No Passion for The Passion

As a member of the Christian publishing industry, I got early exposure to Mel Gibson's Passion through the "grassroots" (ahem!) marketing campaign adroitly engineered by its Christian and Hollywood PR firms. This raised red flags right away, as few popular Christian products (and this is a "product", not a "ministry") end up having any biblical basis nor lasting merit (witness the immeasurably shallow yet hugely popular Prayer of Jabez for example).

The Passion, now that I've seen it, has proven to be no exception. Devoid of Gospel message, compelling characters, and plot development, the movie plods along literally in slow motion toward its yawn-inducing conclusion. Following the Stations of the Cross, The Passion is loaded with more allusion to Catholic tradition and mythology than biblically accurate events and dialog.

This would have made an interesting made-for-TV movie (if it had been in English) but in no way measures up to either the positive or negative press it received in advance. Yes, there were Jewish characters painted in a negative light; but there were also the Apostle John, Simon of Cyrene, Mary Magdalene, and other sympathetic Jewish characters. Yes, the Romans seemed less than culpable in the persons of Pilate, Claudia, and even the head of the Roman guard, but all the Roman soldiers were portrayed as stupid and drunken. The movie will move some but will disappoint anyone expecting a "true to the Gospels" account of the passion of Christ. It will sit happily on the shelf with all the other life-changing, big-opening-weekend movies of the last few years, like Harry Potter, The Mummy Returns, and Rush Hour 2