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We Forgots Precious!
Apr. 28th, 2004 08:25 pmGood Lord, how could we forget? *slaps head* We did say we'd go rep hunting on the Passion, didn't we Precious?!
So where do we start?
The biggest controversy of the film is the overall negative portrayal of Jews, and unfortunately, I can see that, and Jan also pointed out the negative representation of androgeny, in Satan (scandalously overlooked by the popular media), and possibly, in Herod. I didn't think either was necessarily the case, until we watched Braveheart for Medievalism: obvious negative representations of homosexuality in Edward II (and in his father chucking his lover out the window), and racial stereotyping (English are bad. They kill helpless Scotts. so it's okay to kill the English). Which almost mirrors what he does in the Passion: the Jews and the Romans are demonized, except for a few token good guys shown here and there.
Obviously, Gibson's following biblical canon: this is how the Church has told the story for years. But it's also historically incorrect: 1) the Jews' role in the cruxifiction of Jesus had been expanded, in truth, it's the Romans who had the power of life and death over the Jewish people. 2) only a particular segment of Jewish society wanted Jesus dead, the film suggests an overwhelming majority wanted his death 3) Pilate is made a goody goody relunctant to kill Jesus when history has him down as a ruthless governer.
There's also Satan as an androgynous figure, used as an anti-thesis to Jesus in most of the film, and in a lot of shots, with Mary. (how creepy was it when Lucifer tenderly carried that misshapen baby in the scourging scene?) Which strengthens the case of a deliberate negative portrayal of androgeny, in contrasting it to respective figures of clear masculine and feminine virtue.
If there's anything I loved about the film, beautiful, beautiful use of cinematography and symbolism, (hopefully, friends will not be adverse to discussing them scene by scene :)) and call me sappy, but I loved the very tender, human protrayal of the relationship between Mary and Jesus. Christian bigot girl thought Mary had too much attention focused on her, and the (lapsed) Catholic in me seethed. ;p
Your thoughts, friends? :D
So where do we start?
The biggest controversy of the film is the overall negative portrayal of Jews, and unfortunately, I can see that, and Jan also pointed out the negative representation of androgeny, in Satan (scandalously overlooked by the popular media), and possibly, in Herod. I didn't think either was necessarily the case, until we watched Braveheart for Medievalism: obvious negative representations of homosexuality in Edward II (and in his father chucking his lover out the window), and racial stereotyping (English are bad. They kill helpless Scotts. so it's okay to kill the English). Which almost mirrors what he does in the Passion: the Jews and the Romans are demonized, except for a few token good guys shown here and there.
Obviously, Gibson's following biblical canon: this is how the Church has told the story for years. But it's also historically incorrect: 1) the Jews' role in the cruxifiction of Jesus had been expanded, in truth, it's the Romans who had the power of life and death over the Jewish people. 2) only a particular segment of Jewish society wanted Jesus dead, the film suggests an overwhelming majority wanted his death 3) Pilate is made a goody goody relunctant to kill Jesus when history has him down as a ruthless governer.
There's also Satan as an androgynous figure, used as an anti-thesis to Jesus in most of the film, and in a lot of shots, with Mary. (how creepy was it when Lucifer tenderly carried that misshapen baby in the scourging scene?) Which strengthens the case of a deliberate negative portrayal of androgeny, in contrasting it to respective figures of clear masculine and feminine virtue.
If there's anything I loved about the film, beautiful, beautiful use of cinematography and symbolism, (hopefully, friends will not be adverse to discussing them scene by scene :)) and call me sappy, but I loved the very tender, human protrayal of the relationship between Mary and Jesus. Christian bigot girl thought Mary had too much attention focused on her, and the (lapsed) Catholic in me seethed. ;p
Your thoughts, friends? :D
