[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

The author needs to understand that since the Passion is not in English it doesn't qualify for best picture. Since it is not in any language currently spoken on the planet, it doesn't qualify as a foreign film.

Why does everyone have to go into spasms when their favorite film isn't nominated. Big whoo. Most of the Best Pictures of the past 20 years really sucked.

[nonsporting]

Since it is not in any language currently spoken on the planet, it doesn't qualify as a foreign film.

Aramaic survives as a spoken language in small communities in Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Aramaic Language. Do not know how dissimiliar it is to Biblical Aramaic (the Aramaic used in the film?).

Vatican City uses Latin to some degree, no? But I wasn't sure if the film used a Classical Latin pronunciation or not--it sounded different, but didn't necessarily sound like Church Latin either.

My guess is the film is predominantly "Aramaic", but it is in fact bilingual. For the academy to discriminate against a polylingual, mostly dead language film, is the height of intolerance.

[JasonC]

Nobody gives a rats rumpus about the award. It is an indicator of a deep cultural hostility on the part of those involved in a major piece of modern American culture, for a major fact about all American culture, modern or not. (Which, duh, is that it is Christian). Which is a fact of the first importance, politically, culturally, and philosophically. And it is a fact. Compared to the rest of this schlock, Gibson was snubbed because his overall philosophy is closer to that of the majority of the American people's, than to the rest of Hollywood's, and for no other reason than that.