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A+ |
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A+ |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Me Thinks You Protest Too Much
by Beverly (movies profile)
Dec 1, 2006
2
of
2 people found this review helpful
If Robin Wilson can have the audacity to give it an "F" without seeing it (by the way thats the same thing one columnist did to the Color Purple), then I have the nerve to give it an "A" before I see it. One of my professors raised the issue of picturing Jesus as a black man in class one evening and I remember that the white students went off - like many of you (white and of color) have done. Neither they nor you seem to realize that your very outrage is a contradiction of your claim that race doesn't matter. If it doesn't matter, why are you so outraged? Have you been outraged by the Jeffry Holden image that has been promoted with racial intent through out history, or do you deceive yourself into thinking that there was no racial intent in the blond/blue depictions of everything biblical and holy down through the years? See, I think that one of the main intents of the movie is to expose this very dialogue to expose the racial brainwashing that lies beneath it. Sounds like there could be some improvements that money could have solved and maybe the method isn't as smooth as it might be, but like a good sermon maybe the movie wants to stir some thoughts about Jesus that will lead to changes in the way that we relate to one another racially and perhaps otherwise. As for you Black men and Indians and whatever else, just because you are "of color" does not mean that your mind has not been trained to prefer a certain look. Dude said Jesus was the least attractive black man in the movie! LOL! Dear, He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. He had no comeliness such that we should desire him. Who suffers more in our shallow, materialistic culture than unattractive folks? Why do you think we are playing God via body sculpting through the surgical knife and lypo suction? So, if Jesus is not good looking when He returns, we surely will not listen! It sounds like its not "biblically correct." (It couldn't be any worse than One Night With the King.) As someone said, thats par for the course, which doesn't make it ok. However, I am not looking for its biblical correctness. I am looking for its message about social and racial justice, which I think is the movie's intended purpose. The Passion was not biblically correct, but it did an excellent job of focusing on an important aspect of the crucifiction event. The value is true even if Gibson has some questionable background and maybe even questionable motives. He made big money. Nevertheless, God used it (for me) to etch in my mind a visual picture of the cruelty, the pain, the humiliation, the price that was paid for you and me. Folks may not like Mel and they may not like the issue he focused on, but it was true. There is an issue of race in the matter of our biblical interpretation and understanding. That racism has grown over the centuries and has become so imbedded in our doctrinal and theological beliefs that many cannot even recognize it for what it is. Unfortunately, addressing these issues to some christians is almost a wasted effort. We'd strain at a knat and swallow a camel, all in the Name of Jesus. This is especially true when we would rather be told what to think rather than take the risk of thinking because we have been taught that thinking is an enemy of faith. |
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