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  1. #1
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    defense of Gibson's PASSION

    USA Today piece criticizing the unwarranted criticisms of and attacks on Mel Gibson's upcoming PASSION:

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinio...21-medved_x.htm

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2003Jul22.html
    Lloyd Grove writes today about a secret screening held at the MPAA with many public and private VIP's in attendance: Mel Gibson's Washington Power Play I hope Gibson wins against the intimidation tactics being used against him

    Yes, it does appear to be intimidation. I understand (confirmed below) that Groves was NOT invited to the screening, and was escorted out. This interview makes it sound like it's going to be a film not to be missed, even sans subtitles.

    Edited by me to remove non-movie-related stuff:

    TRANSCRIPT: DRUDGE, MSNBC 'BUCHANAN & PRESS'
    Mon Jul 21 2003 18:15:25

    PAT BUCHANAN: That's right. He hears it through the grapevine, and he brings it straight to us. Joining us exclusively is the one-man media machine, Matt Drudge of "The Drudge Report", six million view a day. Matt, I understand before we get into this question of the Lloyd Grove issue...

    MATT DRUDGE, "THE DRUDGE REPORT": Yes.

    BUCHANAN: ... before we get into that, I want to ask you, you apparently have gone to see this movie that Mel Gibson did called "The Passion" that is causing great controversy among some in the Jewish community and in the Catholic community. Is it anti-Semitic? It's about, frankly, the passion and death of Jesus Christ...

    DRUDGE: It's...

    BUCHANAN: ... and you have seen -- you got an early look at it. What is it like?

    DRUDGE: Well Mel Gibson is here, he's in town. He's two blocks away. He sends his regards. He'll be making the rounds on this one. This may be the last movie Mel Gibson makes, Pat Buchanan. This is the ultimate film. It's magical. Best picture I have seen in quite some time, and even people like Jack Valenti were in the audience in tears at this screening. There was about 30 of us. It depicts a clash between Jesus and those who crucified him, and speaking as a Jew, I thought it was a magical film that showed the perils of life on earth.

    BUCHANAN: Right. "The New Republic" -- today I read a long report in "The New Republic" said it is an anti-Semitic film, just about flat-out. What's your take?

    DRUDGE: They haven't seen the darn film and those of us, every single person in there, and I'm not talking about tears, I'm talking total tears. It is something Mel Gibson stood back at the end and took questions for about an hour, and he is -- he told me he's tired of Hollywood. That this is it. He's going to do it. He's going to do it his way, and this film, I tell you, is magic. It's a miracle. It's a miracle...

    BILL PRESS: All right...

    DRUDGE: ... and Pat Buchanan, you will be talking about this in -- when it comes out because it's something I haven't seen in quite some time.

    PRESS: Maybe it was another miracle.

    <snip>

    BUCHANAN: No, no it doesn't win. Reagan showed that. Let me ask you this, though. You went to this movie -- I'm very intrigued by this movie. Did -- Jack Valenti was there. Did he host it over at that 16th Street...

    DRUDGE: Yes. It was at his plush...

    BUCHANAN: Who all was there?

    DRUDGE: Well you had a lot of clergy. You had a lot of folks representing the Catholic intellectual community here. You also had a few media types.

    PRESS: The cardinal was there...

    DRUDGE: You had a cardinal. You had Valenti, but one person they did throw out was Lloyd

    Grove of "The Washington Post". They don't want "The Washington Post" to spoil their parade. They're being very specific who they show this to...

    (CROSSTALK)

    PRESS: You asked them to throw Lloyd Grove out...

    (CROSSTALK)

    BUCHANAN: Did they do this physically?

    (CROSSTALK)

    BUCHANAN: But, look, was he invited or did he crash it?

    DRUDGE: I'm not sure. You'd have to ask him. But to see a "Washington Post" reporter asked to leave a screening at Jack Valenti's house here in Washington in his office, is showing you a new breeze blowing of different sorts. The Republicans truly are controlling this town.

    (CROSSTALK)

    <snip>

    BUCHANAN: Yes...

    DRUDGE: Well, it's going to be progressive with her and Schwarzenegger. I vote for Mel Gibson, however, to run for the governor of California, and he will correct that state in a heartbeat.

    PRESS: There's...

    BUCHANAN: OK.

    PRESS: OK...

    BUCHANAN: Listen, you were taken by that film. You were taken by the guy, weren't you?

    DRUDGE: It's the best picture I have seen in a long time and just don't take my word for it. You will see it. Total tears by grown men and women in Washington, D.C. in the middle of a summer afternoon.

    <snip>

    BUCHANAN: Matt Drudge, thanks for coming over. Appreciate it very much.

    DRUDGE: Thank you.

    END
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    That's too long and complicated. is it good or bad?
    If you can stay calm, while all around you is chaos...then you probably haven't completely understood the seriousness of the situation.

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    Hey Folks!! Haven't been around in a long time!

    It's good to see some defense for this. I just watched the trailer, and even it almost made me cry. I wonder how the critic awards circles will recieve it.
    When you got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.

