Mainers to get preview of Mel Gibson's 'Passion'

Mel Gibson's much-hyped and potentially divisive religious film "The Passion of the Christ" won't open for more than a week, but it's already drawing a passionate crowd here in Maine.

Dozens of Maine groups have booked private, sneak-preview showings of the film a day or two before it opens to the public on Ash Wednesday, Feb 25. At least 1,500 people have already reserved seats for the early screenings.

The film has been the subject of constant multimedia publicity the last few weeks. Here in Maine, some people say they want to see the film early because of concerns over the way Jews are portrayed, while others want to see it simply because its story is central to Christian beliefs.

Some Jewish, Catholic and mainline Protestant leaders say they are worried the film might perpetuate images of Jews as the killers of Christ, an idea that has helped fuel Jewish persecution for centuries. They have organized an early screening for 140 people next Monday at Regal Cinemas in Falmouth to help mitigate potential rifts that the film could cause. Organizers hope the event serves as a platform for discussions of interfaith relations.

Other groups, including many Evangelical and conservative Christians, say they simply want to see the film because the idea that Christ died for everyone's sins is central to their faith.

Many, including Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine, a Christian public-policy group, see no reason why the film should be regarded as controversial.

"I have not seen anything substantive to the claim that it is anti-Semitic; maybe there's some sense of that because of the role Jewish leadership played, but if there is that sense I don't think it was Gibson's intent. And I don't think it would be an accurate interpretation of the Gospels," Heath said. "If the Gospels are accurately interpreted, it was the individual person's sin who put (Christ) on the cross, it wasn't Jewish leaders or Pilate."

Peck will speak about the film and interfaith relations at the North Windham Union Church, United Church of Christ, during the 10 a.m. worship Sunday. The event is sponsored by the Maine Council of Churches.

"Many people in my congregation will see the film, so I say let's have a rational and reasonable discussion of the implications of the Passion play, which through the centuries has been a flashpoint for relationships between the Jewish and Christian religions," said Dana Reed, senior minister at the North Windham Union Church.

About 140 clergy and lay leaders will attend a Monday screening at Regal Cinemas in Falmouth, organized by the Jewish Community Alliance, the Maine Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

There will be several speakers representing different religious backgrounds, including Catholic, Jewish, and Evangelical Christian.

"Our intent was to offer free film passes to the church leaders and lay people who will have to deal with people who see it and turn to them for some analysis," said Marc Mutty, director of public affairs for the Diocese of Portland, which includes all of Maine's 250,000 Catholics. "We don't want the relationship between the Jewish and Christian communities affected by either the reality, the perception or the rumors."

Some 900 members of 10 Christian churches in the Augusta area will attend two nights of private screenings Monday and Feb. 24 at Regal Cinemas in Augusta. Baptist and other Evangelical churches from Fayette, Gardiner, Chelsea, Manchester, Palermo, Whitefield and Augusta have sold tickets to members for $10, which includes a rental fee for each theater. Organizer Lana McCormick, of the Calvary Bible Baptist Church in Whitefield, said that ministers will speak after each showing.

"We wanted to do this so more people would have an understanding of what Christ went through," McCormick said.

On Monday and Feb. 24, Portland Christian radio station WMSJ (89.3 FM) will hold two screenings for more than 500 of its listeners, at theaters in Falmouth and Brunswick. The price for listeners was $8.

"We're a Christian station and felt like this is something we should get behind," said Joe Polek, promotions director for the station. "Everyone put Jesus on the cross, not just Jewish people, and I think once everyone sees the film they'll see that."

The Christian Civic League of Maine will hold a private screening at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24, also in Augusta, for members of the group.

"It's all the hype," Heath said. "People want to see it and find out if what they are reading is true."

The whole debate over who killed Jesus may seem moot to many people, since Christians believe Christ was put on Earth to die for their sins. But the perception of Jews as compliant or even favoring the crucifixion of Jesus has helped to fuel Jewish persecution over the years.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) rejected the idea that Jews were guilty of deicide in the case of Christ. Gibson is an ultraconservative Roman Catholic who doesn't follow many of the reforms of Vatican II: He prefers the Mass in Latin, does not eat meat on Fridays, and believes in strict readings of the Bible.

