John F. Winston
2004-02-22 15:31:54 UTC
Subject: An R Rated Movie. Feb. 22, 2004.
A person sent me some information about a movie coming up soon
and I was amazed to see that it has been rated R. They tell me
that the R rating has been put on it due to the amount of violence
it has in it.
Here is the information that was sent to me.
.....................................................................
.....................................................................
From: m <***@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Passion. A Movie Of Art.
This e-mail arrived and seems to give an even better view and
encouragement to see the film. It seems our LIB-RAL media is down
on anything that tells the truth...at least as far as things
spi-itual or Bi-lical are concerned. Hope you share it with the
con-regation.
Sincerely, L & D
Some of this you have read before but it is still interesting.
The majority of the media are complaining about this movie.
Now Paul Harvey tells "The rest of the story" and David Limbaugh
praises Gibson.
Most people would wait and see a movie before giving the reviews
that have been issued by the reporters trying to tell all of us
what to believe.
Paul Harvey's words:
I really did not know what to expect. I was thrilled to have been
invited to a private viewing of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion," but
I had also read all the cautious articles and spin. I grew up in a
Je-ish town and owe much of my own faith journey to the influence. I
have a life long, deeply held aversion to anything that might even
indirectly encourage any form of anti-Sem-tic thought, language or
actions.
I arrived at the private viewing for "The Passion", held in
Washington DC and greeted some familiar faces. The environment was
typically Washingtonian, with people greeting you with a smile but
seeming to look beyond you, having an agenda beyond the words. The
film was very briefly introduced, without fanfare, and then the
room darkened. From the gripping opening scene in the Garden of
Gethsemane, to the very human and tender portrayal of the earthly
ministry of Je--s, through the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging,
the way of the cross, the encounter with the thieves, the surrender
on the Cross, until the final scene in the empty tomb, this was not
simply a movie; it was an encounter, unlike anything I have ever
experienced.
In addition to being a masterpiece of film-making and an artistic
triumph, "The Passion" evoked more deep reflection, sorrow and
emotional reaction within me than anything since my wedding, my
or-ination or the birth of my children. Frankly, I will never be
the same. When the film concluded, this "invitation only" gathering
of "movers and shakers" in Washington, DC were shaking indeed, but
this time from sobbing. I am not sure there was a dry eye in the
place. The crowd that had been glad-handing before the film was
now eerily silent. No one could speak because words were woefully
inadequate. We had experienced a kind of art that is a rarity in
life, the kind that makes he-ven touch earth.
One scene in the film has now been forever etched in my mind. A
brutalized, wounded Jes-- was soon to fall again under the weight
of the cross. His mother had made her way along the Via Della Rosa.
As she ran to him, she flashed back to a memory of Je--s as a child,
falling in the dirt road outside of their home. Just as she reached
to protect him from the fall, she was now reaching to touch his
wounded adult face. J--us looked at her with intensely probing and
passionately loving eyes (and at all of us through the screen) and
said "Behold I make all things new."
These are words taken from the last Book of the New Tes-ament,
the Book of Rev-lations. Suddenly, the purpose of the pain was so
clear and the wounds, that earlier in the film had been so
difficult to see in His face, His back, indeed all over His body,
became intensely beautiful.
They had been borne voluntarily for love.
At the end of the film, after we had all had a chance to recover,
a question and answer period ensued. The unanimous praise for the
film, from a rather diverse crowd, was as astounding as the
compliments were question and answer period ensued.
The questions included the one question that seems to follow
this film, even though it has not yet even been released. "Why is
this film considered by some to be "anti-Se-itic?" Frankly, having
now experienced (you do not "view" this film) "the Passion" it is
a question that is impossible to answer.
A law professor whom I admire sat in front of me. He raised
his hand and responded "After watching this film, I do not
understand how anyone can insinuate that it even remotely presents
that the J-ws killed Jes--. It doesn't." He continued "It made me
realize that my s-ns killed J--us" I agree. There is not a
scintilla of anti-Semi-ism to be found anywhere in this powerful
film. If there were, I would be among the first to decry it. It
faithfully tells the Go-pel story in a dramatically beautiful,
sensitive and profoundly engaging way.