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    another interesting article

    http://edition.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/....ap/index.html

    NEW YORK (AP) -- Those who have seen Mel Gibson's film about the final hours of Jesus Christ have called it beautiful, magical, a great and important work.

    Those who fear "The Passion" could fuel anti-Semitism, however, until now hadn't been allowed to see the film. Seven months before its release, this extraordinary vanity project is stirring passions over Gibson's exclusionary screenings and the potential for a negative depiction of Jews.

    On Friday it was shown in Houston to an audience that included for the first time an official from the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism. Audience members signed confidentiality agreements before attending the screening.

    "We still have grave concerns," Rabbi Eugene Korn, director of the ADL's Office of Interfaith Affairs in New York, told the Houston Chronicle in Saturday's editions.

    Not just Jews are concerned -- the film was first questioned by a nine-member panel that included Christians. Gibson is a member of an ultraconservative Catholic movement which rejects the Vatican's authority over the Catholic church.

    Gibson has said the film is faithful to the account of the crucifixion in the four Gospels and is meant "to inspire, not offend."

    The star of the blockbuster "Lethal Weapon" movies and Oscar-winning director of "Braveheart" has spent nearly $30 million of his own money to produce, co-write and direct "The Passion," starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene. Filmed entirely in the dead languages of Aramaic and Latin, it has yet to secure a distributor.

    'The most authentic portrayal I've ever seen'

    Gibson had a huge hit last year with "Signs." Except for a role in the forthcoming "The Singing Detective," he's been devoting much of his time since to "The Passion."
    In recent weeks, the actor-director had been building support with invitation-only screenings for film industry insiders, conservative commentators, evangelical Christians and sympathetic Jews.

    Trailers of the two-hour movie have turned up on some Web sites. A 4 1/2-minute preview was shown Friday for thousands of people attending a Christian festival at Anaheim, California.

    Ted Haggard, president of the National Evangelical Association, saw a screening in late June with about 30 evangelical scholars. The scholars are very strict about adherence to scripture, so Gibson "had no assurances that we would be friendly toward that movie."

    But Haggard loved it. "I thought it was the most authentic portrayal I've ever seen."

    Cal Thomas, a conservative syndicated columnist, called the film "the most beautiful, accurate, disturbing, realistic and bloody depiction of this well-known story that has ever been filmed."

    Internet personality Matt Drudge told MSNBC: "It depicts a clash between Jesus and those who crucified him and speaking as a Jew, I thought it was a magical film that showed the perils of life on earth."

    But critics of "The Passion" -- who have not seen the film -- worry that the popular Hollywood superstar will attract millions to see a violent, bloody recounting of the crucifixion that portrays Jews as a frenzied mob eager to watch Jesus die.

    "For too many years, Christians have accused Jews of being Christ-killers and used that charge to rationalize violence," said Sister Mary C. Boys, a Catholic professor at the Union Theological Seminary who read an early draft of the script. "This is our fear."

    Boys and others on a committee of nine Christian and Jewish scholars that reviewed the script said Gibson may have been skewing public opinion by screening the film primarily for conservatives.

    Looking for context
    Paul Lauer, marketing director for Gibson's Icon Productions company, said the committee obtained a stolen, outdated script that is completely different from the rough cut of the film being screened. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an apology this spring after learning a staff member had obtained a draft, and the script was returned.

    Boys said an Icon employee provided an intermediary with the script.

    My intention in bringing it to the screen is to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds (or none) who have varying familiarity with this story.
    -- Statement from Mel Gibson about "The Passion"


    While Gibson said "The Passion" will be the most authentic account ever of the crucifixion, Boys said the script she read presented the Jews as more culpable for Christ's death than the Romans who executed him.

    It only recounts the last 12 hours of Christ's life, she said, and therefore lacks the context to explain the Jews' portrayal. "It seems to me that the film looked on Jews as antagonists, Jesus as this perfect victim," she said.

    Boys and others said they have received anti-Semitic hate mail after being quoted in news reports criticizing "The Passion." Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, said the center has received several dozen letters related to his criticism of the film.

    Gibson said in a June statement that he and his film are not anti-Semitic. "My intention in bringing it to the screen is to create a lasting work of art and engender serious thought among audiences of diverse faith backgrounds (or none) who have varying familiarity with this story."

    But what is Gibson's version of the story? His traditionalist religion rejects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which in 1965 rejected the notion that Jews were collectively responsible for killing Jesus. The actor is building a traditionalist church in Malibu, California, for about 70 members, and intends to hold Sunday services there in Latin.

    His father, Hutton Gibson, was quoted in a New York Times Magazine article in March as denying the Holocaust occurred.

    Meanwhile, film industry observers are wondering whether this film can find an audience.

    Lauer said the film has not sought a distributor, but that at least three major studios are interested. Also, although the recent screenings have included English subtitles, Icon hasn't decided whether to include them in a major release.

    "I don't know that he will be able to find a studio that will distribute this," said Kim Masters, a film columnist for Esquire Magazine.

