Posted on 02/02/2009 5:01:20 PM PST by MartinaMisc
Five years after its release, what is the legacy of The Passion of the Christ?
Mel Gibson’s blockbuster about the Crucifixion of Jesus was a culture-war touchstone when it opened on February 25, 2004. The Passion was in the right place at the right time: it opened in the midst of a divisive Presidential campaign and a heated debate about whether domestic and international forces—secularism at home and extremism abroad—would nullify Christianity as a potent force in the world.
The Passion had a tremendous influence on that debate. It is undeniable that the film played a crucial role in George W. Bush’s re-election to the Presidency. Were it not for the galvanizing force that the film (and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s November 2003 ruling on same-sex marriage) had on evangelical voters, John Kerry would have pulled off a victory that fall. The film reaffirmed their faith, and reawakened their desire to have a man who shared that faith in the White House.
There are many reasons why the film was so aggressively attacked by major critics. One reason is that these critics understood the motivational force that this film would have for the so-called religious right. The assaults on the film had an explicit political motivation; these critics sought to smear the film as being unworthy of the ticket price, so as to prevent viewers from being emotionally touched by the picture, and having that experience influence them for weeks and months.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
Really? 'Cause I'm kinda gettin a hunkering to deny that one.
I believe we hunker down and hanker for something.
The film is clearly a Masterpiece - capital ‘M’ intentional - and arguably one of the greatest - and certainly most powerful - spiritual films ever made; IMHO, any critic who found fault must have had some sort of agenda.
I think the author of this piece has been playing with his hyperbole too much.
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