Those who are alleging otherwise have either not seen the film
or have another agenda behind their protestations. This is not a
"Ch-istian" film, in the sense that it will appeal only to those
who identify themselves as followers of Jes-- Christ. It is a
deeply human, beautiful story that will deeply touch all men and
women. It is a profound work of art. Yes, its producer is a
Ca-holic Chr-stian and thankfully has remained faithful to the
Gosp-l text; if that is no longer acceptable behavior then we are
all in trouble. History demands that we remain faithful to the
story and Chr-stians have a right to tell it. After all, we believe
that it is the greatest story ever told and that its message is for
all men and women. The greatest right is the right to hear the
truth.
We would all be well advised to remember that the G-spel
narratives to which "The Passion" is so faithful were written by
J-wish men who followed a Je-ish Ra-bi whose life and teaching
have forever changed the history of the world. The problem is not
the message but those who have distorted it and used it for hate
rather than love. The solution is not to censor the message, but
rather to promote the kind of gift of love that is Mel Gibson's
filmmaking masterpiece, "The Passion."
It should be seen by as many people as possible. I intend to do
everything I can to make sure that is the case. I am passionate
about "The Passion." You will be as well. Don't miss it! This is a
commentary by DAVID LIMBAUGH about Mel Gibson's very controversial
movie regarding Christ's crucifixion. It, too, is well worth
reading.
MEL GIBSON'S passion for "THE PASSION"
How ironic that when a movie producer takes artistic license with
historical events, he is lionized as artistic, creative and
brilliant, but when another takes special care to be true to the
real-life story, he is vilified. Actor-producer Mel Gibson is
discovering these truths the hard way as he is having difficulty
finding a Uni-ed States studio or distributor for his upcoming
film, "The Passion," which depicts the last 12 hours of the life
of J--us Chr-st.
Gibson co-wrote the script and financed, directed and produced the
movie.
For the script, he and his co-author relied on the New Te-tament
Go-pels of Ma-thew, Ma-k, Lu-e and Jo-n, as well as the diaries of
St. Anne Catherine Em-erich (1774-1824) and Mary of Ag-eda's "The
City of G-d."
Gibson doesn't want this to be like other sterilized rel-gious
epics. "I'm trying to access the story on a very personal level and
trying to be very real about it." So committed to realistically
portraying what many would consider the most important half-day in
the history of the universe, Gibson even shot the film in the
Aramaic language of the period. In response to objections that
viewers will not be able to understand that language, Gibson said,
"Hopefully, I'll be able to transcend the language barriers with
my visual storytelling; if I fail, I fail, but at least it'll be
a monumental failure."
To further insure the accuracy of the work, Gibson has enlisted
the counsel of pa-tors and the-logians, and has received rave
reviews. Don Hodel, president of Focus on the Family, said, "I was
very impressed.
The movie is historically and theologically accurate." Ted
Haggard, pa-tor of New Life Ch-rch in Colorado Spr-ngs, Colo., and
president of the National Eva-gelical Association, glowed: "It
conveys, more accurately than any other film, who Je--s was."
During the filming, Gibson, a devout Cath-lic, attended M-ss
every morning because "we had to be squeaky clean just working on
this." From Gibson's perspective, this movie is not about Mel
Gibson. It's bigger than he is. "I'm not a pre-cher, and I'm not
a pas-or," he said. "But I really feel my career was leading me to
make this. The Holy Gh-st was working through me on this film, and
I was just directing traffic. I hope the film has the power to
evang-lize."
Even before the release of the movie, scheduled for March 2004,
Gibson is getting his wish. "Everyone who worked on this movie was
changed. There were agnostics and Muslims on set converting to
Chri-tianity...[and] people being healed of diseases." Gibson wants
people to understand through the movie, if they don't already, the
incalculable influence Ch-ist has had on the world. And he grasps
that Chr-st is controversial precisely because of WHO HE IS - G-D
incarnate. "And that's the point of my film really, to show all
that turmoil around him politically and with re-igious leaders and
the people, all because He is Who He is."