    Masters said industry people who have seen the film respect its quality, but said it is disturbingly graphic.

    "It's not a family film, from what I understand," she said. "It's a really difficult film."

  5. #5
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    Jewish Group Says Gibson's 'Passion' Will Fuel Hate
    Tue Aug 12, 2:36 AM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo!



    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Anti-Defamation League said on Monday an upcoming religious film from actor and director Mel Gibson (news) would lead to hatred of Jews if it is released in its current form.


    Reuters Photo



    The film, called "The Passion," is Gibson's depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and events leading up to it. The film has been screened for several groups ahead of its release, and has touched off a firestorm of controversy among organizations and people concerned about anti-Semitism.


    Jewish leaders have raised concerns it might portray Jews as collectively guilty for Christ's crucifixion, while Catholics have expressed worries that Gibson might use the film to challenge church teachings.


    "The film unambiguously portrays Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob as the ones responsible for the decision to crucify Jesus," Abraham Foxman, the league's national director, said in a statement.


    "We are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, will fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate," Foxman added.


    A spokesman for Gibson denied that was the actor's intention.


    "No one associated with this film has any interest in fueling hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism," publicist Alan Nierob told the Hollywood Reporter, a trade paper. "In fact, Mel's interest is just the opposite as he has stated previously that this film is about love, hope, faith and forgiveness."


    In a news release posted on its Web-site, the Anti-Defamation League said the movie had been previewed by its Rabbi Eugene Korn, who is the group's director of Interfaith Affairs.


    Korn said "The Passion" contains "many dangerous teachings" that Christians and Jews had worked to counter, and he added that the group hopes Gibson and his film production company will "consider modifying" the movie.


    The religious groups' concerns were initially sparked by a New York Times Magazine article portraying Gibson as a traditionalist Catholic opposed to reforms of the Vatican (news - web sites) II Council of the 1960s, which among other things rejected the belief that Jews were to blame for the death of Jesus.


    The movie was shot in Italy and contains dialogue only in Latin and Aramaic with no English subtitles. Gibson directed and co-wrote the film.


    A release date for the film has yet to be set.


    http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp..._thepassion_dc
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  6. #6
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    Originally posted by BuDi
    The religious groups' concerns were initially sparked by a New York Times Magazine article portraying Gibson as a traditionalist Catholic opposed to reforms of the Vatican (news - web sites) II Council of the 1960s, which among other things rejected the belief that Jews were to blame for the death of Jesus.
    That's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever read. What gives the vatican the right to Modify the teachings of God? Don't they think that if God had wanted it a certain way he would have written it that way. The fact is that the bible is not anti jew any more than it's anti anyother religion. The Jews were originally God's people but kept rebelling which was when God abadoned them. However that doesn't mean that God doesn't accept people of the jewish race, just the religion. Many Jews were noted as of becoming Christian.
    As for the death of Jesus, it's not a move of hatred to say that the Jews were largely to blame, it's the truth. That has no effect on any Jew living today though, as none of them were alive when it happened. It is a fact though that when Jesus was imprisoned the Romans were willing to let him go free, but were worried what the people would think. So they asked the Jews who they wanted, Jesus or Barabus to be freed and they chose Barabus. Barabus was a murderer of children, know for doing it and proved guilty but he went free instead of Jesus because that's what The Jews of the time wanted. How can you make a true depiction of Jesus death without showing this?

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    Originally posted by carl
    How can you make a true depiction of Jesus death without showing this?
    Maybe because it's not very politically corect?
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    I don't see how people can criticize something they haven't seen.

    And Jesus has been the subject of art for centuries, some of the most famous pieces of art are of important religious scenes.

    Why do people care now, just because it is in a film instead of a painting?

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    Thumbs down

    for Me, religion is one bunch of BUllSHit. sorry to offenders

    Bush, Bin Laden, Hussein, Castro: SAME $HIT

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    I saw an interview with Mel while he was making this film and I don't think he cares whether it does good or bad...I think he made the film for himself

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    edited. I guess I`m the goat. They buckled under the pressure and are editing their film. Never thought I`d see the day. ;0(

    The thing is, apparently it is a historical fact that the Jews at that time were culpable in christs death. What bothers me most is, if someone does any dishonor to the Jewish people, they have and use their political power to let everyone know about it, and make sure no one ever forgets about it.
    Along comes a pretty historicly accurate film that portrays the Jewish people in less than perfect light, and now they are going to soften the blow so to speak and redirect the focus away from their culpability, and onto semantics.... instead of just admiting it is just a part of their past history.... and move on.

    If this isn`t a clear case of hippocracy, I don`t know what is. Can`t have anything out there in the way of historical facts that can show them in anything of a less than perfect light. Might shatter their image of themselves.
    Last edited by Shataan; 08-17-2003 at 11:03 AM.

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    Look, if I recall from my Bible classes, the Jews were forced to think Jesus was evil, and didn't mean to kill the Son Of God. That's how I see it.

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