Demonstrators protest Mel Gibson's ' Passion ' in New York

[Michael0701]

LOL, neither was "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and I have yet to see the protests. Or "Kissing Jessica Stein." Or most of the independent movies. While big Hollywood names might get annoyed about this, lets face it they're probably too lazy to get out of their air conditioned office to protest.

I certianly get your point, but I was alluding to the "hollywood fantasy" part of the statement

 

[Voegelin]

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was turned down by every major studio in Hollywood.

Why?

Jews and Greeks are at odds. One studio agreed to accept the screenplay if "Greek" was not in the title.

Search on the history on the film.

It is fascinating.

The highest return on the buck any film has ever made and Hollywood turned it down.

Gee...whiz...what were they thinking?

 

[n2wolves]

1st of all it is Mel Gibson's movie he financed it and if he wants to release it, who's to question it in the first place. Everyone knows Christ was Jewish and some of the Jewish hiarchy were afraid of Jesus' teachings and wanted him killed. Pilate asked them what they wanted done with Christ, they wanted him crucified... they can't deny scriptured, whether they like what some of the their forefathers had done or not.

 

[BornAnew]

All I can say is wow,,,
I need to have 15 posts to be able to post a hyperlink

if anyone is interested in seeing the trailer, its at movie-list.com, then go to comming soon on the left side of the screen and scroll down to The Passion. You need quicktime to view the trailer.

Thank you all and God Bless

Dan

 

[burrow_owl]

"1st of all it is Mel Gibson's movie he financed it and if he wants to release it, who's to question it in the first place."

he still needs another company to distribute it, and these people are in it for the money, so they may be nervous about a potential boycott by the ADL or something. besides, what's wrong with criticism?

anyhoo, it's not so simple to just say that Gibson is merely using scripture, etc. There's a lot of stuff in the scripture, and he couldn't possibly use it all (both because of length and for narrative coherence), so if he chooses to highlight those parts that have been used for centuries to foment hatred toward Jews, then I think it makes sense to ask about his motives (and really - the history of passion plays has some disgusting parts re: anti-semitism and anti-jewish violence). Add in being raised by a ravingly anti-semitic and borderline crazy father, and there's reason to be concerned.

In the present case, none of us know since none of us have seen the movie, but the ADL at least has reason to worry because of the anti-jewish violence associated with passion plays.

 

[BornAnew]

Why did'nt Germans protest Saving Private Ryan, or Schindlers List ?

If anyone does know if these 2 movies were protested then please let me know. I know for sure the Jewish comunity in my area was happy when Schindler's List came out. Perhaps its natural to advocate something that may bring sympathy and protest something that may bring disgust.

I just want to see high quality cinema.. CUZ MEL IS A GENIUS .

 

[burrow_owl]

"CUZ MEL IS A GENIUS"

I was going to write a post that took your comments seriously, but then I saw this. I'm usually a lot faster at detecting irony.

I guess you got me good!

 

[burrow_owl]

"I just think it's strange because I take it for granted that everyone realizes that Hollywood is fantasy."

Yeah, whenever people think I'm racist because my movie collection just has "Birth of a Nation," "Triumph of the Will," and a bunch of white power movies, I just tell them they're overreacting, and that my movie portraying James Earl Ray as an American hero is just fantasy, anyways.

Or maybe movies aren't just fantasy, but can represent and encourage certain attitudes, huh?

Not to say that the Passion is going to be anti-semitic, but it's naive to assume that movies can't reflect or engender terrible attitudes and beliefs.

 

[Saint Philip]

It's academic that Jews killed Jesus. What serves to create anti-semitism is not the movie but the obnoxious, racist crybaby behavior individuals and racial supremacist groups like Jewish ADL. Mel has already gutlessly watered-down the movie. Doesn't Mel know that liberals will not be satisfied until all value of the movie is destroyed?

 

[Brimshack]

Academic that Jews killed Jesus. I thought it was the Romans. You want to talk spin? Look at how easily you ignore that very simple detail in order to focus the blame on Jews in general (as opposed to specific political factions within Jewish society), and all the while blaming a group of Jews (the ADL) for attacks on Judaism. That post Saint Phillip IS anti-semetic.

 

[Saint Philip]

Brimshack. Blaming the Romans makes you racist. So there. You're not only racist, but you're also wrong because you blame a tool rather than the guilty party.

 

[BigToe]

i think brimmy's point is that the previous person was only using one qualifier of those who killed Jesus. its the selective naming that causes concern for some in regards to anti semitism

 

[Bruce S]

Interesting idea. How come the Italians are not upset like the Jews are, they want to make them the bad guys here and absolve the Jewish leaders from this?