Gibson is beginning to experience first hand just how
controversial Chr-st is. Critics have not only speciously challenged
the movie's authenticity, but have charged that it is disparaging
to J-ws, which Gibson vehemently denies "This is not a Ch-istian
vs. Je-ish thing.
'[Je--s] came into the world, and it knew him not.' Looking at
Ch-ist's crucifixion, I look first at my own culpability in that."
Jes-it Father William J. Fu-co, who translated the script into
Aramaic and Latin, said he saw no hint of anti-Sem-tism in the
movie. Fulco added, "I would be aghast at any suggestion that Mel
Gibson is anti-Se-itic." Nevertheless, certain groups and some in
the mainstream press have been very critical of Gibson's "Passion."
The New York Post's Andrea Peyser chided him: "There is still
time, Mel, to tell the truth." Boston Globe columnist James Carroll
denounced Gibson's literal reading of the bib-ical accounts. "Even
a faithful repetition of the G-spel stories of the de-th of Jes--
can do damage exactly because those sacred texts themselves carry
the virus of Je- hatred," wrote Carroll. A group of -ewish and
Chri-tian academics has issued an 18-page report slamming all
aspects of the film, including its undue emphasis on Ch-ist's
passion rather than "a broader vision." The report disapproves of
the movie's treatment of Chr-st's passion as historical fact.
The moral is that if you want the popular culture to laud your
work on Chri-t, make sure it either depicts Him as a hom-sexual
or as an everyday sinner with no particular redeeming value
(literally). In our anti-Ch-istian culture, the blasphemous "The
Last Temptation of Chr-st" is celebrated and "The Passion" is
condemned. But if this movie continues to affect people the way
it is now, no amount of cultural opposition will suppress its
force and its positive impact on lives everywhere. Mel Gibson
is a model of faith and courage.
________________________________
John Winston. ***@mlode.com
A person sent me some information about a movie coming up soon
and I was amazed to see that it has been rated R. They tell me
that the R rating has been put on it due to the amount of violence
it has in it.
Here is the information that was sent to me.
.....................................................................
.....................................................................
From: m <***@yahoo.com>
Subject: The Passion. A Movie Of Art.
This e-mail arrived and seems to give an even better view and
encouragement to see the film. It seems our LIB-RAL media is down
on anything that tells the truth...at least as far as things
spi-itual or Bi-lical are concerned. Hope you share it with the
con-regation.
Sincerely, L & D
Some of this you have read before but it is still interesting.
The majority of the media are complaining about this movie.
Now Paul Harvey tells "The rest of the story" and David Limbaugh
praises Gibson.
Most people would wait and see a movie before giving the reviews
that have been issued by the reporters trying to tell all of us
what to believe.
Paul Harvey's words:
I really did not know what to expect. I was thrilled to have been
invited to a private viewing of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion," but
I had also read all the cautious articles and spin. I grew up in a
Je-ish town and owe much of my own faith journey to the influence. I
have a life long, deeply held aversion to anything that might even
indirectly encourage any form of anti-Sem-tic thought, language or
actions.
I arrived at the private viewing for "The Passion", held in
Washington DC and greeted some familiar faces. The environment was
typically Washingtonian, with people greeting you with a smile but
seeming to look beyond you, having an agenda beyond the words. The
film was very briefly introduced, without fanfare, and then the
room darkened. From the gripping opening scene in the Garden of
Gethsemane, to the very human and tender portrayal of the earthly
ministry of Je--s, through the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging,
the way of the cross, the encounter with the thieves, the surrender
on the Cross, until the final scene in the empty tomb, this was not
simply a movie; it was an encounter, unlike anything I have ever
experienced.
