Talk About The Passion

A few weeks ago I first heard about the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson's movie The Passion. Sadly, the controversy isn't over the "Who's the Hotter Mary Magdalene: Barbara Hershey or Monica Bellucci?" question. See, Gibson is a Traditionalist Catholic, a member of the sect who rejects the reforms of Vatican II - reforms which include ecumenic ideas such as allowing other Christians into heaven and not condemning the Jews as cursed by the Lord. The movie is still in production, but has both: 1) been praised as being a literal accounting of the Gospels' telling of Jesus' last days, and 2) been accused of dusting off the hateful "the Jews killed Christ" canard.

There is an excellent story in the September 15th issue of The New Yorker about Gibson, his beliefs, and the history of his movie's controversy. Gibson sometimes comes across as merely goofy. He sounds like a KFAN talk-show host when discussing the theory that the four gospels weren't actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John: "John was an eyewitness. Matthew was there. And these other guys? Mark was Peter's guy, Peter's scribe. And Luke was Paul's guy. I mean, these are reliable sources. These are guys who were around."

But things get darker when talking about the Jews. Gibson talks about his father, who has said that Vatican II was a Masonic plot backed by the Jews: "He never denied the Holocaust; he just said there were fewer than six million." Gibson later unleashed this ugly thought: "Modern secular Judaism wants to blame the Holocaust on the Catholic Church. And it's a lie. And it's revisionism. And they've been working on that one for a while."

Mel doesn't even spare his wife: "There is no salvation for those outside the Church. I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She's a much better person than I am. Honestly. She's, like, Episcopalian Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it's just not fair if she doesn't make it, she's better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it."

That last bit reminds me of David Puddy encouraging Elaine to steal her neighbor's paper because "I'm not the one going to hell." The controversy over the The Passion will continue until and after the movie's release in April of 2004. We'll see if Mel Gibson gets any more unhinged between now and then.