I finally completed watching the "Passion" movie. It was really interesting seeing a lot of other MindSay people's opinions on it, so I decided to jump on the badwagon and give a few thoughts of my own.

Now, keep in mind that I watched it as (a) someone who is not Christian, (b) someone who is Jewish, and (c) someone who expected that this telling of the Passion would be a tad controversial.

First Impressions: Wow, I can understand a lot more of this than I thought I'd be able to! It comes from being pretty fluent in Hebrew, of which Aramaic was an off-shoot; and my three years of studying Talmud/Rabbinic texts from the 2nd - 11 centuries. The grammatical forms of common Hebrew words helped out a bit. And, yes, the subtitles sure helped out a lot.

But I did notice some minor inconsistencies in the translation. I know that translation is inherently interpretation. But gamarnu is certainly not "We're almost there." Although the translation inconsistencies did not change the general meaning of the storyline, it was distracting for me nonetheless.

Many people have mentioned that seeing this has been a highly spiritual experience for them. I can see why -- the imagery within the film lends itself to that. I could tell that this was a spiritual experience for Grandmaster Mel to direct the film the way he did. I didn't feel it, however, most likely because it's not a story I've grown up with or connected with as part of my spiritual identity. While others saw a manifestation of a being able to provide them pure absolution of sin through his pain and suffering, I saw a man being beaten through excurtiating pain and keeping on going.

I didn't think that film showed a fair depiction of the Jewish community -- more specifically, the leaders of the Jewish community. I'm the first to admit that I'm not that well versed in the Gospels, but from what I have read and learned, there are different accounts of the entire story as told by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The retelling of the story in Passion Plays throughout the century are an amalgam of the story as told by the different Gospels, but Mel's movie seems to pick and choose passages which are more unfavorable to the Jews. Take, for instance, the relationship between Pontius Pilate and the Jewish leaders -- this movie chose to portray Pilate as succumbing to the will of a Jewish mob, while other sources dispute this and show him as a controlling leader who was more likely to overrule the will Jewish subjects.

Was the film blatantly antisemitic? No. Will people go to see it and come away with resentment and hatred towards the Jews? Hopefully not. But keep in mind that Passion Plays have been used historically to paint the Jews in a bad light -- including those at Oberammergau which were endorsed by Hitler as "a convincing portrayal of the menace of Jewry." I'm sure that most American moviegoers won't take that home as the message of the film. But in certain parts of the world where antisemitism runs rampant, this could potentially fuel something larger...

Nonetheless -- I can see why droves of people are seeing this film. Powerful indeed.

My last gripe: Leave the kids at home. It is irresponsible for parents to take their 7 and 8 year old offspring to see this movie with all of its graphic violence, yet many are in the theater nonetheless. Stephen King writes about this phenomenon in this past week's Entertainment Weekly. I know that this is an important movie for people to watch, but children shouldn't have to live through the images of senseless, bloody beatings in order to get the point into their heads.

Okay -- let the flames begin!