In addition to being a masterpiece of film-making and an artistic
triumph, "The Passion" evoked more deep reflection, sorrow and
emotional reaction within me than anything since my wedding, my
or-ination or the birth of my children. Frankly, I will never be
the same. When the film concluded, this "invitation only" gathering
of "movers and shakers" in Washington, DC were shaking indeed, but
this time from sobbing. I am not sure there was a dry eye in the
place. The crowd that had been glad-handing before the film was
now eerily silent. No one could speak because words were woefully
inadequate. We had experienced a kind of art that is a rarity in
life, the kind that makes he-ven touch earth.
One scene in the film has now been forever etched in my mind. A
brutalized, wounded Jes-- was soon to fall again under the weight
of the cross. His mother had made her way along the Via Della Rosa.
As she ran to him, she flashed back to a memory of Je--s as a child,
falling in the dirt road outside of their home. Just as she reached
to protect him from the fall, she was now reaching to touch his
wounded adult face. J--us looked at her with intensely probing and
passionately loving eyes (and at all of us through the screen) and
said "Behold I make all things new."
These are words taken from the last Book of the New Tes-ament,
the Book of Rev-lations. Suddenly, the purpose of the pain was so
clear and the wounds, that earlier in the film had been so
difficult to see in His face, His back, indeed all over His body,
became intensely beautiful.
They had been borne voluntarily for love.
At the end of the film, after we had all had a chance to recover,
a question and answer period ensued. The unanimous praise for the
film, from a rather diverse crowd, was as astounding as the
compliments were question and answer period ensued.
The questions included the one question that seems to follow
this film, even though it has not yet even been released. "Why is
this film considered by some to be "anti-Se-itic?" Frankly, having
now experienced (you do not "view" this film) "the Passion" it is
a question that is impossible to answer.
A law professor whom I admire sat in front of me. He raised
his hand and responded "After watching this film, I do not
understand how anyone can insinuate that it even remotely presents
that the J-ws killed Jes--. It doesn't." He continued "It made me
realize that my s-ns killed J--us" I agree. There is not a
scintilla of anti-Semi-ism to be found anywhere in this powerful
film. If there were, I would be among the first to decry it. It
faithfully tells the Go-pel story in a dramatically beautiful,
sensitive and profoundly engaging way.
Those who are alleging otherwise have either not seen the film
or have another agenda behind their protestations. This is not a
"Ch-istian" film, in the sense that it will appeal only to those
who identify themselves as followers of Jes-- Christ. It is a
deeply human, beautiful story that will deeply touch all men and
women. It is a profound work of art. Yes, its producer is a
Ca-holic Chr-stian and thankfully has remained faithful to the
Gosp-l text; if that is no longer acceptable behavior then we are
all in trouble. History demands that we remain faithful to the
story and Chr-stians have a right to tell it. After all, we believe
that it is the greatest story ever told and that its message is for
all men and women. The greatest right is the right to hear the
truth.
We would all be well advised to remember that the G-spel
narratives to which "The Passion" is so faithful were written by
J-wish men who followed a Je-ish Ra-bi whose life and teaching
have forever changed the history of the world. The problem is not
the message but those who have distorted it and used it for hate
rather than love. The solution is not to censor the message, but
rather to promote the kind of gift of love that is Mel Gibson's
filmmaking masterpiece, "The Passion."
It should be seen by as many people as possible. I intend to do
everything I can to make sure that is the case. I am passionate
about "The Passion." You will be as well. Don't miss it! This is a
commentary by DAVID LIMBAUGH about Mel Gibson's very controversial
movie regarding Christ's crucifixion. It, too, is well worth
reading.
MEL GIBSON'S passion for "THE PASSION"
How ironic that when a movie producer takes artistic license with
historical events, he is lionized as artistic, creative and
brilliant, but when another takes special care to be true to the
real-life story, he is vilified. Actor-producer Mel Gibson is
discovering these truths the hard way as he is having difficulty
finding a Uni-ed States studio or distributor for his upcoming
film, "The Passion," which depicts the last 12 hours of the life
of J--us Chr-st.
Gibson co-wrote the script and financed, directed and produced the
movie.
