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02/26/2004 Archived Entry: "Sullivan on The Passion"

Posted by steve @ 01:47 PM EST [Link]

PORNOGRAPHY: Andrew Sullivan went to see The Passion of the Christ last night and talks about it here. He was moved by parts of the movie but disturbed by some of the violence which he argues has no basis in theology.

We see muscled thugs exhausted from shredding every inch of this man's body. And then they turn him over and do it all again. It goes on for ever. And then we see his mother wiping up masses and masses of blood. It is an absolutely unforgivable, vile, disgusting scene. No human being could sruvive it. Yet for Gibson, it is the h'ors d'oeuvre for his porn movie. The whole movie is some kind of sick combination of the theology of Opus Dei and the film-making of Quentin Tarantino. There is nothing in the Gospels that indicates this level of extreme, endless savagery and there is no theological reason for it. It doesn't even evoke emotion in the audience. It is designed to prompt the crudest human pity and emotional blackmail - which it obviously does. But then it seems to me designed to evoke a sick kind of fascination. Of over two hours, about half the movie is simple wordless sadism on a level and with a relentlessness that I have never witnessed in a movie before.

Replies: 2 comments

Andrew Sullivan, God Love Him, is a homosexual and has an alterior motive for not liking this film. Did he do the extensive research into the history of Roman torture and crucifixion that Brother Gibson did? Did he even know that Isaiah 52:14 prophesies, "His visage was marred more than any man and his form more than the sons of men"? The beating of Jesus was exactly that - form-altering. Some historians have speculated that the beating was so bad that his bowels were probably visible through his back. My own brother, who has had medical training, has said that the skin is very tough relative to the muscle. Therefore, once the skin is gone it is not a stretch to say that not only blood flew around with the lashes of the whip but also muscle. Furthermore, I believe not only that God ordained that he die after only about 6 hours on the cross when it took as long as 3 days for some to die, but also that this extraordinary beating was the mode through which God the Father brought this early death. The thieves had to have their legs broken to hurry up their death but the beating made it come faster for Jesus. For Andy, homosexual, Sullivan to compare this to pornography is inexcusable and now, his relative conservatism notwithstanding, I have little use for him.

Posted by Keith @ 02/27/2004 02:53 AM EST

For the record, Sullivan is also a Catholic which I think bears more relevance to the topic.

That said, Sullivan wasn't the only person to declare the movie religious pornography. At least two other people -- including a Christian film reviewer -- in Canada have said the same thing about The Passion of the Christ.

I'll be seeing it this weekend so I'll weigh in with my opinion then.

Posted by Steven Martinovich @ 02/27/2004 01:27 PM EST