of Christ, in which suffering is central. I am recalling the pain I have gone through as a Jewish Christian, rejected by family and congregation because I wear a cross. Not much has changed in the last 2000 years. As a Jew who has embraced Jesus, I am denied Israeli citizenship- aliyah- which is offered to all other Jews, including those who embrace Buddha, or Krishna, or Jah Rastafari.

Who are the elders, the chief priests and the scribes today? They are the leaders of Israel and the leaders of the US who support them. These are the people who are revving up the arms race and helping corporate executives to destroy the planet. Note- Jesus did not refer to Jews in general- rather a specific group of people in power, whose religion is hypocritical.

Mel Gibson, in addition to being an artist, is also a businessman. He is raking in piles of money from his movie, and hasn't yet lowered the price of admission, as far as I know. What sort of man profits from a Passion Play? Did the Holy Spirit tell him to do this? I wonder.

There was speculation before "The Passion" was released that it would actually be the Second Coming of Christ. If money is made from this film, then it is of this world, and not The Kingdom we are all waiting for.

I am praying a lot about this movie, because it will likely be used as a tool by the Pharisees of today to keep their misled sheep in line. These sheep are told that the sins for which Jesus is suffering are the sins of abortion and homosexuality. In fact, abortion is not mentioned in the Bible, and Jesus did not condemn homosexuality. He did, however, condemn divorce, which is not on the A list of sins these days.

These are some of my thoughts to date- again, I haven't seen "The Passion". I'd like to hear from others on this.

In Jesus' name, Carol Wolman