For the script, he and his co-author relied on the New Te-tament
Go-pels of Ma-thew, Ma-k, Lu-e and Jo-n, as well as the diaries of
St. Anne Catherine Em-erich (1774-1824) and Mary of Ag-eda's "The
City of G-d."
Gibson doesn't want this to be like other sterilized rel-gious
epics. "I'm trying to access the story on a very personal level and
trying to be very real about it." So committed to realistically
portraying what many would consider the most important half-day in
the history of the universe, Gibson even shot the film in the
Aramaic language of the period. In response to objections that
viewers will not be able to understand that language, Gibson said,
"Hopefully, I'll be able to transcend the language barriers with
my visual storytelling; if I fail, I fail, but at least it'll be
a monumental failure."
To further insure the accuracy of the work, Gibson has enlisted
the counsel of pa-tors and the-logians, and has received rave
reviews. Don Hodel, president of Focus on the Family, said, "I was
very impressed.
The movie is historically and theologically accurate." Ted
Haggard, pa-tor of New Life Ch-rch in Colorado Spr-ngs, Colo., and
president of the National Eva-gelical Association, glowed: "It
conveys, more accurately than any other film, who Je--s was."
During the filming, Gibson, a devout Cath-lic, attended M-ss
every morning because "we had to be squeaky clean just working on
this." From Gibson's perspective, this movie is not about Mel
Gibson. It's bigger than he is. "I'm not a pre-cher, and I'm not
a pas-or," he said. "But I really feel my career was leading me to
make this. The Holy Gh-st was working through me on this film, and
I was just directing traffic. I hope the film has the power to
evang-lize."
Even before the release of the movie, scheduled for March 2004,
Gibson is getting his wish. "Everyone who worked on this movie was
changed. There were agnostics and Muslims on set converting to
Chri-tianity...[and] people being healed of diseases." Gibson wants
people to understand through the movie, if they don't already, the
incalculable influence Ch-ist has had on the world. And he grasps
that Chr-st is controversial precisely because of WHO HE IS - G-D
incarnate. "And that's the point of my film really, to show all
that turmoil around him politically and with re-igious leaders and
the people, all because He is Who He is."
Gibson is beginning to experience first hand just how
controversial Chr-st is. Critics have not only speciously challenged
the movie's authenticity, but have charged that it is disparaging
to J-ws, which Gibson vehemently denies "This is not a Ch-istian
vs. Je-ish thing.
'[Je--s] came into the world, and it knew him not.' Looking at
Ch-ist's crucifixion, I look first at my own culpability in that."
Jes-it Father William J. Fu-co, who translated the script into
Aramaic and Latin, said he saw no hint of anti-Sem-tism in the
movie. Fulco added, "I would be aghast at any suggestion that Mel
Gibson is anti-Se-itic." Nevertheless, certain groups and some in
the mainstream press have been very critical of Gibson's "Passion."
The New York Post's Andrea Peyser chided him: "There is still
time, Mel, to tell the truth." Boston Globe columnist James Carroll
denounced Gibson's literal reading of the bib-ical accounts. "Even
a faithful repetition of the G-spel stories of the de-th of Jes--
can do damage exactly because those sacred texts themselves carry
the virus of Je- hatred," wrote Carroll. A group of -ewish and
Chri-tian academics has issued an 18-page report slamming all
aspects of the film, including its undue emphasis on Ch-ist's
passion rather than "a broader vision." The report disapproves of
the movie's treatment of Chr-st's passion as historical fact.
The moral is that if you want the popular culture to laud your
work on Chri-t, make sure it either depicts Him as a hom-sexual
or as an everyday sinner with no particular redeeming value
(literally). In our anti-Ch-istian culture, the blasphemous "The
Last Temptation of Chr-st" is celebrated and "The Passion" is
condemned. But if this movie continues to affect people the way
it is now, no amount of cultural opposition will suppress its
force and its positive impact on lives everywhere. Mel Gibson
is a model of faith and courage.
________________________________
John Winston. ***@mlode.com