Newsweek contributor Jon Meacham, who said he had seen the film, wrote a detailed story about it for the magazine's Feb. 16 issue. He said some scenes may be interpreted as portraying Jewish leaders as playing a larger role in Jesus' crucifixion than history might otherwise indicate.

In one scene, Jesus is taken to be put on trial by Jewish priests. Meacham says the incident is not in any of the Gospels and suggests "greater Jewish culpability and control." In another scene, Jesus tells Pilate that Caiaphas, a Jewish leader, bore "the greater sin" for delivering him to Roman authorities for execution. The words appear in the Gospel of John, but Meacham points out that the final authority was Pilate, and only he could order execution.

Publicity like the Newsweek article is helping to fuel intense interest in the film. Besides the several private screenings at Regal Cinemas in Maine, Regal officials say they've booked "hundreds" of other private screenings across the country. The film's Web site

(www.thePassionofthechrist.com) is encouraging people to book private advance screenings by listing group sales contacts at 38 theater chains around the country.

It's hard to imagine the film would have such drawing power without all the controversy and publicity, and without director Gibson's star power. It contains virtually no well-known stars. The only American in a leading role is James Caviezel ("The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Thin Red Line"), who plays Jesus. The other lead actors are all foreign and mostly unknown to American audiences. The film is not even in English; the characters speak Aramaic and Latin, and the film is subtitled.

"I think it will be a hard movie to sit through, for the average moviegoer it will probably be disappointing," Mutty said.

I posted this email yesterday, but some may want to read this review

I am sure this message will be around many times. Nothing can be added. WOW!!!!

Received from Jody Dean, one of our Dallas CBS news anchors.

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
conscripted. 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.

The truth is this: Is it just a "movie"? In a way, yes. But it goes far
beyond that, in a fashion I've never felt - in any forum. We may think we
"know". We know nothing. We've gone 2,000 years - used to the idea of a
pleasant story, and a sanitized Christ. We expect the ending, because
we've heard it so many times. God forgive us. This film tears that all
away. It's is as close as any of us will ever get to knowing, until we
fully know. Paul understood. "Be urgent, in and out of season."

Luke wrote that Jesus reveals Himself in the breaking of the bread.
Exactly. "The Passion Of The Christ" shows that Bread being broken.

Go see this movie.

His, and His alone.
jody

"As a Jew going to see a movie about the crucifixion, I understand it's one of the most central parts of what it means to be a Christian, but I want to see a Passion play that doesn't denigrate Jews or Judaism," said Abraham Peck, director of the Academic Council for Post-Holocaust Christian, Jewish and Islamic Studies at the University of Southern Maine. "People need to understand that the charge of deicide has been dropped by the Vatican; the idea that because they killed God, Jews have to remain homeless forever is groundless. Jews didn't crucify anyone - the Romans were in charge."

The charge of DIE-a-cide???? Hello Mr Peck????
We live in a free nation, what the heck ? Who is the "vatican" going to charge with dei-a -cide?
Are you joking? Kill diety? Kill GOD ??????
Give me a break, Are there actually people out there who really believe that Mel Gibson made a 200 million dollar film so he could Blame a ethnic group who's past ancestors 2000 years ago killed "GOD?" .
You can not be serious!
Are there actually people inside the Golden Walls of the Vatican that are concidering bringing "CHARGES" against the desendents of a nation run by Romans ITALIANS I MIGHT ADD!
If so the vatican needes to indite itself!!!! Hay I mean ROME, right?
Mr Abraham Peck, please read the WORD...
It clearly states that Peter beseeched the Jews after the deed, and begged them to "REPENT OF THEIR SINS!"
Peter was demanding that the jews ask GOd to forgive them because they HAD KILLED their messiah!
I think the best thing for the jews to do on this one is shut the hell up!

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