A very “safe” Christian movie
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Passion of the Christ
BlablaBlackSheep — 2 years ago(August 09, 2023 12:44 PM)
Clearly designed not to make too many waves (other than the graphic violence which only seemed to be in there for shock value), it plays a very simple and straight story of the crucifixion that seemed to be marketed towards the already religious and dogmatic. Despite the excellent cinematography and atmosphere, it doesn’t really offer an interesting analysis of the fabled character nor why he was an important figure. It was mostly just slavish pious-ness and vicarious self-flagellation for the audience depicted on screen.
A film like “Last Temptation” did a better job showing Jesus as he was most likely historically… a prophet who dabbled in militancy and was seen as just another rebellious threat to the establishment, who happened to found a religion along the way. Despite it being based on a fictional novel and not scripture, it does a better job at capturing the spirituality of this historical era — and the anger over corruption and sin that he saw — than the Passion movie does. Which makes his ultimate sacrifice (cue Willem Dafoe Spider-Man meme) all the more understandable. Also a far more controversial film, which was why Christians hated it and even bombed a movie theater.