Passion Experience
Well, I completed my study on The Jesus I Never Knew, but far more compelling than for me to tell you how it went, is for me to tell you about my recent experience with The Passion of the Christ.
As many of you likely know, The Passion was released on DVD and VHS last week. On Wednesday evening, after much deliberation (see my post entitled Maybe Later: A Non-Look at The Passion of the Christ), I went to my local video outlet and rented Mel Gibson's film. I approached the film with a lot of trepidation, and I watched it in segments (in order to avoid any possible kind of sensory overload). However for the most part, I found that I was doing quite well. There was no initial horror or discomfort for the most part, and I was actually beginning to like certain segments of the film.
Last night, I was watching Christ carrying the cross to Calvary, and in the midst of a compelling scene of Mother Mary running to Jesus and vividly recalling aiding him as a child, I became anxious about the agony of the Christ character. I stopped the film and attempted to calm myself down.
Later that same night, my wife and I decided to try and watch the entire film since it was due back to the store the very next day. I had seen the scourging scene in one of my earlier portional viewings and felt nothing. This time; however, I couldn't stand it. The violence was just too over the top. I stopped the film and said to my wife, "That's it for me tonight." I then recall standing up and going over to the DVD player to put away the DVD. I begin to feel warm and dizzy.
The next thing I know, I'm on the floor and Michele is frightened to death and holding me, telling me that everything is okay. I had literally passed out and fallen to the floor.
If you have read my previous post on the Passion, you will recall that one of my primary reasons for not seeing the film in the theatres was that I did not wish to witness the violence. Apparently, that was a good call.
No film has ever elicited that reaction from me (and I've seen some doozies, ie. Child's Play, Return of the Living Dead, etc.) It's just too bad that a film about a character who I feel strongly about had to go so far as to make me pass out when I witnessed it.
4 Comments:
"It's just too bad that a film about a character who I feel strongly about had to go so far as to make me pass out when I witnessed it."
I don't know if that's completely a bad thing. I've heard theologians say that Mel Gibson toned down the possible horribleness of what Jesus actually went through. Whether it's true or not, the bible does say in Isaiah how Jesus was marred beyond recognition, and I think most of us (at least I have tended to) take that portion figuratively because most depcitions I've seen of Jesus' last few hours are such that while you can tell Jesus is suffering and being bruised for us, you can still recognise him.
If anything, I would say that it's just too bad that a film that attempts to portray the realness of what Jesus (most likely) actually went through is so hard to stomach while we stomach violence throughout much of media. On the other hand, perhaps it's not too bad as I suppose for all the violence in media, much of this does not compare to what our Lord went through.
Hiran
I wouldn't call this violence toned down. It's extremely graphic; not just in the literal bloody sense but in the acting and the sounds of the film as well. I would also likely say that the violence is extremely egregious and overwhelming. No living man could take such abuse, and I don't buy into the whole "super-Jesus" conception of how much punishment he could take.
Gibson has specifically said that he constructed the violence to be over the top in such a manner as to shock the viewer. It's very exaggerated and filmic, rather than realistic. (Let's remember that we have historical accounts of British sailors at sea in the 19th cent. who would pass out after only 6 lashes on their backs).
>If anything, I would say that it's just too bad that a >film that attempts to portray the realness of what >Jesus (most likely) actually went through is so hard >to stomach while we stomach violence throughout much >of media.
Yeah, again, this violence does not stand in comparison to that seen in say "The Matrix" films or "The Lord of the Rings" films. It's one thing to see a hole go through a human being (still not good in its own right); it's another to see someone agonized over and over again with endless amounts of blood to boot.
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