 

[TanToday]

:

A passionate Mel Gibson strikes back against critics

[size=+1]'I want to kill him, I want his intestines on a stick, I want to kill his dog,' he says of Times columnist [/size]


<HR SIZE=1>
[size=-1]Posted: September 9, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern[/size]
[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times][font=Palatino, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times, serif]
[size=-1]© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com [/size]

[/font]
Mel Gibson is passionately angry at critics of his upcoming film about the death of Jesus Christ. [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]In remarks quoted in the New Yorker magazine, he denied "The Passion" is anti-Semitic and accused some of those leading the chorus against the film of being "anti-Christian." Gibson said he personally has been the target of "vehement anti-Christian sentiment."[/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times] In one statement bound to add fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism charges, Gibson accused "modern secular Judaism" of trying "to blame the Holocaust on the Roman Catholic Church." "It's a lie. And it's revisionism," said Gibson, a follower of Traditionalist Catholicism that still performs the Latin Tridentine mass. "And they've been working on that one for a while." [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]His film, shot entirely in Latin and Aramaic, has been planned for release next Easter, but, according to some reports, it may be out as early as this Christmas – even though it currently has no distributor. Gibson said he has found himself caught up in a huge conflict between "big realms that are warring and battling. [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]You stick your head up and you get knocked," he said. "I didn't realize it would be so vicious. [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]The acts against this film started early. There is vehement anti-Christian sentiment out there and they don't want it." [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]About Frank Rich, the New York Times columnist who implied Gibson's father is "a Holocaust denier," the director had some choice – and inflammatory – words: "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog." Gibson said: "He never denied the Holocaust. He just said there were fewer than 6 million."[/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times] As proof of his desire to avoid confrontation, Gibson cited his decision to cut a scene in which Caiaphas says "his blood be on us and on our children" soon after Pontius Pilate washes his hands of the captive Christ[/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]. "[/font][font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]I wanted it in," he said. "My brother said I was wimping out if I didn't include it. But, man, if I included that in there, they'd be coming after me at my house. They'd come to kill me." ][/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times] Icon Productions, Gibson's privately owned production company, spent $25 million on the film. Marketing the project will be in the hands of Icon outside the U.S. and a yet-to-be-named distributor in the United States. [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]Fox Filmed Entertainment, a subsidiary of News Corp., which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, is Icon's usual U.S. distributor. But Fox has waived its right of first refusal and isn't planning to distribute "The Passion." [/font]

[font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]Alan Nierob, Gibson's publicist at Rogers & Cowan, told Forbes Icon will start showing the film to other distributors in September and that it is looking for "someone smaller, who does niche marketing." A Paramount Pictures spokeswoman says that studio is "waiting to see it."

[/font]

 

[Godzman]

people act so stupid, this is what being politically correct gets us.

 

[Woodsy]

Two facts:

1.) Jews called for Christ's crucifixion.
2.) Jews made up the bulk of those who accepted Christ during his physical life.

Amazing that so many people can scream so loudly about #1 while completely ignoring #2.

3.) The ADL does not speak for all Jews. They don't even speak for all Rabbinical Non-Messianic Jews. Assuming that Foxman and the ADL speak for all Jews is like assuming that Jesse Jackson speaks for all African-Americans.
Even before I accepted Christ, I considered Foxman an embarassment. I am also embarassed by these idiotic protests - they are counterproductive.

4.) I have posted, in a couple of other threads on the topic of Mel Gibson's The Passion quotes from Jews who had seen the film and saw no reason to protest it.

5.) It's amazing that I even need to say these things today.

 

[Voegelin]

It is not just the ADL.

It is the Simon Wiesenthal Center as well.

Do a search on the guy who owns that name.

 

[Rae]

Erm...is no one shocked by Mel threatening someone with death? I can understand being angry, but getting that specific with death threats...that reporter could be in danger now because some Mel Gibson fan decides to do him a favor!

 

[Wolseley]

The solution to this is simple.

All Mel has to do is list Michael Moore in the credits as co-producer, and release the film as a documentary.

With Mikey on the bill, the ADL will undoubtably think that just like all Mikey's other movies, there isn't one iota's worth of truth in the whole thing, and the controversy evaporates.

Problem solved.

