Posted on 08/14/2003 9:34:50 AM PDT by joobers
Date: Thu Aug 14, 2003 7:53 am Subject: Mel Gibson Softens 'The Passion'
Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003
Mel Gibson Softens 'The Passion'
Director Mel Gibson, under attack from Jewish groups for his movie "The Passion," has "softened the story" and made changes to placate critics, a spokesman says.
Gibson has edited the film to show more "sympathetic" Jewish characters who were not calling for Jesus to be crucified, said Paul Lauer, marketing director for Gibson's Icon Productions.
"We believe we have softened the story compared to the way the Gospel has told it," Religion News Service quotes Lauer as saying.
He mentioned Matthew 27:25, in which the Jewish mob calls for Jesus' blood "to be on us and on our children."
"That's in the Gospel," he said. "It's not in our film."
Religion News Service reported: "In addition, Lauer said the character of Simon of Cyrene, who was forced to carry the cross for Jesus, will be clearly labeled a Jew in the film. A shouting mob will include voices opposing the execution, Lauer said. Faced with vocal Jewish opposition, Gibson is mounting a pre-emptive public relations offensive to counter his critics - all for a film that is still being edited. After regional screenings, Gibson has lingered with his audiences to listen to their advice.
"In an effort to soothe concerns, Gibson is also hoping to launch 'The Jewish Initiative' to recruit Jewish and Christian leaders to discuss the film's effects on Christian-Jewish relations."
Lauer said, "We've gone out of our way to accommodate this process because we felt it was necessary and important, and to show that we care and that we're not callously sitting back saying, `Screw you, we're going to make the film we want to make.'"
The New York Times, a loud critic of the movie without having seen it, in early August quoted Lauer as saying "there is no way on God's green earth" that "dishonorable" critics such as Abraham Foxman, national director of Anti-Defamation League, would be invited to previews.
'Very Concerned About This Feedback'
However, Lauer told CNN last night that Gibson would meet with "eight to 10 significant Jewish leaders over the next 30 days" to "invite their dialogue, their feedback."
"We are very concerned about this feedback, and we are processing that feedback, and we have always planned on inviting this kind of dialogue," he said on "NewsNight with Aaron Brown."
The onslaught has upset Gibson, Lauer said. "It's hurt him a great deal. He has many close Jewish friends. He's worked with Jewish people in his career, in - certainly in the movie industry for 25 years. He's never been accused of any degree of anti-Semitism or hatred or bigotry."
Frnce might be a better place to live.......you can enjoy burning down synagogues and beating up little Jewish kids, overthere!
Don't forget to fly Lufthansa, on your way over.
Yup. Besides, it gives TheCrusader and It's me to banter about what they've learned about Talmud from such fine sources "Jesus is boiling in excrement in Hell," or Gittin 57a. Next comes the part about how the Talmud tells Jews to lie and molest children.
And why the Jews stopped searching for the Messiah?
The way this sentence is written conjures up some funny pictures. Exactly how will he be "clearly labeled as a Jew"? Will a big, flashing neon sign, with an arrow, appear over his head that says, "JEW", or "This man is a Jew!", or "Yep, you guessed it...I'm a Jew!", or "Clearly not a Roman"?
The way this sentence is written conjures up some funny pictures. Exactly how will he be "clearly labeled as a Jew"? Will a big, flashing neon sign, with an arrow, appear over his head that says, "JEW", or "This man is a Jew!", or "Yep, you guessed it...I'm a Jew!", or "Clearly not a Roman"?
The Cyrine's were hated by the Romans for being a rebellious country. That's why he was chosen to carry the cross. It's sad to see such buckling under anti-Christian persecution.
In "Jesus of Nazareth", nobody carries the cross for Jesus. I think it may be mentioned in only one of the Gospels. That film also shows a very mixed bag of emotion and opinions expressed by the crowd, which I'm sure is accurate. If Mel Gibson's film shows a similar reaction from the crowd, I don't see anything wrong with that, because it's true.
Frnce might be a better place to live.......you can enjoy burning down synagogues and beating up little Jewish kids, overthere!
Don't forget to fly Lufthansa, on your way over.
YIKES!!! Sorry.
It's anti-Semetic to say that the prophets stopped after Jesus was born? Why is that anti-Semetic?
I think that the only hatred being fomented is the ADL's obnoxious assertion that Christians will lose control and start harming Jews after viewing Mel Gibson's movie. What an insult! Of course, it's just a big, bright red herring the ADL are pointing at to accomplish their real goal, which is to suppress the Biblical truth and whitewash the gospel accounts of the Passion of Christ.
This reminds me of the Jews who bribed the Roman soldiers with money to have them lie and say that the Apostles stole Jesus' body away while they slept. (Mathew 27:12-23) No amount of treachery is beneath those who would keep the Truth burried or suppressed. But why should Mel Gibson, a great artist and devout Christian, who studied and lived the Christian faith his whole life, be pressured into having his movie edited, co-directed, or influenced by people who reject his faith and his beliefs outright? It makes no sense.
I have complete confidence that Gibson's movie will play out exactly as he originally planned. Gibson has too much faith, too much character, and too much artistic genius to whitewash his own movie for the sake of appeasing some paranoid members of the ADL. You can bet on this.
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