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  1. #1
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    Gibson softens Passion...

    Gibson softens film about Jesus' death
    Changes to film will address concerns about Jewish stereotypes

    09:34 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 13, 2003

    Religion News Service

    Director Mel Gibson, under heavy fire from Jewish groups for his $25 million movie about the death of Jesus, has "softened the story" and made changes to make The Passion more palatable to critics, according to a spokesman.

    Scheduled for release next year during Lent, The Passion has some Jewish groups nervous that it will resurrect old beliefs that Jews were responsible for the death of the Christian savior.

    Paul Lauer, marketing director for Mr. Gibson's Icon Productions, said Mr. Gibson has edited the film to show more "sympathetic" Jewish characters who were not calling for Jesus to be crucified.

    "We believe we have softened the story compared to the way the Gospel has told it," Mr. Lauer said in an interview. He pointed to Matthew 27:25, in which the Jewish mob calls for Jesus' blood "to be on us and on our children."

    "That's in the Gospel," he said. "It's not in our film."

    In addition, Mr. Lauer said the character of Simon of Cyrene, who was forced to carry the cross for Jesus, will be clearly labeled a Jew in the film. A shouting mob will include voices opposing the execution, Mr. Lauer said.

    Faced with vocal Jewish opposition, Mr. Gibson is mounting a pre-emptive public relations offensive to counter critics – all for a film that is still being edited. After regional screenings, Mr. Gibson has lingered with audiences to listen to their advice.

    In an effort to soothe concerns, Mr. Gibson also is hoping to launch "The Jewish Initiative" to recruit Jewish and Christian leaders to discuss the film's effects on Christian-Jewish relations.

    "We've gone out of our way to accommodate this process because we felt it was necessary and important, and to show that we care and that we're not callously sitting back saying, ' ... Screw you, We're going to make the film we want to make,' " Mr. Lauer said.

    Jewish groups, however, remain unconvinced.

    "The fact that Mel Gibson says this is a work in progress is something we welcome. I don't make light of it," said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "We respect his creative rights, but we also believe that creative rights come with a certain responsibility."

    Invited Christian leaders who have seen the film offer near- universal praise. The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, told The New York Times that Mr. Gibson was "the Michelangelo of this generation."

    Rabbi Eugene Korn, the Anti-Defamation League's director of Interfaith Affairs, was one of the first major Jewish leaders invited to see the controversial film Friday in Houston.

    "Sadly, the film contains many of the dangerous teachings that Christians and Jews have worked for so many years to counter," Rabbi Korn said in a statement released Monday. "This is not a disagreement between the Jews and Mr. Gibson. Many theologically informed Catholics and Protestants have expressed the same concerns.... This film may undermine Christian-Jewish dialogue and could turn back the clock on decades of positive progress in interfaith relations."

    Rabbi A. James Rudin, senior interreligious affairs adviser for the American Jewish Committee, emerged from a Houston screening "troubled" by what he saw as the film's suggestion that Roman authorities were powerless to stop the murderous rage of Jewish leaders.

    "The emphasis should be more on what killed Jesus, not who killed him," said Rabbi Rudin, also a columnist for Religion News Service.


    Staff Writer Chris Vognar contributed to this report.

  2. #2
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    If he didn't soften it, the film may have more power and be more provocotive. I'm having a bad felling abut this...

  3. #3
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    same here, it seems these days when anyone even remotely Jewish` **** gets in a knot, somebody somewhere MUST appease them. lol

    ""The emphasis should be more on what killed Jesus, not who killed him," said Rabbi Rudin, also a columnist for Religion News Service."

    Kind of a..."let`s sweep OUR past under the rug" thing eh? Kind of a backwards turnaround on the ol never to forgive, never to forget mantra. ;0)
    Last edited by Shataan; 08-17-2003 at 09:04 AM.

  4. #4
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    LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29 — Mel Gibson is expected to show some major studios a version of his controversial movie about the crucifixion of Jesus by mid-September in the hope of finding a distributor, Hollywood executives said today. But one studio, 20th Century Fox, which usually releases Mr. Gibson's movies, has already said no.

    Many executives in Hollywood say that Mr. Gibson's movie, which chronicles in bloody detail the last hours of Jesus' life, is potentially inflammatory and not commercial enough for a high-profile mainstream studio like Fox. Mr. Gibson financed the film himself through his own film company, Icon Productions.

    Fox has the first right of refusal for all films produced by Icon Productions.

    International Creative Management, the Hollywood talent agency that represents Mr. Gibson and is helping him find a United States distributor, has begun approaching some major studios like Warner Brothers and Miramax to see if they are interested in seeing the movie, the entertainment executive said. Executives for Icon have also been talking to smaller distributors
    Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads!
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  5. #5
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    LION'S GATE !!!! will take it
    http://img53.imageshack.us/img53/6324/fightclubmlzq1.jpg

  6. #6
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    Originally posted by trailergod
    LION'S GATE !!!! will take it
    hehe, when i heard how bloody this movie will be i immediately thought of lions gate.
    i guess they'd be happy to get their hands on "the passion" after getting dogma, american psycho, o and the house of 1000 corpses, but i'm not sure if gibson would be happy with the studio. i mean he could release HIS version, but i could imagine that he is not a big fan of the controversial titles they bought before.
    somebody told me you have a boyfriend who looks like a girldfriend that i had in february of last year the killers

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    another option... forget the AMERICAN market !!!! .. they are anyway to conservative for these stuff

    just release is in Europe, Asia/Japan where film is seen more as art...

  8. #8
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    Icon is a distrubution company in Europe, so Mel would have no problem releasing it here...

  9. #9
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    I can only think of two words that describe my feeling towards these developments.

    Oy Vey...

    Seriously though, I just want Lethal Weapon 5 with Gibson and Chris Rock kicking some major ***. To hell with Danny Glover.
    Are you a Mexi-CAN or a Mexi-CAN'T?

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