 

[TanToday]

[font=Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][size=+2]Gibson's sin: Faithful film?[/size][/font]
[font=Palatino, Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][size=+1]New Yorker article concludes 'The Passion' is Gospel-true [/size][/font]


[size=-1]Posted: September 11, 2003
1:00 a.m. Eastern

[/size][font=Palatino, Book Antiqua, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times]



[font=Palatino, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times, serif]By Joseph Farah
[size=-1]© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com [/size][/font]

A 14-page article about Mel Gibson's ''The Passion'' in the New Yorker magazine concludes the director did just what he set out to do with the project about the death of Jesus – ''make a movie taken straight from the Gospel.''

Veteran entertainment reporter Peter J. Boyer interviewed Gibson, saw the film more than once and interviewed its staunchest critics – including Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League.

''Gibson's 'Passion' is a literalist rendering of the Gospels' account of Jesus' Passion, which makes it the ultimate Traditionalist expression,'' wrote Boyer in the Sept. 15 edition of the magazine, on newsstands now.

To the charges of anti-Semitism, Foxman told the New Yorker he does not believe either Gibson or the film is anti-Semitic. His fear, he said, is what viewers will take away from the movie and how they will interpret it.

''The film can fuel, trigger, stimulate, induce, rationalize, legitimize anti-Semitism,'' said Foxman. ''You know, the Gospels, if taken literally, can be very damaging, in the same way if you take the Old Testament literally.''

It's clear Gibson wants his movie judged on its own merits rather than on innuendo and suggestions that it is a manifestation of his own traditionalist brand of Catholicism or the views of his 85-year-old father, Hutton Gibson. When New York Times arts columnist Frank Rich ripped the film for its potential of inflaming anti-Semitism, Gibson didn't try to conceal his feelings about the article or its author.

''I want to kill him,'' he said. ''I want his intestines on a stick. ... I want to kill his dog.''

Paul Lauer, Gibson's marketing director, jumped in to put the remarks in context: ''The thing you have to understand is that the distance from Mel's heart and his mouth is greater than the distance between his imagination and his mouth. He is an artist, and he says these things, and his creative energy kicks in, and he comes out with these imaginative, wild things. But his heart. ...''

It's clear Gibson resorted to that kind of rhetorical overkill because of sensitivity to criticism of his father.

Hutton Gibson, the article reveals, is a devout Catholic who studied in the seminary and aspired to be a missionary priest. When World War II started, he joined the military and abandoned his plans for the clergy, later marrying and fathering 11 children. In 1968, the out-of-work railroadman appeared on the game show ''Jeopardy,'' winning $25,000 – a sum that allowed the family to emigrate to Australia when Mel was 12.

''I don't want to be dissing my father,'' Gibson tells Boyer.

Mel Gibson, too, briefly considered the priesthood before discovering acting. His early success in Hollywood, with films like ''Mad Max,'' ''Gallipoli,'' and ''The Year of Living Dangerously,'' contributed to his own personal despair and distance from his faith.

''You get pretty wounded out there,'' Gibson says. ''I got to a very desperate place. Very desperate. Kind of jump-out-of-window kind of desperate. And I didn't want to hang around here, but I didn't want to check out. The other side was kind of scary. And I don't like heights, anyway. But when you get to that point where you don't want to live, and you don't want to die – it's a desperate, horrible place to be. And I just hit my knees. And I had to use the Passion of Christ and wounds to heal my wounds. And I've just been meditating on it for 12 years.''

Gibson went so far as to build his own chapel in the hills near his home. While he takes his own faith seriously, he's surprised by the criticism of the expression of that faith.

''I didn't realize it would be so vicious,'' he says. ''The acts against this film started early. As soon as I announced I was doing it, it was 'This is a dangerous thing.' There is vehement anti-Christian sentiment out there, and they don't want it. It's vicious. I mean, I think we're just a little part of it, we're just the meat in the sandwich here. There's huge things out there, and they're belting it out – we don't see this stuff. Imagine: There's a huge war raging, and it's over us! This is the weird thing. I don't understand it. We're a bunch of d---heads and idiots and failures and creeps. But we're called to the divine, we're called to be better than our nature would have us be.''

Gibson has shown the film now to columnists, media commentators, members of the clergy, even a group of Jesuits, who offered two standing ovations.

''It hits the stores this week,'' said Schuller. ''And the author is very prominent, Bob Kohn, very wealthy ... and Jewish.''

"Hey!" said Gibson. "That's a great gift. Thank you."

After seeing the film, Schuller said: ''You have a powerful masterpiece here.''

As disturbed as Gibson is with the harsh criticism of the film, he also believes it will help market the movie when it is released – either for Christmas 2003 or for Easter 2004. ''Inadvertently, all the problems and the conflicts and stuff – this is some of the best marketing and publicity I have ever seen,'' he told the New Yorker.

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