We just returned from viewing the Passion movie by Mel Gibson. Too much, and not enough, has been said about the movie already. However, there is a good note in Sojourner's Magazine, written by Robert M. Franklin, that discusses the link between Jesus' suffering and social oppression and how the understanding of one can lead to an understanding of the other. See SojoNet: Faith, Politics, and Culture. Also, the movie makes it forever impossible to trivialize or forget the reality of the torture that our Lord endured before He made it all make sense on Easter. Here's my favorite quote:
I'm intrigued by another possibility of response. Based on the excerpts that I have seen, I think the movie will offend many mainstream white religious audiences and resonate deeply with most blacks. The icons, art, and passion plays in most white churches present Jesus as the subject of a radical makeover. The rugged, sun-baked Palestinian Jew of the Bible gets morphed into a manicured, middle-class model citizen. Almost like one of the neighbors. The theology that underwrites this sanitized Jesus avoids the brutal manifestations of oppression and violence he experienced. Even when crucifixion scenes appear in Anglo-American religious art, you may see a little blood and a wound or two, but almost never the dirty and broken body that endured torture for several hours. This film's lingering gaze upon the grotesque will be difficult for viewers accustomed to such art.
